There's something definitely strange about Silas University.
Laura is so excited to start her freshman year at university. She is looking forward to studying journalism and making new friends. So far, her party-lover roommate Betty seems like a promising friend, as are Perry and LaFontaine. But then, Betty mysteriously leaves university and Laura is given a strange multiple choice note. To make matters worst, Laura receives a new roommate, the beautiful enigmatic Carmilla. Carmilla has been charming all the girls at university, but Laura is completely immune... or is she.
Meanwhile, Laura launches an investigation into Betty's disappearance and she finds that Betty is not the only one who has disappeared. There is something very odd going on at Silas and Laura is the only one brave enough to find the truth.
Years ago, I remember watching the YouTube series Carmilla. It is a vlog format where the main character, Laura, vlogs her investigation into Betty's disappearance. Meanwhile, we see her interactions with her friends and her roommate Carmilla. This novelization takes on a similar format. While this works really well for YouTube, it comes off quite strange as a book.
In the vlogs, there is a lot of reported action. We don't get to see all the action sequences, so the characters have to relate them to us in their own words. A novel does not have such limitations. So it was a little weird to find some of the action sequences being related as if they were a transcript of a vlog.
Another thing that perplexed me about this book was the lack of chemistry between Carmilla and Laura. It just didn't translate into the book. It is plain to see on the screen. The two actresses convey it well. But in book format, it appears as if Laura and Carmilla are enemies and then somehow they are lovers almost instantly. It's a bit odd.
There is also some problematic misgendering of a nonbinary character who goes by they/them pronouns. In the book, they are sometimes referred to as "she" in the narration which makes it confusing. For consistency, their pronouns should've been kept the same.
Overall, the book was quite readable. It was short and sweet and had its fun moments. It could've been a bit better

After reading it I had to go watch the webseries because I couldn't help myself wanting more of the character!
Follows the mystery of a missing person in the campus after a university party, and the secrets of a new roommate that creeps our main out, just as the same she excites her!

DNF
I tried to read this and lost interest. I ended up DNFing this novel; however, I do still want to try to finish reading it at some point in the future! I just don't think that now was the right time for me and this book.

As much as I loved the webseries, this just fell flat for me. I can't place my specific issue, because this wasn't awful, but it just didn't live up to my expectation because of how much I loved the show.

An adaptation of Shaftesbury’s award-winning, groundbreaking queer vampire web series, Carmilla. I have never watched the web series (but now I really want to) so I can’t base how the book is or isn’t like the web series.

Newly escaped from the stifling boredom of a small town, college freshman Laura is ready for her first great adventure. But when her roommate, Betty, vanishes, and a sarcastic, nocturnal philosophy student named Carmilla moves into Betty’s side of the room, Laura decides to play detective. Turns out, Betty isn’t the first girl to go missing — she’s just the first girl not to come back.

As Laura closes in on answers, tensions rise with Carmilla. Is this just a roommate relationship that isn't working out, or does Carmilla know more than she's letting on about the disappearances? What will Laura do if it turns out her roommate isn't just selfish and insensitive, but completely inhuman? And what will she do with the feelings she’s starting to have for Carmilla?

Whenever people try to adapt visual media into written books it never turns out well, and this unfortunately didn't make the cut either. The Youtube series was something that I really enjoyed, so I was excited about the book. (I know the original story is a book/story, and the Youtube series was an adaptation) but this fell flat for me. Laura was annoying, and the book was pretty weird and cringy. Unfortunately.

I haven't seen the webseries this was based on. Therefore, I can't tell whether the many problems in this adaptation are the result of the original material, the adaptation, or perhaps even the original Carmilla. What I can say is that absolutely nothing made sense about this book. I had no idea why things were happening. Even the timeline made no sense, with final exams apparently happening a few weeks after the start of the semester. It was a quick read, and I definitely want more books about sapphic vampires, but this particular one didn't work for me.

I wanted to like this book so much than I did. I love the original retelling of Carmilla and this fell flat for me in so many ways. The main character is meh and the plot trying too hard to be "current"

Okay so I loved the show Carmilla just as much as the next gay. But it had a very unique humor and Aesthetic. With all the weird shit going on and crazy situations leading to more obscure outcomes, there was a lot in the show that I truly didn't get, but just overlooked to enjoy the gayness.

I was excited to see that it would be adapted as a book, especially with that awesome cover. And it didn't bother me that apparently it would 'just' be the story of the actual first season of the show instead of something new.

I was actually hoping that this book would make the show even better for me, since it had the opportunity to dig deeper, show us more perspectives and stuff that happened off-Camera or without Laura there, and make the plot more logical by writing it out and connecting the dots the show sometimes just threw into our faces.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I think this concept could have been great and sadly the book didn't deliver on anything I hoped it would.

It's a quick read, but that's mostly because it doesn't dig deep or describe much.
It didn't even go so far as to give us both sides of conversations Laura has on the phone, which really made it feel like the author sat down, let Camilla season 1 run and just plainly wrote down what happens on screen. Only that this way of retelling the plot makes it seem even more ridiculous than the actual show was.

I don't like to go on rants, but I am just incredible sad that this book does not work as a book. It is not an adaption. It only works as a transcript of a webseries.

2.5 rating (it wasn't by any means good, but it didn't throw me into a rage and one of the characters said brain sac which is funny to nerds like me).
The book was... fine. It was written in a really juvenile voice seemingly by someone that never attended university... every campus event and typical university character (E.g. RAs, TAs, freshmen, etc.) were basically caricatures (and maybe that was the point but honestly I couldn't tell). Overall though I think it was just the writing style that makes it seem like a 15 year old was writing mediocre vampire fanfiction, you know?
18 year old (I think) Laura is sooooo naive it's and impulsive it's infuriating. Unfortunately we are stuck in her head for the duration of this book and get no reprieve. The only reason I didn't mark this down to a 1 star or even a 2 star is because the plot was so freaking interesting, but unfortunately it wasn't well executed.
Honestly, just watch the web series. You won't be missing much. Here is some of the "bonus content" or "behind the scenes" or what have you:
- We briefly meet Laura's "overbearing dad" (who isn't actually that overbearing in the novelization?)
- We get to witness Laura's first meeting with Betty and the first party they attend together
- We get to witness the town hall meeting
- We actually see Laura on a date with Danny (although it doesn't do much to establish their relationship)
- We get to witness LaFontaine and Laura crash the Faculty Club and get beat up by the library as they search
for information
- We get to see LaFontaine, Carm and Laura go to the archives to get the Sumerian book and also rescue J.P.
- We actually get to witness the final showdown
- Some small detail changes (i.e. what classes Laura was taking... and for some reason a journalism student
was taking a bio class??)
So, basically anything that was off-screen in the web-series was expanded on in the book. Other than that, it was pretty much word-for-word of that script.
Now, you know me, I've always got to nitpick the science. Well, it wasn't even science in this case, just how a biology student was written (in the book and web-series both). LaFontaine is a bio student and some of the things they say they have access to/have done as and undergrad... well:
- They whip out a syringe to collect blood and tissue samples and say "Oh don't worry I'm a bio student this is
what we do" which, um, no? We don't? It made me laugh though
- They keep mentioning how they are going to run tests to "determine what this fluid is" or to "find out what this
person is" which, like, um... I mean let's say they did have access to all the equipment needed, how would they
figure out what XYZ supernatural fluid is if they have nothing to compare it to?
- They use and electron microscope to look at parasitic worms... which are perfectly visible under a regular
light microscope (like electron microscopes are only really used to look at the most minute of details... i.e.
DNA, receptor proteins on the post-synaptic terminal, ATOMS)
- Although they described CSF as "sludge" (which it isn't... I mean if it were you'd be dead and yes I know there
was some supernatural fuckery going on but regardless, dead human), they called the
ventricles in the brain "the brain sac" and that cracked me up and I'll use it on all my exams, so +0.5 stars
If you're the type of person who cares about who likes to bang what kind of genitalia or what someone's gender identity is, then just know that this book/web-series is chalk-full of LGBT+ rep (although LaFontaine is misgendered a few times... so just be prepared for that).
Overall, watch the series, don't bother with the book.

This adaptation of the popular web series, Carmilla, is faithful to the original storyline created there, but it looses some of its charm being rendered in novel format. The glimpse into the psyche of the characters is not enough to truly overcome this loss. A neat book to have, but not one likely to fly off library shelves.

This was such a great adaptation from the youtube series! This book translated the spunkiness of the characters and showed the chemistry of the characters wonderfully! Definitely recommend this book to fans of the series.

I would like to thank Kids can Press and the Netgalley website for this partnership. This book is the adaptation of the web series "Queer vampires". It's a cross between Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Having escaped the boredom of her small town, Laura is a first year student at Silas University. Her roommate Betty disappears and Carmilla moves in next to Laura in her student room. She decides to investigate her friend's disappearance. She will learn that Betty is not the first to disappear but the first not to return. All over the campus girls disappear but when they come back they are completely changed. Laura will feel in her dreams a suffocating darkness, and see a strange pale silhouette haunting her room. She will get closer to the truth but the tension will rise a notch with Carmilla. Does she know more about these disappearances? What's Laura gonna do if her roommate isn't human?

A book read in one go, so much so that I'm hooked on the story, so captivating, addictive and full of suspense and twists and turns with endearing characters. It makes me want to see the web series.

The only reason Carmilla managed two stars because it's basically a telenovela and who can stop reading/watching one of those?! Other than that, it's not a top pick by any means. At best, it's a B-rated horror movie with lesbians and vampires. It's confusing at times but lots of drama to keep you around.

I thought I was interested in this book, but not as much as I thought, I had too much hype for this book then when it came around to reading it, Carmilla bu Kim Turrisi didn't live up to the hype.

I liked it, it was a quick and easy read. I adored Laura and Carmilla. Caura? is that the ship word? i have no idea. It had it's ups and downs and things i disliked, but all in all. i liked it.

Been a fan of this web series for a long time so I was excited when this was announced, a deep dive into some of the best characters, yes please. This did not disappoint at all!

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ll admit, I have never ever seen Carmilla so I had no idea what I was getting into. But I quickly learned this isn’t my cup of tea. I really hope this is nothing like the tv show, or else I fear for humanity.

Having seen the webseries, this is a transcript of it. I wanted some Carmilla and Laura, and this book appeased me.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!