Words. This was good. I liked how it felt a bit modern and a bit Gothic at the same time. I thought the character development was amazing, it was like watching the main character from seed to full bloom. beautiful.

At this stage I was not unfortunately able to read this arc before the book was released but I am still excited to read it and have in fact bought it.

DNF @ 20%

I went into Hungerstone hoping to love it as much as I have adored other Carmilla retellings (anything with vampires and I become OBSESSED), but with that being said however, I felt myself falling into a slump and needing to force myself to pick this up. I unfortunately found the characters slightly dry and the narrative felt very 'tell don't show,' which is famously a narrative style I never gel well with. I definitely would love to try and reach for this at another time in the hopes of appreciating it more and seeing any potential character development but for now, it unfortunately was a DNF.

Loved, loved, loved. It's been too long since I've read a fabulous gothic historical novel. This one has lesbian vampires, plotting, yearning, deceit and hunger. I was completely and utterly absorbed in the unravelling story and it barrelled towards the most perfect ending. Highly recommend the audiobook which was narrayed exquisitely.

I really enjoyed this! It reminded me of A Dowry of Blood but with a but of Daphne du Maurier in the mix. A sapphic horror about vampires and women getting their own back. The cat and mouse game between Lenore and Carmilla was tantalizing and of course ended in blood, list and sheer horror

The book starts with the quote 'do you want to live deliciously?' and it couldn't be more appropriate. This is a decadent and gothic re-telling of Carmilla and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lenore was a fascinating and sometimes frustrating protagonist and Carmilla was mysterious and tempting. I thought the slow build up of their relationship was done very well and I also enjoyed the interactions between Lenore and her husband. There were parts that felt a little bit repetitive, but overall, this was a very entertaining read and I would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Perhaps I should have known going into this, having not enjoyed my read of Carmila, that this wouldn't be for me. It's a subtle form of horror, a creeping atmospheric read that uses relationships, feminine rage, hunger and lust as a driving force to complete the reader to feel unnerved. I just don't think that it's my kind of read however, as the slow pace and meandering feel just didn't make me compelled to read this. It took me months to get through, as the agonising slow build just annoyed me more than anything, and the small glimmers of intrigue involving some sapphic vampires were woefully few and far between.

Some beautiful prose, and glimmers of great characters, but unfortunately they were buried under too much build up for me.

I was so excited for this but sadly it didn't live up to to my expectations. I found myself getting bored while reading and not really caring about where the plot was going.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

This book was interesting enough to hold my attention while I was reading but I didn’t immediately want to keep picking it up!

Overall it was a good read

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5)
Dark, lyrical, and drenched in atmosphere. Hungerstone is both a haunting mystery and a richly layered exploration of inherited trauma and resistance. Kat Dunn blends historical fiction with a creeping sense of dread, offering a story that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in the present. Evocative and emotionally charged.

This book really suprised me. I hadn't read Carmilla before, even though it’s been on my TBR for ages, so I came in completely fresh with zero expectations. Honestly, that might've been the best way to experience it.

Don't mistake this for some fluffy romance. Those horror elements are strategically sprinkled throughout like little landmines, constantly reminding you that beneath this seductive Sapphic story lurks a gothic horror, which honestly had me hooked.

What really struck me was Carmilla's role in teaching Lenore about personal agency - showing her how to exist for herself rather than merely serving others' expectations. The feminist undercurrent is powerful, particularly considering the historical setting where women were essentially conditioned to be ornamental and accommodating extensions of male lives. There's something genuinely subversive in how Carmilla guides Lenore toward prioritizing her own desires and needs - this mentorship in self-determination feels truly transformative against such a repressive backdrop.

Overall, this dark, sensual mindf*ck was exactly my kind of read and I have NO regrets whatsoever.

This wasn't for me, I love gothic fiction and was expecting something intangible from this story that it didn't give me - that haunting sense of place was for me lacking in this. It's more vampires than ghosts and some people love that but not for me sadly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for a copy of this e-Arc

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars

Based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla”, Hungerstone is a sapphic vampire novel about greed, lust & discovering who you truly are.

I think because this book had such a huge following, I dived into it expecting mindblowingly amazing things, and it fell a little short.

I enjoyed the overall premise of the story and adored the female empowerment elements that unfurled within, however I found it SO hard to initially get into, that I almost DNF’d. I also found some of the vampiric elements quite repetitive and, after a while, I don’t think they had the same shock factor as the earlier elements (especially when they would be considered worse/more intense than the initial encounters).

I did really enjoy the character development, especially Lenore’s, so I’m thinking I need to read “Carmilla” in its entirety to really truly appreciate this book.

Everyone is talking about Hungerstone and the hype isn’t wrong. I love a deranged wee book, and this didn’t disappoint. Best to go into this book without even reading the blurb for a true wild ride.

This book was so good. Having not read Carmilla (though I really want to) I was coming to it with fresh eyes. I think it was nice not having anything to compare it to. Though it has made me really want to read the original, which I think is the mark of a good retelling to be honest.

I really liked the way Carmilla focused on Lenore’s wants, teaching her how to exist in the world for herself instead of for other people. I think it’s an important message of feminism for women to put their needs first and especially at the time you can see how girls would have been taught not to do that.

The horror elements were scattered through the book. It wasn’t a tense tale especially but it had little pieces of horror in it to remind you that this isn’t a Sapphic love story but a gothic horror that may not have a happy ending…

Overall, exactly my sort of book.

An eerie and atmospheric read that had me hooked! The writing is mesmerizing, the overall theme is horror and almost grotesque at times, Lenore was an absolutely magnetic main character

Mannered retelling of Carmilla
—
In 1888, Lady Lenore Crowther and her cold husband Henry arrive at their new Derbyshire estate, only to witness the rescue of a lone woman in white from an overturned carriage; but when Lenore finally meets the woman, Lenore is shocked to realise that the woman is the spitting image of one who came to her in a dream, a dream where she could not move even as the dream woman bit her on the neck…

Some historical novels wear their periods well, the language and the speech of the day part of their charm. Others, like this book, feel mannered, attempting to reach a naturalism, a nativism for the period but instead adding a distorting gloss to the characters, scenes and plot. This should, by all rights, be absolutely within my sights, but Leonore’s first person narration is too self-aware, the prose too writerly, the tone too knowing—nudge, nudge, wink, wink, I know something you don’t know. I was tired out by suspending my disbelief on this facet too, on top of suspending it in the act of reading and casting myself into the story. There have been some masterpieces of period gothic horror novels recently but this was, at most, a valiant attempt: three stars.

Backstory time. Book blogger pal Luna’s Little Library has been pestering me to read the vampire novella, Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu for YEARS! I’m not joking, YEARS! And though I wanted to, I’ve always held off or put it further down my reading list for a mix of reasons: vampire burnout, it’s a classic and I never feel smart enough to read classics, you get the idea. I think they’ve given up on me ever reading it.

Why is that important, I hear you ask? Well, this book is inspired by Carmilla. Look, Luna, I’m one step closer to actually reading/audiobooking it!

Anyway, my thoughts: I really, really liked this. Far more than I was expecting. I think it’s because I went into this thinking I was going to get a sapphic vampire story and while I got that, I also got a story of a woman unravelling, finding her empowerment and female rage.

I really liked the writing and, because I listened to the audiobook, I liked how it was read by Perdita Weeks.

I am going to admit there are one or two things I wasn’t a fan of. I found that there were certain words and phrases that were very repetitive and, after a period of time, it got irritating. How many times can the word “blood” be used in a paragraph where blood is nowhere near this scene is a good example.

Also, in the audiobook, there was no pause between present day events and Lenore’s history (the first time the timeline switched, it took me a good few moments to realise what was going on). I think in the book, the time difference would have been easier to stop but in the audiobook, not so much.

But I found this this slow burn gothic read really compelling, so much so I think this might be one of my top reads of 2025 (I will need to write a post at the end of year now, don’t I?). and yes I am planning to audiobook Carmilla in the near future. Maybe the Audible adaptation…

A Kat Dunn’s latest novel, Hungerstone, is a captivating reimagining of the classic vampire tale Carmilla, set against a richly atmospheric Victorian backdrop. The story follows Lenore, trapped in a loveless marriage, whose encounter with the enigmatic Carmilla awakens desires and a hunger for freedom she never knew she possessed. Dunn masterfully weaves themes of feminine rage and self-discovery, delivering a dark, seductive narrative that lingers long after the final page. Fans of gothic horror and sapphic romance will find Hungerstone an utterly compelling read. 

Kat Dunn's first foray into adult fiction takes us to Sheffield in 1888 with a Gothic horror novel inspired by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla' - a sapphic vampire tale predating 'Dracula'.

I love Gothic fiction and I adore 'Carmilla', but I often struggle with historical fiction and as I expected, it took me a while to settle into 'Hungerstone' even though I loved the atmosphere and the writing. The historical trips me up without fail, until I got about halfway through the novel and everything takes a turn. The horror of this Gothic horror kicked in and I was IN.

Dunn's writing is absolutely spellbinding and her character work matches that. I'll be reading Kat Dunn's books again, historical fiction or not.

A full episode about 'Hungerstone' is coming soon on my podcast, The Dark Academicals!