I absolutely devoured Hungerstone - pun absolutely intended. Kat Dunn crafts a deliciously gothic atmosphere in this Carmilla retelling, weaving together themes of feminine rage, desire, and liberation against the backdrop of Industrial Revolution-era England.

Dunn's prose is gorgeously atmospheric, though some might find the pacing a bit slow in the middle sections. However, the slow burn serves a purpose, really letting us feel Lenore's suffocation and gradual awakening to her own power. While I would've loved to see more development of Carmilla's character and her relationship with Lenore, the focus on Lenore's journey from dutiful wife to embracing her own dark desires makes for a compelling narrative. If you enjoy gothic horror with a feminist bite, queer themes, and atmospheric writing that makes you feel like you're wandering misty moors at midnight, this one's for you.

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

Okay, this was by far one of the best thrilling, sapphic, vampiric historical fiction works that I have read in a long while. These elements combined into one story exceeded my expectations, and allowed me to transform into a world where I felt engrossed from start to finish. I highly recommend this book to someone who wants to enjoy a taste of hungry, sapphic indulgence and revenge within a historical setting.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Zando for an early-access copy in exchange for an honest review.

Orphaned as a child, Lenore is married to Henry, a cruel and greedy steelwork owner. On the way to their estate outside of Sheffield, they chance upon Carmilla, an outrageous and enigmatic stranger. With no children to care for, and trapped in a loveless marriage, Lenore longs for freedom.

Hungerstone is a bloody, feminist gothic novel. Lenore is anything but the Victorian wilting heroine. Alongside Carmilla, who brings a modern voice, the two women bring kick-ass energy. I love the mix of the classic 19th century setting, the modern feminist overtones and the twist of the gothic overtones. It was an addictive read.

I'm in my gothic fantasy era and this book was the perfect addition. Dark, twisted, weird. The prose was gorgeous and I loved the haunting feel of the narration. I've never read a Kat Dunn book before, but this inspired me to look into her backlist.

Most historical fictions have a little bit of a slow pick up, and that's true of Hungerstone as well. However, once we were in the thick of things, I went absolutely FERAL for this exquisitely crafted story of hunger, violence, power, and revenge.

I've been *very* here for the lesbian vampire retellings lately, and this version of Carmilla certainly delivered on that note. The tension between Lenore and Carmilla was so intertwined with violence and gore and hunger in a way that was darkly riveting and sensual.

I'm a firm believer that the difference between a good vampire novel and a bad one is whether or not they interrogate the original themes that vampire stories grew out of. The recent Nosferatu movie did this well in its exploration of female sexuality and desire - which we also see in Hungerstone through a more queer lens.

One aspect of vampire stories that can sometimes go unappreciated, but that Hungerstone does beautifully, is the *hunger* side of desire, of wanting, of craving and need. Dunn's writing is so visceral in its exploration of hunger, from food to sex to power to revenge. It sits in the pit of your stomach as you read, forcing you to confront the desire so eloquently communicated in its pages.

This was a stellar read. Thank you to Zando and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Lenore Crawther and her husband Henry Crowther, a steel magnate, move to their Nethershaw estate. On their way there, they encounter an accident where they find and take home a stranger by the name of Carmilla Kernstein. They know nothing about her but will take care of her until she recovers. Stranger things begin to happen at the estate, involving young girls and women acting out their desires and hunger. Lady Lenore begins to realize, thanks to Carmilla, that Henry isn't a good husband. He may also be plotting Lady Lenore's demise, even though she holds many of his evil secrets. But with the help of Carmilla, Lenore will wake up to a hunger she has never felt before. And this hunger will lead to her awakening but first she must surpass many trials,including staying alive because Henry has other plans for her.

Hungerstone will have you craving things you've always wanted but never allowed yourself to have. An entertaining and delicious story of a seductive femme fatale vampire and her naive protege.

Thank you Netgalley and Zando for this delectable read!

Thank you, NetGalley, Zando, and Kat Dunn!

This book is a master class in being able to *taste* the tension in writing. I often have problems reading historical fiction because of the violent disgust I feel for men, but whoa was it worth it for the feminine rage in this. The consistent tone of 'hunger' in this resonated so much.
The pacing was slower in this, but I kind of just expect that with atmospheric, gothic tales.
Definitely recommend!

I LOVED this!

From the start, Kat Dunn does an excellent job of creating a quiet, ominous atmosphere and later her scenery and symbolism wrap you up in Lenore's world when by all means they should be hitting you on the head.
The tension between everyone is palpable and I was near holding my breath waiting for dutiful Lenore to snap. I could feel her pain, her hunger, her disgust, her lust. I was discomforted by Carmilla but I wanted more, just like Lenore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Publishing for this ARC copy of Hungerstone.
My review is entirely my own and honest opinion.

Hungerstone promises a fast-paced story of female rage, survival in a patriarchal society, revenge, a "good for her" ending, and a bit of queerness.
This is the story of a woman who has endured more than she ever deserved, and realizes that she is owed so much more in life.

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

It had me hooked from the first few lines and I ATE IT UP. Seriously, could not put this down and I know I will be thinking about this for the rest of my life. We see a woman, who has traded her happiness in exchange for what she thinks is security in life. Only ever acting within means of survival. Until she meets another woman who awakens a hunger within her: the ability and the freedom to simply want. Throughout the book, we get to see Lenore taking her life into her own hands and finally getting everything she is due.

Lenore was really in her "ultra despair girl" era, drowning in self pity, and I was right there absorbing all of it. Seeing MYSELF in it. I have never felt more connected to a character than I do to her. The message of this book, this reoccurring theme of hunger as a metaphor for want and yearning, is so special to me as I am sure many women can relate to feeling like they have a role in life they must play and CANNOT stray from. I loved getting to see a woman lift herself from the grips of perpetual loathing, break free from the shackles of fear of the unknown, and simply take her happiness.

5 stars. I would rate it 6 if I could, and I will be hearing no criticism thank you.

This was fine. To start with the good, the author was great at creating an atmospheric experience and making things feel super weird when they got super weird. She also created good and strange tension between Carmilla and Lenore, which was really fun. But overall, I just felt like the story lacked a whole lot of Carmilla for being a rework of Carmilla. She felt like background noise in this novel, and the magnitude of her influence over Lenore was both unclear and not as compelling as it needed to be for me to believe that it had affected Lenore in the way that it did. Also, I think the boundaries could have and should have been pushed further on the feminine rage aspect. We lived so much in Lenore’s head with her that we all suffered from the lack of action put forth. Not saying it needed to be gorier, but I think Lenore had every right to crash the hell out and I fear she really did not get to bask in the glory of that to its full extent.

This was sooooooo slow. I wanted all the vibes and all the lesbian vampires but could absolutely not get into this one. The gothic vibes were amazing and the writing was good. It just was too slow for me

I was not the biggest fan of the pacing of Hungerstone, finding that much of the book failed to keep my interest. Dunn's prose is quite nice, however, and I found the gothic atmosphere immersive enough to have at least enjoyed the vibes of the book. Unfortunately, I think I am just very underwhelmed and burnt out on vampire narratives, specifically the use of vampires as a metaphor for hunger and yearning. This is a trope that has been in so many books to have been released in the last two years or so. I think certain readers will find Hungerstone worth their time, but personally I have not really though about the book since finishing it.

Thank you to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy of this book! Hungerstone by Kat Dunn is a lusciously written work of fiction featuring everything I love: lesbians, vampires, and a moody setting. The inner workings of our main character, Lenore, are so fleshed out I felt connected to her in a way I haven’t found in a long time. Her everyday labours are tangible, despite predominately being the emotional and mental work demanded of women of her time (and today). I appreciated how thoroughly the author captured Lenore’s people pleasing nature, her fears, and her manufactured reality. I devoured the book in a matter of days, as the buildup of her slow revelations kept me chained to the narrative, hungry for an explosive and satisfying ending. However, the fifth star was unfortunately revoked due to the nature of that ending. It ultimately fell flat, where neither I nor Lenore seemed particularly satiated or even pleased with the anti-climatic resolution to her revenge. The relationship between her and Carmilla was not enough to conjure forgiveness in me, either, as I was definitely left wishing for more content in that regard. Despite this, I still believe it is worth the read.

If you enjoy atmospheric writing, vampires and female rage, you`ll love this!
Thank you to the publishers for the ARC for an honest review.

A decadent meal of a read.

HUNGERSTONE drags you deep into the peat and bog of its deliciously gothic setting. Haunting prose and the simmer of danger lurking in shadow make this a heart-pounding page turner. Readers will walk away FULLY sated.

I was sadly quite disappointed with this one. After absolutely loving Bitterthorn by the same author, I was so excited to read this Carmilla retelling and hoped it would have all the same Gothic charm and sapphic yearning that made her first book a five-star read for me. While this story definitely had a Gothic atmosphere, leaning further into the horror genre which I enjoyed, I felt like a lot of the emotional elements and dark queerness was missing.

I thought the story was still well-written, and I especially think that the slow pace was done perfectly and allowed for slow realisations to build up over the story. I also think that the characters were all well developed and the fact there were so few of them lent itself to the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere. The overall message as well was at least uplifting and empowering, and I thought Lenore was a great character whose internal conflict was engaging.

However, there was just so much about this story that didn’t work for me. Firstly, for something marketed so much as a sapphic retelling, I really didn’t think the sapphic elements of this were very strong. Lenore’s relationship with her husband is explored in far more depth than her relationship with Carmilla, and even her relationship with Carmilla felt more like a metaphor for her self-empowerment and desire than a genuine sapphic relationship between the two characters. Frankly, I just didn’t buy the chemistry between Lenore and Carmilla at all. They hardly interacted, and whenever they did, it was just infuriating, repetitive dialogue of Carmilla trying to get Lenore to articulate her desires while Lenore tried to convince herself she didn’t have any. This book felt far more interested in exploring a heterosexual marriage and capitalism during the industrial revolution than anything sapphic. There’s nothing wrong with this, except that this was presented so strongly as an LGBTQ+ book, and when the source material is such an influential piece of sapphic literature, I think it would have been nice to see this be a more important part of the plot. The vampirism element of the book was also pretty much nonexistent and none of the intrigue from the original Carmilla about her illness and origins is present. This was another disappointment for me as I was really hoping that a retelling could explore the vampirism more, adding more darkness and lore to it.

To be completely honest, I see no reason why this should have been a Carmilla retelling. The sapphic and vampiric elements feel like they were only included at the last minute so this could be marketed as a Carmilla retelling when in reality it’s just about an unhappily married couple with a few secrets during the Industrial Revolution and how the wife finds empowerment and learns to think for herself. It’s not a bad story by any means, but I feel like the way it was marketed is misleading, and if the marketing had been accurate I personally wouldn’t have picked it up. My recommendation would be just to read Carmilla instead.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I absolutely adore this book!

Hungerstone encapsulates everything about gothic horror I love: the gothic prose, the haunting atmosphere, the cast of unsettling characters, the gradual unravelling of sanity etc.

I loved how Hungerstone explore themes of female desire, and the relationship between Lenore and Carmilla. Lenore is reluctant to give in to, or even acknowledge, her desires, and Carmilla throws a wrench in her structured and orderly life, making her question everything. Lenore's character arc is so well-written, the way it progresses felt very natural, and it's easy to understand how she arrives to her decisions.

The way Lenore is written, she could have easily been a self-pitying damsel passively waiting for someone (Carmilla) to save her, but I was delighted to find that she takes charge of her narrative and is the one taking action.

I have to say, I love how "vampire-y" Carmilla is. I find that a lot of modern vampire books like to come up with their own takes on vampires, but Carmilla is a classic vampire; she is repelled by garlic and Christian symbols, and is legitimately weird and creepy.

I have zero critiques of this book. It is flawless from start to finish.

Oh, I adored this book so much! I liked Dunn's BITTERTHORN a great deal but HUNGERSTONE is pretty dang cosmic. It has a well-balanced mix of historical fiction, horror, sapphic romance, and revenge as a dish best-served cold. Lenore is one of the best and most well-written characters I've read in ages, and I was cheering her on through the whole book as she found her "hunger." Carmilla is such a good gateway drug,

HUNGERSTONE is a perfect read for those who are frustrated with the current state of the world and don't have a healthy place to channel those feelings of rage and hopelessness. This book will perk you right up and might make you daydream about ripping a politician or two's jugular out with your teeth.

Thank you to Zando and NetGalley for the ARC of HUNGERSTONE.

If you like
-gothic manors in secluded boards
-a marriage on the rocks
-lesbian vampires
-poison and revenge
-women rage
-historical fictions set in the 1800s
Than this Carmilla retelling is right up your alley
Be aware the following trigger warnings are included:
-adultery
-poison and attempted murder
-murder
-cannibalism
(There may be other triggers but these are the ones I recall)

5 stars
——————

This was the sapphic Carmilla retelling I needed this year. I was drawn by the cover and stayed for the story.

The vibes in this book were *chefs kiss* throughout. This book was creepy, gory and so much fun. The book felt so incredibly real and the writing was immersive. I didn’t want to check back into reality once I started this book. I waited impatiently the entire time I was away from it. The pacing was my only concern, as I sometimes felt like the book was taking too much time to climax. It happened a little too close to the ending for me. But I found I was okay with it, that it made sense in the end. The themes handled were relevant to the time and had such a deep meaning to the plot of the book.

The characters in this book were just as good as the story. You could feel every struggle, every moment of Lenore’s strive. Her relationships with the other characters are vivid, well handled. I loved the characterization of Carmella and her role within the story and in Lenore’s life.

Kat Dunn is a new author to me, but I will definitely be following for more. I cannot say enough good things about this book.