5/5 stars. Absolutely amazing. I could not put this down. I had to eat dinner and I was reading the whole time.

Now that I devoured this, I understand why everyone is mentioning female rage in reference to this book. I was internally raging for Lenore!!

After ten years of marriage to Henry and no child on the way, Lenore feels the weight of burden strike their relationship. As Lenore and Henry prepare to host a special hunt, it brings up memories of the prior hunt and the secret that they've both been keeping since then.

Their lives get thrown for a twist when a carriage accident nearby brings a mysterious Carmilla to their home. As they offer Carmilla shelter to recover, they notice that she is sickly and weak during the day, but becomes much more lively during the night. Carmilla becomes a thorn in Henry's side as she works to help Lenore find herself. Lenore is hungry and needs to eat.

This is a beautiful retelling of Carmilla. The prose is stunning and makes you feel as though you're in the story yourself. There are so many amazing quotes from this book that I wish I could share. The story is atmospheric, mysterious, and tense. The characters were written extremely well. The characters that we're meant to love, I loved and the ones we're meant to hate, I certainly hated. While this is a slow-burn romance, the rest book certainly didn't feel slow to me. And the wait was well worth it. I love that this story dove into the problems with gender roles and expectations that are imposed on women. It was a beautiful story of Lenore's self-discovery and acceptance of herself, flaws all included.

The ending of this book was amazingly poetic. I left this story feeling overwhelming satisfaction and I can tell that this is a book that I will reread one day. This book isn't your typical horror novel, even though it is tagged as such. Please don't go into this book expecting scares. The horror comes more from the atmosphere and the depravity of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for sending me an eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I immediately preordered this book upon finishing reading.

TW: Gore, death, blood, vomit, gaslighting, violence, infertility, cannibalism, misogyny, murder, toxic relationship, confinement, infidelity, sexual content, death of parent

This is a book I loved for its subtleties as much as for its loud elements. It's easy to focus on the rage, the blatant injustice, the hunger, but I really appreciated the ways in which this book portrayed the quiet horrors of being a woman, among other things.

I have read Carmilla a while ago and I can't remember anything so I can't make a direct comparison of the two, and I think I haven't read any of the other books the authors that Kat Dunn took inspiration from. But I loved this and I feel like it came from such a raw place that if you've ever experienced 1% of what the protagonist has lived through you can't help but immerse in the story as if you're in it yourself. The writing was also exquisit and I can't but recommend this.

Kat Dunn’s Hungerstone is a spellbinding gothic thriller—lush, eerie, and brimming with forbidden hunger. Lenore, trapped in a loveless marriage, finds her world upended when the enigmatic Carmilla arrives, awakening cravings she can no longer ignore. As the moors grow darker and village girls fall ill, Lenore’s desires tangle with danger, leading to an unshakable reckoning.

Dunn’s prose is rich and atmospheric, layering Victorian repression with queer longing and simmering rage. The novel pulses with themes of female autonomy and the terrifying cost of wanting more. Tense, intoxicating, and beautifully written, Hungerstone is a bold reimagining of Carmilla, reclaiming gothic horror with a voice both feral and exquisite. It lingers long after the last page—dark, defiant, and utterly consuming.

I’ve been very excited about this book ever since I heard of it because ‘Carmilla’ by Sheridan Le Fanu is one of my favourite works of 19th century literature, for very obvious reasons. I read it when I was too old to be considered a teenager but too young to be considered any kind of adult. It was very formative and I read it because I saw a review comparing it to Dracula, which also has a lot of homoerotic subtext. In ‘Hungerstone,’ the figure of Carmilla makes an appearance here as a grown woman and fleshed-out character.

Most interesting to me was the language used to describe Carmilla in the early weeks when Lenore gazes upon her—the language of eyes, teeth, lips, skin, heat, cold, states of undress, a hypnotic voice, tearing meat, pointed words arrowed across the dinner table—which shows how much every interaction with her guest whether big or small affects her. Two-thirds of this book is a slow-burn with liberation as its end-goal.

Lenore’s reciprocal and honest relationship with Carmilla is what sets her free from the chains that she has lived with all her life, first as a neglected child, then a neglected orphan, and more recently a neglected wife. The natural next step is: revenge. I liked best how Lenore carries out her plan alone with no help from the supernatural. When she comes into her power, she does so as a hot-blooded fully human woman for whom the last straw propels her towards taking matters into her own hands, very literally—men think women weak but they forget that women have nails and teeth aplenty. he final act of this book was delicious and I relished every page. It’s always so gratifying to see a woman’s rage honed into a sharp weapon, so precise and exacting in its moves.

Full review on Substack 🖤 https://tinycl0ud.substack.com/p/hungerstone

🥀 Carmilla retelling
🥀 Gothic horror
🥀 Slow burn, lesbian romance

The writing is gorgeous. I highlighted so many passages. Lenore’s feelings of inadequacy, and people pleasing tendencies, resonated deeply with me. I could feel Lenore’s loneliness in my bones. Her pain, was my pain. Her yearning, my yearning. The madness freedom and clarity brought her was heart wrenching and I wanted so badly for her to have everything she wanted, and more. I loved Lenore, and Carmilla for setting her free. I loved the lavish descriptions of food. I loved the ending. I loved this book.

All I have to say is GET WHAT YOU DESERVE GIRL!!! I support women’s wrongs 🫶🏻

No but this book was so good and so infuriating at times also. I just got progressively angrier until I was screaming at the FMC to stand up for herself and allow herself to want things. I do feel some of the negative self-talk got a bit repetitive. But that ending made up for the frustration IMO!

The character development was deep and complex. It actually made me sad how much I related to Lenore’s feelings or destructive patterns at times - they were described with such accuracy. I started feeling everything the FMC was feeling and felt so connected to her. The writing style was weirdly addictive to read, despite this not being a fast-paced book.

Also as a heads up, there were some random vampiric innuendos but this is not a vampire story! It’s very much a historical literary fiction book with a gothic estate mystery/romance. There’s some aspects of horror as well which I loved, but may gross some people out.

This makes me wanna grab my girl best friends and just be completely wild and free 💕

“Poor Lenore Crowther, so terribly sad about the inconvenience of her own murder.”
Ok so when is this/Carmilla in general getting the 2024 Nosferatu treatment?
This book is so tense, sexy, and dirty I’m obsessed. Literally a perfect example of gothic fiction - the tension between what Lenore wants and what she thinks she must do for her husband/society, the way Carmilla allows her to finally reach her most base desires… plus the class commentary!!! PERFECT for your vampire hang over plus lesbians so who doesn’t want that??
5 stars I need to read everything Kat Dunn has written

As an educator, a reader, and a student of English literature, I have a really deep connection with Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla. I was a little bit hesitant going into this just because I love the original so much, and when I first started reading I was getting very very caught up on what the author decided to change versus didn’t, things like names and ages and further context. However, as I read on, I began to love this book in a very similar way to how I love the original Carmilla. I absolutely love that the author chose to keep Carmilla’s character essentially the same, and so many of the additional scenes have become so important to me, particularly the hunger stone and Lenore’s confrontation with Henry.

🩸 Female Rage & Retribution
🤍 Slow Burn Sapphic Romance
🩸 Carmilla Retelling/Reworking
🤍 Atmospheric + Horror Vibes
🩸 Victorian Setting

This is a book that you can really sink your teeth into.

If, like me, you hunger for female rage and retribution, this book delivers. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I put it down, and (it feels early to say this BUT) I think it will be a top contender for my favourite reads of 2025.

Now, I actually haven't read Carmilla, and the vampire *thing* played a more minor role than I had anticipated, but I think that this feminist and queer reworking was brilliant.

This book is going to speak to the people-pleasers of the world, and it will speak to the women who feel like they've had to reduce themselves to fill a role. It will speak to the women who have ever felt like they're playing a part because they feel that who they are at the core isn't worthy of being loved.

I could go on. I could describe the poetic prose. I could talk about the perfectly built atmospheric setting. I could tell you about the slow-burn romantic tension and the perfectly structured yearning between Lenore (FMC) and Carmilla. I could reminisce about the horror elements and mysteries intertwined with the story itself. I could rave about all of the metaphors used therein. I could probably write a novel about this book if I tried... but I think that you should just read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sad, haunting, gothic, a beautiful exploration of character and trauma. This period piece feels timeless (there is never a bad time for vampires & lesbians)

Hungerstone is a gothic, slow-burn revenge story, following Lenore, a perfect wife. Well except for her childlessness and trauma of course. She begins to question everything as Carmilla enters her life. What she thought she desired is not where her hunger calls her.

This book was quite repetitive and slow for the first 65% of the book. Much of the flashbacks and build-up wasn't as affective as I would have hoped. While the atmosphere is there and the characters well developed, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. Trauma patterns don't really work the way they were presented in the book. Lenore came off as too smart and too dumb at the same time, and it was frustrating to read.

When the plot climaxed it was quite exciting and satisfying to read, and I enjoyed the ending with the nuanced depictions of revenge.

As someone who read this for the lesbian vampirism, and not the historical gothic aspect, I have to say I am disappointed overall. Especially with how little there was of both the lesbianism and vampirism. The opening scene with the blood, was impactful in a way the book couldn't live up to.

Despite my critique and frustrations, I had fun and made me more curious to read Carmilla.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Zando for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Hungerstone is a dark, horror story with overtones of Carmilla and Bram Stoker's Dracula. The main character, Lenore was left in the care of a distant Aunt when her parents were tragically killed in a carriage accident which Lenore remarkably survived. A strict upbringing instilled in Lenore a very controlled way of behaving to be accepted in society and to secure a good match. She catches the eye of Henry who is a rich businessman and they are quickly married. It is not a love match, but one of understanding for rising through higher social circles and securing an heir. With no heir in sight, however, and a terrible secret between them, Lenore descends into anger at the life that has been robbed from her.

Enroute to their country home of Hethershaw, which is crumbling and decrepit, they are met with a carriage accident which brings Carmilla into their care. Carmilla proves to be what she wants to be and does what she wants to the utter shock of those she meets. Lenore is expected to be the lady of the house and oversee its restoration, staff, and various parties. Despite the scandalous behaviour of Carmilla, Lenore is attracted to her and what she represents. Lenore has been starved in all manner of ways: her needs, wants, desires, affection, love. She is trapped by everyone else's ideals of who she should be and the hunger that is awakened inside of her fuels a burning anger to gain control of her life.

She is made by the life she's been trapped into, trying to please her husband who has unethical business practices and sinister intentions. Lenore must take things into her own hands. This is a dark tale of anger, hunger and the demands on women that override their own needs and desires.

This is not a fast moving plot, but if you enjoy character development you'll like this one.

I didn't know what to expect when I began reading this book. It was a ride that I would take again! I thought this book was excellent.

Hungerstone is like A Dowry of Blood, Jane Eyre, and Rebecca all wrapped up in one perfect, slightly more gruesome novel. I absolutely adored it. I love NOTHING more than a good revenge plot, especially when it's about a woman scorned. I'll just devour it! I hunger for it like our sweet Lenore. I started 2024 with vampires, now 2025 with vampires, and maybe this is how I’ll kick off my reading year every year. This was a fabulous Carmilla retelling! Huge thanks to NetGalley and Zando for an ARC of Hungerstone. I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy to add to my shelves. Best ARC I’ve read in a while!

Thank you to Zando and NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

Lenore is an excellent Gothic heroine. She is held hostage by the whims of her husbands and the expectations of high society. She finds herself alone, and numbs herself to her needs as a survival mechanism. Having survived an awful childhood and spent ten years forcing herself into a mold of her husband’s design, she no longer recognizes her own wants or needs. After a clandestine meeting with a mysterious woman, Lenore is forced to confront herself and be honest with herself for the first time in her life. Finally, she is given permission to be hungry, to be emotional, and to be free.

I love that this book feels emotional and claustrophobic as Lenore is forced to fix a manor that is rotting faster than it can be put back together. Her husband alternates between distant and angry, with breadcrumbs of affection sprinkled throughout. The relationship feels realistically suffocating. I also love how themes of desire were explored in this book. I can’t imagine a more stifled group of people than the Victorian nobility, so watching Lenore break free was exhilarating.

It was also a fascinating choice to have the supernatural elements of the book be more subjective and vague. I think it found a perfect balance of fantasy and possibility; were these odd moments the work of a vampire, or simply the workings of a psychological break? Very cool choice.

Definitely recommend! Delicious and vindicating.

I have found that I respond very well to this style of book. Its ability to maintain a gothic vibe while pushing the concept of feminine rage is exactly what I love. This story had a way of drawing you along in anticipation without losing the finer details in the background. I would suggest this book to anyone who liked Dowery of Blood by ST Gibson and I would suggest this book to my audience as a whole.

4.5 stars but rounding it up.

This was exactly the book I needed to start off the year after watching Nosferatu January 1st.

Gothic horror, hunger, mystery, lesbians, vampires. This book had it all.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for gifting me with an eARC in exchange for a review.

Absolutely gorgeous prose. It's nice to see Carmilla getting attention, Dracula normally gets the lionshare of it. I found Dunn's prose heady and addictive. The gothic atmosphere she's crafted is wonderful. I do wish there had been some expansion in places, as I found myself wanting some more answers. Overall, a fantastic depiction of female rage, and a great retelling of Carmilla.

I too hunger for the blood of the patriarchy and the caress of a mysterious sapphic vampire

I know this is a retelling of Carmilla in many ways but it gives big Yellow Wallpaper vibes. A lovely book! Lots of man induced madness and feminine rage. There was a slump in the middle but the ending was delicious, and the gothic writing style really built up an atmosphere of dread and desire both.

I am from Sheffield and am well acquainted with the places and industrial history in the book so that was a fun aspect that I very much appreciated! Kat Dunn really captures the beauty and desolation of the moors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC!

Who doesn’t love a book oozing with female rage. This is an atmospheric and dark sapphic romance set in 1888, based around the iconic female vampire Carmilla. This book was everything I needed and more. Mysterious Carmilla suddenly becomes part of Lenore’s life and flips everything’s on its head. She stirs up a hunger in Lenore, opening her eyes to her husband’s behaviours, and her past tragedies. Unravelling her past, and with it uncovering the darkness, this book brings drama and gothic sapphic energy that you can’t not love.

I was lucky enough to read this ARC copy through NetGalley and what a bloody amazing book it is. Honestly get this on your TBR for when it’s released in February, @katdunn has done such a fabulous job with this book!