A reminder to manage one's expectations, because I was rooting for this and that's why it disappointed me so!!

Going into this, and during the first third or so, I was intrigued by its deviation from the original Carmilla: Lenore, our Laura, is older and has already been married for 10 years. However, where I thought Carmilla and Laura (another retelling) followed the source a little too closely, Hungerstone went too far in the other direction and even made Carmilla feel like a shockingly minor character. I personally didn't see the need for the story written here to use Carmilla's lore at all.

Aside from that I thought the characterisation was quite weak, the execution of its themes was heavyhanded/not satisfyingly developed, and the plot was predictable. I can really only think of one scene that surprised me/made me feel something.

✍️ I'm conflicted about the writing style because it can be gorgeous, but it got repetitive at times. A few sections here and there could have used more editing for my tastes. I also frequently thought that it feels like the author is notably trying to replicate old-fashioned Gothic/historical prose rather than it being natural. Another nitpick coming back to me from When We Lost Our Heads, but at least at a smaller scale, is the frequency of "as though"/"it is as though" in the prose which I feel is tied to this point of trying to sound historical.

🎧 Perdita Weeks' voice is lovely and so fitting for historical fiction. My one and only gripe was that for mostly me-related reasons the voice put on for Carmilla's dialogue was grating. Objectively I can recognise it was a decent match for Dunn's version of Carmilla, who is languid like the original yet also supposed to be more calculating and explicitly defiant. But there was a tad too much vocal fry to be pleasurable to listen to for me personally.

My first Octavia E. Butler novel! I was definitely hooked from the beginning. The book then evolved into something I wasn't quite expecting based on that first chapter and the book's sci-fi genre label, but not in a bad way at all. It read more like historical fiction, just with a sci-fi element at the heart of its premise. Containing rather graphic scenes depicting the cruelties of the era, it is undeniably a heavy read.

Above all I admire the complexity Butler wrote into her characters and their dynamics with and feelings towards one another. Admittedly, the protagonist Dana was sometimes confusing to me—I didn't always agree with nor immediately understand her decisions and reactions—, but in a way that still felt very realistic and made for a much more thought-provoking experience of the narrative.

Incredibly well-written and gut-wrenching, with a plot that satisfyingly (heartbreakingly) comes full circle. I look forward to my next read from Butler's bibliography!

✍️ Butler's writing is simple yet amazingly effective at evoking various, intense emotions. I found hers to be a very accessible writing style.

🎧 Narrated by Kim Staunton. A tandem read with the audiobook is recommended. Staunton did an incredible job making the book feel more immersive (complete with accents for the place and era). My one specific note is that I remember feeling like Rufus' voice remained boyish even as he grew older, something which I felt shifted my experience of his character compared to how I would have felt by sight-reading alone. Not necessarily a bad thing; in a way, it might have helped me understand Dana's perception of him better.

——— Read as my pick for 1979 from my 20th Century Reads project where I read a book for each year from 1900–1999.