Thank you NetGalley, Kat Dunn and Zando for this ARC,



Hungerstone had an interesting premise and a beautiful cover, but the execution fell flat for me. The book was uneventful and predictable, the characters were…there, I guess, I neither liked or disliked any of them.

Also, it bears notice that although Hungerstone is a Carmilla retelling of sorts, Carmilla is hardly there. She comes, wreaks havoc, and goes away again; her character reminds me of a diaphanous curtain blowing in the wind, or a sapphic manic pixie dream girl. She serves as an instigator, and nothing more; and, oh, don’t get me started on Lenore. Lenore, our protagonist, spends her entire life (prior the book) thinking “oh, I’m so weak and meek”, then comes Carmilla saying “ Nah, girl, you are angry and powerful. Fight back”, and Lenore is like “Yeah, smash the patriarchy that kept me in chains!”, there's no natural progression.

Another thing is that this book falls victim to one of my least favorite tropes, like: She’s crazy, but not really (but actually she is). Lenore is so certain that she has everything figured out, just so that, at the last minute, the rug is pulled from under her yet again but, I couldn’t care less, because this yo-yo of “is she, isn’t she?” just made me not care about her. Plus, it did not help her case that she adopted a emo/edgelord attitude about things after meeting Carmilla that was very cringy, in my opinion. In addition, the relationship between Lenore and Carmilla is superficial, there’s no real connection there (again, imo); a bond was formed, yes, but why? Carmilla only pushed Lenore to do things and talked in riddles. Moreover, if I didn’t see Carmilla interacting with other characters, I would say that she’s actually a figment of Laura’s imagination.

To wrap it up, the character of Cora seems to exist just to make Lenore doubt herself, no more, no less. I agree that Cora’s behaviour was indeed really sketchy; she was naive and a tad self-serving, there was no need to keep things from Lenore, but still, she could have been a real friend to our protagonist. Cora’s death wasn’t really the #girlboss move that Lenore thought it would be, or a relief from the torment of not knowing, it was just sad, because Cora wasn’t really the problem, Henry was.

I went in with the best intentions but left feeling underwhelmed.🥺
- I usually love gothic horror, female rage, and vampire stories, but I felt disconnected from the plot, characters, and overall trajectory of this. I haven’t read Carmilla, so I can’t say how well it mirrors the original, but on its own, the writing felt too simplistic, with long stretches where nothing significant happened. For me, that only works if the narrative goes into poetic introspection, vivid atmosphere &/ moving characterization. I didn’t feel it did that much & the pacing dragged.
- Everything felt lackluster, with sprinkles of personality, making it hard to stay engaged.
- I needed MORE DEPTH & lyricism…less repetition of the same surface level points to fully buy into this.

HI THIS BOOK IS MY ENTIRE PERSONALITY NOW.

I'm obsessed.

While the inspiration of Carmilla is obvious, there's so much more at work here. A supernatural thriller with feminist fury beating on every page, making you question what it is you hunger for, and if you feel satiated.

Carmilla the character is quite frustrating, and that helps you dive deeper into sympathy with Lenore. Trapped by society, her marriage, her own trauma and isolation, and this one taste of hope and promise keeps dancing out of her reach. This is a story of a woman breaking out of her constraints and decimating everything that held her down. And even when some of it is terrible, you can't even blame her.

This feels like reading a classic gothic work in terms of location, cadence of the language, the mystery that we could articulate now but couldn't then, and yet I want to scream from the tors that more women need to read this.

Glorious. Darkly delightful.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando for this ARC Copy!

I LOVED this book so much. If you look at the cover and it makes you think, that looks like a book for me then what are you waiting for. Historical gothic horror is quickly becoming one of my favorite genres and this book solidifies my love. Sapphic Carmilla retelling steeped in feminine rage and revenge and so much tension set in a crumbling gothic manor. My only complaint about this book is that it is over. So far this is my favorite book I have read this year, I can not recommend it enough.

An enjoyable reimagining of Carmilla. Dark, gory, sensual...all in all an enjoyable read. I do think the story gets bogged down in the middle, and the overall pacing is a little slow for my taste, but once you get past that, it picks up again and doesn't stop until the end. It doesn't go quite as hard into feminine rage as I hoped it would, but still a very powerful story about female desire. Recommend.

For what do you hunger, Lenore?

This question is one that haunts the narrative. Lenore is a proper wife, stuck in a proper and unhappy marriage. She hungers for much, stifled in a time and marriage where her sole duty seems to be to provide children and legitimacy to her non-aristocratic husband (and she fails at the former). Her desire and need is palpable. The rage bubbling inside of her is felt in nearly every page. You rage FOR her. On the outside, it can be hard to see why Lenore is so enthralled with Carmilla - she's frankly a terrible houseguest. But when you put it into the context of Lenore's life, it makes perfect sense - Carmilla is what Lenore hungers. She hungers sex, to speak her mind, to be rid of her husband, to be rid of the constraints of society.

The prose of the novel was excellent, and this was a story that I lost track of time reading because I was so immersed.

I received this book as an e-arc, courtesy of NetGalley & Zando -- thank you so much for the opportunity to read this gothic historical fiction retelling of Carmilla. It's absolutely gorgeous!

I first wanted to read this when I saw it described as a Carmilla retelling. I read Carmilla in university for my BA, and I was so excited to see how it would be interpreted. Kat did an amazing job of telling a new story, and conveying allll the female rage, which of course, I'm always here for. The book reminded me of "mad woman" and "The Albatross" by Taylor Swift, and it was also giving some Lady Macbeth vibes. Obsessed with all of these things!

I love Kat Dunn's prose. She uses such gorgeous language to tell Lenore's story. The gothic atmosphere is developed so well, and there's so much anticipation, tension and uncertainty. Kat uses so many different elements to make this story so interesting and enthralling: the backdrop of the industrial revolution, the high-stakes maintenance of both Lenore's house and her husband, the odd dreams that Lenore has, the role of Cora... it all works so well!

As the story progressed, I thought a couple of times about A Dowry of Blood, which I recently read and loved. I think that if you loved Dowry, you'll probably love Hungerstone!

"To be a woman is a horror I can little comprehend."

"It is only the past. No more than many have endured."
"And yet so much more than you deserved."
3,75☆|5

Well, this was certainly a ride! We are here going for a gothic setting, lesbian vampire, revenge, and female rage in what I believe is a retelling of Carmilla (I haven't read that one yet, but it's on my TBR :) ) and what an intriguing premise.

It took me quite a long time to enter this one, as the pacing was slower than I was expecting. But when I had entered it? Oh, what a wonder. The author's style is very beautiful, and she masters the gothic setting nearly perfectly, making the atmosphere really peculiar and fascinating to enter and read.

This retelling is centred around Leonore, and even though it took me some time, she grew on me at some point. We follow her and the realization that she has lost her identity, her agency; we follow her anger, her rage, her hunger. We follow her as she tries to understand Carmilla, who played a minimal role in this book, all things considered.

In the end, I enjoyed this book, but maybe not as much as I expected. It was a bit too slow and long for my taste, but it's still definitely worth reading if gothic literature is something you enjoy! Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for the e-ARC; it'll be released on February 18th.

On nearly every page of this book were *the most* breathtaking lines I’ve ever read. We follow the story of Lenore, a lady of the upper class in Victorian England who’s task is to make hospitable a ruined manor in the moors. I felt each of Lenore’s tragedies as if they were my own, and Dunn’s worldbuilding positions you so well in the scene you can feel the heather brush against your feet and taste the creeping rot of the manor all around you. A divine feast & perfect addition to the gothic genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for an ARC!

I thought this was a wonderful Gothic novel slashed with the paranormal. To view female anger through a lens of hunger and in all ways this comes isn’t a new concept, but I think the author made it their own. She made it feral and hopeless and a little sexy, which I think is everything women need to explode into who they were meant to be.

"Pain takes me into its arms and makes a home in my body."

This was gorgeous, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Out of all the Carmilla Retellings I have read this is by far the best, not only does it do the original justice but it also feels so fresh and modern.

I loved how the author created such an atmospheric reading experience so necessary for any book in the gothic genre. It had tension and the slow build of impending doom shown in the characters but also the setting.

All the characters had me gripped, the ones you were supposed to hate you did and those you were supposed to empathise with you also did.

The story was so enchanting and I couldn't help myself from turning every page, the twists I didn't see coming and the pacing was perfect.

I think what I also loved was how although it is set in the 1800s and the problems women had back then slightly differ to todays issues it was still so deeply relevant today and had so much female rage brimming throughout.

I will say, if you are picking this up because of vampires. Don't because it is such a minor part of the story and honestly this book is so much more than that.

I do think my only critique was how Lenore and Carmilla perhaps lacked chemistry ever so slightly for me. I wanted more from them. Out of all the characters Carmilla seemed the most one dimensional.

If you love books about female rage, you need to add this one to your tbr

sapphic vampires x female rage, yeah this book was good. the first 30% dragged a bit and i struggled to get into it, and i wish we had more Carmilla scenes! overall, glad i read it!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

“What is a monster but a creature of agency?”
Oh she ate with this one.
Huge thank you to NetGalley and Zando Projects for access to the e-arc of this novel!

This was everything I have been looking for in the “unhinged/feral/angry woman” sub genre of books that have seemed to become increasingly popular recently. Of the many books that have promised me a subversion of the “crazy woman” stereotype, Hungerstone did it best.

I have to confess that I have not read Carmilla and probably will not be able too now because my image of the property is formed entirely around Hungerstone now.

This was a beautiful rewriting full of heart, emotion, and most of all, hunger.
Asking the age old question of “is it wrong to be hungry? Or is it in our nature.”

“How much better to make them all regret knowing me.” A study in petty yet absolutely justified bitchery, truly.

3.5 stars. "hungerstone" by kat dunn offers a compelling reworking of the sapphic classic, "carmilla" with a narrative that explores themes of hunger—hunger for power, for agency, and for emotional fulfillment. set against the backdrop of the moors during the industrial era, it follows lenore, the wife of a steel magnate, who is preparing to host her husband's hunting party. in the midst of her preparations, a carriage accident near their remote home brings the mysterious carmilla into her life.

"what is a monster but a creature of agency?"

i loved the book, but what truly intrigued me was the heavy emphasis on the sapphic aspect (or lack thereof). carmilla's character is reimagined not just as a figure of queer desire but as a force of feminism, planting "impossible, maddening thoughts" in lenore's mind that challenged 'convention'. while the book contains elements of sapphic love, this particular retelling emphasizes the invocation of female rage, which I absolutely loved. don't get me wrong; it just wasn't what i was exactly expecting.

additionally, i found myself trying to find the purpose of certain flashbacks. they left me confused and, honestly, at times just feeling uninterested. overall though "hungerstone" is an engaging and interesting read. it may take some time to fully get engrossed in story, but once you do, the journey is rewarding!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A darkly decadent retelling of a centuries old classic. A delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the unravelling that occurs when you’ve been silenced all your life.

A desperate and exquisite tale of vulgarity and desire that will not be for the faint of heart.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐧

This reimagining of the vampire classic Carmilla shifts focus from supernatural horror to themes of female rage, gender roles, patriarchy, and class struggles, with surprisingly few vampires. If the original left you wanting more explicit sapphic tension, this book delivers.

At its core, it’s a slow-burn revenge story set in a haunting Victorian world. While the atmospheric beginning is captivating, the slow pacing causes the middle to drag before an explosive conclusion.

Carmilla’s presence awakens a sensual darkness in Lenore, but she ultimately feels more like a plot device than a fully realized character. Her relationship with Lenore could have been explored more deeply, making her role in the story feel more substantial.

Despite these shortcomings, the novel offers a fresh, feminist take on the classic tale with a dark, brooding atmosphere and a compelling look at power and desire.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Zando for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

kat dunn i love you so much

this writing? fantastic. the atmosphere? haunting. immaculate. the vibes? eerie. the tension? mwah. the characters were so well written, particularly lenore, and she's bestie. that's my girl. sometimes you just gotta kiss a vamp or two to break out of your boredom.

the pacing felt a bit uneven at times, with some parts dragging a bit for me, but that's a minor thing.

I mistakenly did this to myself last year by reading a Frankenstein retelling - and wishing I had just read Frankenstein. I feel the same way now - I wish I had just read Carmilla instead.

That said, there are good ideas here and tackling women's autonomy in a gothic setting with sapphic hints seems like you should have all you need to get to dive into some great feminism commentary. But Lenore's husband (and even her "friend" Cora) are such villains, there's no real nuance to this story. It's a slow, slow build to get to the good stuff.

The end is a wild fun ride though. Might be worth the slow burn in the beginning.

A bit disappointed with this one - wanted waaaay more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC for this book!

With more storylines and a greater emphasis on female wrath, this book is a reinterpretation of the vampire classic Carmilla. Hungerstone satiated my hunger for a good sapphic vampire book, so to speak. I can't even put into words how much I enjoyed this book. A slow-burning tale of retribution set against a moody and eerie Victorian backdrop, Hungerstone shows that you cannot dictate the life of a woman who knows what she deserves and what she wants.