Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for the digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

Holy hell. What a ride.

Being a retelling of Carmilla, and being one who has recently read other retellings of Carmilla, I found this predictable but never once disappointing.

I was not expecting a descent into madness like this one. All the readers who love an “unhinged woman” book vis a vis Mona Awad or Ottessa Moshfegh, Kat Dunn is your new obsession.

I know I’m looking up Dunn’s entire backlist after this.

4.5/5: Lenore is a perfect housewife who will do anything to please her husband and keep his temper benevolent. Henry, wants to climb the societal ladder at any cost. Together they host a hunt on an estate in the wilderness of the moors. Before reaching their destination they encounter a carriage accident holding an unconscious woman. Bringing her in, the woman becomes a danger to the life Lenore has built for herself. Soon, Lenore starts to hunger for something more.

I rather enjoyed this rendition of a vampire. So often today, vampires are no longer shrouded in the horror and mystery that they used to be in. This novel gives the horror of what a vampire is supposed to be - a ghost whose hunger is never satiated.

There were moments I felt truly terrified and moments where I felt Lenore’s anger. Truly a captivating read from front to back.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Hungerstone" is a haunting and atmospheric novel that masterfully blends Gothic elements with a deeply intimate and eerie narrative. The prose is lush and evocative, immersing the reader in the unsettling yet seductive world of the story.

The novel excels in creating an atmosphere of dread and mystery. Through its isolated setting and vividly described scenes, Hungerstone pulls you into a shadowy realm where reality and the supernatural blur. The narrative is marked by its slow-building tension, favoring psychological unease over overt horror. Its exploration of themes like desire, trust, and the unknown gives the story an emotional depth that resonates long after you are done with it.

Dunn's ability to craft complex, enigmatic characters adds further intrigue, ensuring the book lingers after you close it, that you won't be able to forget it so easily.

It's the perfect book for fans for vampire literature, offering a love story that will definitely haunt you.

If there’s two things I love it’s feminine rage and sapphic vampires and this book had a little of both. It did start out kind of slow and it took me a bit to really get invested but I ended up really enjoying this by the end.

Carmilla reimaginings will always work for me and this book is no different. The exploration of being a woman and having a hunger for something greater was executed impeccably. The moments where this book leans into being more horror really drive this theme home. This book really speaks to how being a woman or femme disenfranchises you, and in the case of white woman places you on a pedestal if you're willing to conform. If you want to read a book that expresses feminine rage with a sapphic and horror twist this is a must read.

CW: Gore, death of a bird on page, cannibalism, on page death and murder, blood, pica

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, a big thank you for the advance reader copy of this book. I was extremely excited to read it, and it didn't disappoint. In fact, this is one of the most captivating reads I've picked up this year.

A feminist reimagining of Carmilla, Hungerstone is a gothic, sapphic romance and it swept me into its dark, seductive world, blending forbidden love, eerie secrets, and an atmosphere so rich you can almost taste the moors (IYKYK).

Lenore is trapped in a loveless marriage to Henry, a steel magnate whose ambition knows no bounds. Their move to the isolated Nethershaw manor should be a fresh start, but it only deepens the chasm between them.

Enter the mysterious Carmilla, and Lenore becomes drawn to her in ways she can't explain -- or resist.

The novel brilliantly intertwines themes of power, desire, and the weight of buried truths. As Lenore unravels her family's dark secrets and grapples with her growing hunger for Carmilla, the story builds to an unforgettable crescendo.

On top of it all, this writing is chef's kiss. I devoured every word, pun intended.

Hear me when I say this. 2025 will be the year that vampires books return. It will also be the year of sapphic vampires in particular! This retelling of Carmilla was fascinating! I really enjoyed the premise and the slow build!

I am just so happy to be back in this genre so often!!!

4.5 stars!

I am a sucker for sapphic vampires and Kate Dunn did not disappoint. This was the perfect rework of the original Carmilla, a classic that is highly underrated, and Hungerstone did a beautiful job at bringing its story back to life with enough uniqueness to make it feel like its own novel. Full of desire, rage, hunger and revenge. So immersive and beautifully crafted. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Highly recommend adding it to the top of your 2025 TBR!

Trigger Warnings: body gore, death, eating disorders, violence and murder.

hungerstone ultimately finished strong but took me half the book to get invested. the difficult start was largely due to confusion around leonore’s back story and why i should care about her relationships with her husband, carmilla, and cora. pretty much everyone was painted as a villain without substance. i would’ve liked to see more about/from carmilla- even if that ruins some of her vampire mystery. this book is pretty explicitly sapphic which is a nice update from the original but keeps the gothic writing style.

on a personal note: in 2022 i read carmilla for the first time, specifically the edition with notes by carmen maria machado. this is years after my love for the 2014-2016 Carmilla youtube web series produced by U by Kotex. a sapphic vampire story will always be compelling to me for reasons of fear and desire.

thanks zando and netgalley for the eARC.

This was such a wonderful take on empowerment, autonomy and reclaiming hidden desires. Took me a while to finish it but it delivered everything i was hoping it would!

I'm a sucker for book covers that are famous painting, Lesbians, Vampires, and Lesbian Vampires and this was so fun! I loved the way this engaged with the Carmilla story and I will absolutely be picking more up by Kat Dunn.

It's almost difficult for me to review this because Kat Dunn has a way of writing books that resonate so deeply with me. It feels almost too personal, too vulgar to discuss, as recommending her work feels like inviting someone to look into a piece of my soul.

The story is fantastically well researched historical fiction (there are notes at the end of the book discussing what books were studied to write this novel) and the language used truly transports you to the era.

Dunn understands the depth of female rage in a very special way. The quiet violence that women endure, often along with real violence and how it warps them. She perfectly captures the power dynamics in a marriage and how it leads to strain and resentment and how a life can be sucked away because of that lack of balance. The slow building realisation Lenore has through the book of what her marriage truly is had my stomach twisted into knots.

This is a Carmilla retelling and I love the way Carmilla is used in this story as a physical manifestation of Lenore taking control of her life and her clawing hunger for more.

Dunn writes about loneliness in a way that no other writer I've read has been able to achieve. I found myself weeping heavily towards the end of the book during a scene where Lenore laments her lonely life.

I'd recommend this book to anybody who loves sapphic stories, historical fiction, gothic horror, discussions on the female experience and loneliness and satisfying stories of female rage and the hunger for more.

Alright this is going to be an embassingly dumb review...

Before submitting a request I typically read both the description here and on Goodreads. Between the two, I was under the impression the reworking would include there being less vampires... Again, dumb in retrospect.

So for that reason I'm only rating as a 3 on here, and won't be rating on GR or Storygraph or anywhere else I typically would as my not enjoying this was a "me" problem.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Kat Dunn & Zando for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

A slow burn gothic horror, reimagining the Carmilla and vampire mythos. Rich atmosphere and silky smooth prose pull you into a sapphic vampire romance, combined with a searing feminine rage.

“To be a woman is a horror I can little comprehend”

If your hunger is fed through beautiful prose, sapphic vampires, feminine rage, and eerie, gothic settings then you will eat this up. Don’t read sapphic vampires and go in expecting just a fantasy or romance tale though- this is an atmospheric historical literary fiction. Hungerstone’s sapphic vampires are lurking in the shadows and occasionally slinking out to sink their teeth into you as a reminder of how hungry women can really be. For desire, for power, for control, for release, and for revenge… and he had it coming.

Thank you to Kat Dunn, Zando publishing and Net Galley for serving me a digital ARC that has left me thoroughly satiated.

This was a well crafted, slow building horror book. The author takes a classic story and adds a unique, spin on it. I loved the misdirection. When you think you have a mystery figured out, you don’t. I enjoyed the exploration of dark desires and Lenore’s desperate want to be heard and seen while being forced to remain small. Even after the book ended, I remained hungry for more.

HUNGERSTONE is a story about a woman who is fed up, hungry, and empowered to no longer put up with crap from men or society.

Our main character Lenore learns female rage from our dearest spooky Carmilla and has all the gothic vibes too. Also, you can never go truly totally wrong with gothic vampire lesbians because, apparently that was what I needed to get out of my reading slump!

Let me just say this upfront: sapphic vampires will always have my heart. I devoured this book (pun intended), and Kat Dunn’s take on the Carmilla story is everything I didn’t know I needed. It’s dark, sensual, and packed with tension—both the romantic kind and the “something terrible is definitely lurking in the shadows” kind.

Lenore is such a fascinating protagonist. She’s trapped in this stifling marriage to Henry, weighed down by secrets and expectations, and you can feel her yearning for something more. Enter Carmilla. She’s the perfect mix of seductive and eerie, with that classic vampire allure, but what really stands out is how she stirs something so primal and liberating in Lenore. Their chemistry is intense, and every interaction between them had me holding my breath.

The story is rich with gothic atmosphere—Nethershaw manor practically oozes with dread, and the Industrial Revolution setting adds this extra layer of greed and hunger (both literal and metaphorical). It’s a smart, haunting backdrop that mirrors Lenore’s internal struggles beautifully.

What I loved most, though, is how this book reclaims the lesbian vampire trope. It doesn’t reduce Carmilla to a one-dimensional seductress but gives her real depth and agency. The way Lenore’s unraveling past intertwines with her growing desire for Carmilla makes the story feel so much bigger than just a retelling.

If I had to nitpick, the pacing occasionally slowed in places, especially during Lenore’s reflections, but honestly, that’s a small price to pay for how immersive the rest of the book is.

If you’re into gothic horror with a sapphic twist (and, honestly, who isn’t?), Hungerstone is a must-read. It’s eerie, it’s lush, and it’s the kind of book that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.

stunning stunning stunning. the sapphics win again! this was absolutely gorgeous and one thing about me is that i will ALWAYS eat up a carmilla retelling. her fresh take was so intriguing, and this is one of those books i will return to time and time again.

I came for the promised sapphic vampire romance and...

Well, I stayed because GOOD FOR HER 👏👏👏

Imo, this was a lot less about being queer in Victorian England, and more about surviving in a patriarchal society, women's agency and (lack of) rights. This is great if that's what you're looking for, but I was hoping for a dark, gothic romance between a vampire and a human that's so toxic that it straddles the line between sexy and ick.

And because of that, I'm honestly kind of disappointed tbh.

I'll admit, I loved that the author did a lot of research on workers' rights, the steel industry, the industrial revolution, and Victorian England in general. You can tell that the author really cared about writing an authentic story, and I applaud her for it. This was definitely a labor of love.

But other than that, I wasn't really too impressed with the story itself. While I liked Lenore's character arc, it read pretty tropey. The other important characters also read very tropey. You've got the husband doing secretive things behind his wife's back, the fake friend who might or might not be having an affair with the husband, and Carmilla, the femme fatale that read like the typical stock character.

Honestly, it was all very predictable. You've seen this play out a hundred times before in books, tv shows, movies, etc.

I kept hoping that it'd lean more on the toxic relationship between Carmilla and Lenore, but while their slowburn relationship did happen on page, it read more like a metaphor for Lenore's self-discovery. Their relationship didn't feel concrete. Carmilla was just there, egging Lenore on while being a freeloader at Nethershaw.

I wanted a lot more longing, a lot more angst, and definitely a lot more lesbian vampire action.

Thank you to Zando and NetGalley for this arc.