Hungerstone

by Kat Dunn

Hungerstone is a thrillingly seductive sapphic romance for fans of S.T. Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood and Emilia Hart’s Weyward.

For what do you hunger, Lenore?

Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage, the relationship has soured and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them out of London and to the imposing Nethershaw manor in the countryside, where Henry aims to host a hunt with society’s finest. Lenore keeps a terrible secret from the last time her husband hunted, and though they never speak of it, it haunts their marriage to this day.

The preparations for the event take a turn when a carriage accident near their remote home brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. Carmilla who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night; Carmilla who stirs up a hunger deep within Lenore. Soon girls from local villages begin to fall sick before being consumed by a bloody hunger.

Torn between regaining her husband's affection and Carmilla's ever-growing presence, Lenore begins to unravel her past and in doing so, uncovers a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .

Set against the violent wilderness of the moors and the uncontrolled appetite of the industrial revolution, Hungerstone is a compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the book that inspired Dracula: a captivating story of appetite and desire.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Gothic, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Fiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2025

About the author

Kat Dunn is the author of HUNGERSTONE (2025), BITTERTHORN, and the Battalion of the Dead trilogy:
DANGEROUS REMEDY, MONSTROUS DESIGN and GLORIOUS POISON.

She grew up in London and has lived in Japan, Australia and France.

She has a BA in Japanese from SOAS and an MA in English from Warwick. She’s written about mental health for Mind and The Guardian, and worked as a translator for Japanese television.

Reviews

[Siobhaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turns out I wasn’t in a reading slump I just needed lesbian vampires

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES GIRL FUCK HIM UP AHHHHHHHHHH

[Brittany’sBoundByBloodBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kat Dunn’s Hungerstone sinks its teeth into you from the very first line and refuses to let go, a truly bite-sized masterpiece of gothic horror and sapphic romance that will leave readers hungry for more. With lyrical prose and a dark, seductive atmosphere, this novel offers a searing retelling of Carmilla, brimming with feminine rage at its absolute finest.

The story revolves around Lenore, trapped in a loveless marriage to steel magnate Henry, whose ambitions drag them from London to the shadowy Nethershaw manor. A decade of disappointment, distance, and one terrible secret from Henry’s last hunt have left Lenore starving for something more, something that arrives in the form of Carmilla. After a mysterious carriage accident near the manor, Carmilla enters Lenore’s life: vibrant at night, pale by day, and irresistible. As Carmilla awakens a deep hunger within Lenore, young girls in nearby villages begin to fall ill, consumed by a bloody thirst that hints at a much darker truth.

Dunn masterfully weaves a gothic tale steeped in atmosphere and tension. The prose is haunting, the pacing perfectly measured, and the slow-burn romance between Lenore and Carmilla drips with desire and dread. The central theme, what do you hunger for? echoes through every page, exploring female oppression, insatiable rage, and desire that refuses to be tamed. Lenore’s internal conflict, caught between reclaiming her autonomy or conforming to her husband’s expectations, is raw and compelling.

Hungerstone is a feast for fans of gothic horror, offering everything one could crave: immersive atmosphere, complex female characters, and a slow unraveling of secrets steeped in blood and longing. Dunn’s retelling doesn’t just honor Le Fanu’s Carmilla, it devours it, reshaping the tale into a bold declaration of feminine power and rage.

I absolutely devoured this book. Every page drips with gothic allure, every chapter pulses with tension, and by the end, readers will be left starving for another taste. Hungerstone is well earned and well-deserved feminine rage at its most seductive and satisfying. An absolute masterpiece. 🖤

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸- five out of five blood *drippingly* good.

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hungerstone is marketed as a spin on Carmila but is missing much of the sapphic elements and vampirism that made the original book so revolutionary. There's no denying Dunn is a talented writer - the gothic atmosphere is superbly crafted and she uses language to perfectly encapsulate desire and hunger. Unfortunately, a collection of well-written sentences does not constitute a good book.

Hungerstone struggles to find its footing with Lenore's backstory and ultimately never resolves itself. Glimpses into her past are repetitive yet vague, and while she repeatedly expresses the baggage and trauma she carries, the explanation of it is muddled at best. Carmila herself is intended to be an enigmatic and mysterious presence that acts as her catalyst for change, but her presence is glaringly one-dimensional throughout the book. Lenore's story is hardly compelling when everyone around her is a caricaturized villain. Her rebellion doesn't feel like anything more than an inevitability, and it lacks the satisfaction of a slow-burn revenge story. While there is a handful of sapphic moments, it feels more like a story of obsession with hints of vampirism more than I expected.

The climax of the book happens quickly and the drastic changes Lenore undergoes feel so sudden given the unbearably slow build up. Her commentary about revenge and hunger feels devoid of nuance and subtlety. Every commentary the book has to offer is explicitly outlined and repeated, and I think it does a disservice to the possibilities a re-telling could have offered.

I'm critical of any retelling because it takes a lot to keep a classic story fresh and offer a new perspective. While Hungerstone adds in themes of industrialization and the historical use of women as nothing more than child-bearers, it doesn't subvert any expectations. The final third required so much suspension of belief just to end up at a predictable and boring conclusion.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC - sorry I did not enjoy it more!

[mina reads™️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book needed 10% more Carmilla and I would have given it 5 stars.

I loved Lenore's voice as a character. Her inner life was a rich tapestry and with the gentlest tug we see her carefully crafted sterile life and image unspool. The depiction of the work that is required in maintaining a large estate was actually so interesting to me, the ins and outs of dealing with contractors, managing a large staff, organizing extravagant parties and social calendars. Domestic labor is so degraded in the eyes of men and it was fascinating yet disheartening to see how much energy and effort Lenore extended that her husband completely took for granted or dismissed entirely.

The simmering tension between Lenore and Carmilla and the otherworldly quality of Carmilla's presence was intoxicating. In many ways it heavily reminded me of the psychological tie between Ellen and Count Orlok in Nosferatu (2024). The way the human woman's relationship to the monster is a reflection of her own hunger, her own ferocity that is trapped within her by the rules of genteel society. There's many things to love about this book and the prose was stunning. I only wished for more Carmilla and perhaps a touch more blood.

4.25 stars

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All thoughts are my own.

[lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

2/18/25 it’s pub dayyy 💫 i need everyone to read this book asap mf rocky

the next female rage book mayhaps??????

this is a sapphic carmilla retelling and miss kat ATE THIS UP. i loved her take on the original and the additional plotlines had me so angry for lenore!! she deserved every second of her crash out and i hope she sleeps well tonight and every night after 🤭

thank you to netgalley and zando for the arc!!!

[MagretFume · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great character study of feminine rage written in a fantastic prose, in a setting of gothic horror. 
I feel like at its core, it is a very modern and beautifully written feminist tale. 

The main character is tragic and her path of self discovery and acceptance of her desires felt so well deserved. 

I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator is fantastic. She adds a lot of depth to the text and I would definitely recommend this version. 

Thank you Dreamscape Select for this ARC!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rented this book on Libby at first then decided to purchase the book so I can have more time with it.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This book follows Lady Lenore after she and her husband come across Carmilla's wrecked carriage on their way to their new property called Nethershaw. Their lives are turned upside down as they invite Carmilla to stay with them and everyone is affected.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I thought this book was boring and was full of filler content. I thought the premise was great but I couldn't see where the feminism was located in this book. I still saw a lot of violence against women, especially from the FMC's husband to the FMC.

I'm not sure how I feel about Carmilla and feel that she was a bitch at some points when speaking to the FMC. She wasn't even at the home for a lot of the novel toward the end. I'm not sure how I feel about the effect she had on the FMC, even when she wasn't physically there.

I also didn't like Cora either but I'm not the type of person who can spend a lot of time in someone else's presence without feeling a certain sense of annoyance. I'm very introverted by nature so to spend as much time with Cora as the FMC did, I know I wouldn't have lasted as long as the FMC did.

I feel bad for the FMC at the end of the day after everything she went through in this novel. I'm glad she got a "good" ending, even if it's ambiguous. I don't want to spoil the end of the book for anyone but I wouldn't necessarily consider this book to have your typical HEA for Carmilla and the FMC.

I think that's the saddest part for me and it's one of the reasons I'd hesitate to recommend this book. If you want a good gothic vampire novel meant for adults and not teenagers, I'd say go for this one. However, if you want an HEA at the end, I'd skip this book entirely. Yikes!

[BJ Lillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is great about Hungerstone is what is great about Carmilla, perhaps what is great about all vampire stories—the irresistible tension between fear and desire. At its best, Kat Dunn’s reworking of Carmilla is less an update of Sheridan Le Fenu’s classic for the modern reader than a remarkable heightening of the original’s half-kept promise.

I must admit, even somewhat past the halfway mark, I was feeling mostly underwhelmed. Aside from the narrator, the novel’s characters are one-dimensional. Cold husband. Servile servants. Even Carmilla herself hardly a character. And Clara—Clara, who should mean so much—one lost opportunity after another. But then, this sense that the novel’s people are only half-seen is not entirely ineffective; it contributes to the novel’s claustrophobic air, to a growing sense of dread, isolation, desperation. “I am so furious,” Lenore howls, “at anyone who is not alone.” Then she trips a stranger, sending forth “a stream of beautiful red blood.”

In my case, the novel suffered for being read alongside Nicholas Nickleby, Dunn’s prose dimming in the light of Dickens’ sparkling sentences. (What novel wouldn’t suffer that comparison? But Hungerstone, with its Victorian pretensions, is particularly vulnerable.) And though there are effective moments, Dunn doesn’t always quite pull off the trick, so essential to historical fiction, of dialogue that feels at once of another time and like something someone would really say.

One last complaint, ultimately withdrawn. At first, the subplot about industrialization felt rather obvious; an easy way to create social and political stakes for what is at heart a story personal to the point of selfishness. The equation of bloody industrial accident to bloody supernatural incident felt, as Carmilla herself might say, rather boring. In fact, for a time it seemed that Hungerstone was almost trying to be boring; bending over backwards to provide the straightforward symbolism of the modern feminist novel, complete with elaborate fancies of disordered eating, instagram worthy “you are enough!” affirmation, and rote anti-capitalism straight from the mouths’ of characters taking extravagant pleasure in reaping capitalism’s blessings. In the end, I’m happy to report, the novel utterly fails at being boring. What looked, at first blush, like labored and obvious symbolism utterly refuses to resolve. The novel has a wild heart. It works itself into a frenzy, exhausts itself, works itself up again.

I devoured the last third and finished the book utterly satisfied with the meal.

[Elizabeth (Plant Based Bride) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included in my August Wrap Up: https://youtu.be/jWUw0cucaeE

Full written review to come!

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title/Author: HUNGERSTONE by Kat Dunn

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Zando

Format: Audiobook/hoopla

Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: First time

Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978163893...

Release Date: February 18th, 2025

General Genre: (BISAC) Lit Fic/LBGTQIA+, Romance, Mystery, Thrillers & Crime, Horror, Fantasy, Historical

Sub-Genre/Themes: Gothic, Feminist, Vampire, Sapphic Romance, Marriage, Desire, Sexual Awakening, Mystery, Gothic Horror/Thriller, Illness, Stranger/Houseguest, Infidelity

Writing Style: Moody, atmospheric, alluring & seductive

What You Need to Know: "A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula."

My Reading Experience: Hungerstone by Kat Dunn is an immaculately crafted gothic horror novel that builds tension through atmosphere, character dynamics, and psychological unraveling. I listened to the audiobook, and it became a highlight of my day. The narrator gave distinct voices to both female leads; it felt like a movie in my mind!

The main character, Lenore, is the perfect wife—polite, devoted, and always mindful of what is expected of her. Her husband barely acknowledges her. He's self-absorbed and misogynistic. Their marriage bed is cold. It's painful to watch Lenore sidestep her needs and desires so that she can shape herself into the woman she thinks her husband wants instead of the woman she wants to be.

Carmilla’s sudden arrival disrupts Lenore’s carefully maintained existence. She overstays her welcome and challenges Lenore’s understanding of everything. This is, at first, frustrating to Lenore, but over time, Carmilla's nudges and prompts force her to see things more clearly.
As Lenore’s unexplained illness worsens and her marriage begins to unravel, her interactions with Carmilla seem more urgent. What first seemed inappropriate or dangerous becomes something she cannot ignore.

Kat Dunn’s writing is so deliberate and controlled, setting the perfect pace. The horror elements creep in seductively, rooted more in psychological and emotional distress than terror. The novel stays true to the historical period as Lenore wrestles with her liberation, making her transformation feel natural and exciting. I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation.

Final Recommendation: Hungerstone is ideal for those who appreciate slow-burning gothic horror with a strong focus on character. If the moody, mysterious marriage dynamic and tension of Rebecca paired with the vampiric, sapphic yearning of Carmilla sounds interesting to you, Hungerstone will utterly consume you.

Comps: House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla (graphic novel) by Amy Chu, A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger,

[Eavan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ahh... Lesbian vampires... What could go wrong?

Hungerstone is a halting attempt to tell the marital crisis of Lenore, a woman ten years into her marriage, who begins to realize her husband is not who she thought he's been. In comes Carmilla, upending the mental framework Lenore has built to withstand her marriage and forcing her to choose (for once) her own future.

The novels main issue is two-fold; up until around 2/3 of the way through the work is terribly clichéd and weakly written, and the entire use of Carmilla as a plot point is unconvincing and smells of an author wishing to have her cake and eat it too. What better way to sell a book than to hint to people that it's a Carmilla retelling? What matters if this particular character's inclusion bears no further meaning to the plot than "vibes"?

Carmilla, as a character, barely works in this novel. She is written as a supernatural being whose essence is a foil to whoever she chooses needs her. This essence, then, serves as a flimsy placeholder for the character, failing to convincingly convey either the depth of her power or the complexity necessary to engage the reader. I think Carmilla should have either been fully supernatural, and leaned into a more literary horror, or a more flesh-and-blood human with human complexity. Her inclusion works as an agent of chaos to facilitate a "unhinged women" trend popular in contemporary fiction right now, which, on a personal level, I find dead and dusted. It is not 2020 anymore. We've seen this idea to its conclusion and it's tired.

As to the "lesbianism" of this novel.... Where!? As I said above, the weaknesses of the character of Carmilla make it completely unconvincing that these two women authentically desire one another. It absolutely feels as if the bisexuality (and before you yell at me, I am also bisexual) of this story has neutered any genuine sexuality, where the desire of these two women come from so, so little, and the build-up is almost nonexistent. I don't know how to put it in any other terms: It does not have the fingerprints of authentically fucking women.

I'm frustrated as well with the historical-fiction-ness of this work, primarily in the prose. Dunn has obviously done her research, and sprinkles proper noun after proper noun to try and manhandle the reader into the late 19th century: it is artless and betrays a lack of sufficient confidence in herself or the reader to construct a breathing past, one where significant mental mores make the past an almost uncomfortably foreign country. The work did not convince me of the its historicalness. It seemed, instead, to remind me constantly that this was a 21st-century author mad-dashing around for any excuse to throw in a dated term or two to make us believe that what we were reading could be set in the past. (In more poetic terms, it is someone learning to paint, who takes a shortcut here and a shortcut there, compensating with brush strokes far too thick and unblended to make out what the picture really is.)

Well... I'll admit. I did kind of enjoy it by the end. The last third of the book (once Carmilla left) is very, very fun. The novel finally began to understand and emulate its material of inspiration (Victorian Sensation literature, the best stuff ever) and lost the former believability issues.
I appreciated and enjoyed the suspense, which finally felt earned.

I think the author has it in her to write a better book if she wanted. I understand why this was published: it has a strong narrative construction, a clear thematic focus, and the author is already in the industry and has proved herself as a writer. I also concede that I got a bit tricked by what the cover promised against the author's other works. I was expecting a more literary thing than I got I guess 🤷

Anyway, I can't recommend this except for vampire completionists. Thank you (and apologies) to NetGalley 🙏

[Snjez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't decide how I feel about the ending, but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. The story is very character driven and slow paced. It's atmospheric, gothic and feminist. Lenore's character is morally grey, but I found her intriguing to follow - her frustrations, strength and development throughout the story. The historical period, its social norms, and the English setting feel very real and well-researched.

I didn't find the story scary, it's more vibes, but there is some gore and body horror at times. The audiobook narrated by Perdita Weeks is excellent. I absolutely loved her soothing voice and the way she made each character feel real.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what do you hunger…? 🥀🧛🏻‍♀️🩸

The feminine rage and sapphic tension/yearning in Hungerstone is utterly delectable. It’s made me want to *finally* get around to reading the original Carmilla soon, as this is a reimagining.
Yes, there could have been even more gothic elements to really set the tone of the story here, but the story itself is very intriguing and well-written.

Lenore is starting to feel the distance between herself and her husband, Henry. After being married to one another for a decade, they are slowly growing apart, with no child there to bridge the gap.
There is a carriage accident near their home, and this is when the mysterious Carmilla enters their lives. She instantly piques Lenore’s interests, she feels inexplicably drawn to her.
There are oddities about Carmilla’s behaviour; she doesn’t eat meals with the family, she is weak during the day time and only appears to come alive during the night…
Soon, some girls from neighbouring villages fall sick, before they are consumed with a terrible hunger… One that’s eerily similar to Carmilla’s.

4 Stars

[Brooke 𝜗𝜚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

—— 𝟒.𝟐𝟓 ☆ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬.🩸

❝𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝓇𝒶𝓌, 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓂𝓂𝑒𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒶 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓈𝓁𝓊𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓈𝒻𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝓎, 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓋𝑜𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒.❞

𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 (𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧):
1. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉, 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏, 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆
2. 𝑻𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐, 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆, 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉.

📖┆𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐧
🏷️┆𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝔾𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔 𝔽𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝔽𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟
🗓️┆𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟜/𝟝/𝟚𝟝 - 𝟜/𝟙𝟙/𝟚𝟝
📋┆𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
「 ”A thrillingly salacious tale of betrayal, murder and supernatural intervention. Lenore begins to unravel her past and in doing so, uncovers a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk.”」

❝𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹, 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇. 𝒯𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒽𝑒𝓃𝒹.❞

◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★★.𝟐𝟓
ɢᴏᴏᴅʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 𝟺.𝟶𝟸 ☆ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ
ᴘᴀɪʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ: ᴡʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ ꜰᴏʀ 🙂‍↕️
ꜱᴘɪᴄᴇ: ½🌶️
ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ: 🍂🎃
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 📻 ʜᴜɴɢᴇʀ ♪ ꜰʟᴏʀᴇɴᴄᴇ + ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ
ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅ?: ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
🩸ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ
🩸ꜰᴇᴍɪɴɪɴᴇ ʀᴀɢᴇ
🩸”ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ”
🩸ꜱᴀᴘᴘʜɪᴄ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
🩸ᴠɪᴄᴛᴏʀɪᴀɴ ꜱᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ
🩸ᴀᴛᴍᴏꜱᴘʜᴇʀɪᴄ ʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ
⚠️TW: blood, gore, animal death, cannibalism, infertility, suicidal thoughts

❝𝒜 𝒻𝓇𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝑒.
𝒩𝑜. 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓈𝑜. ❞

◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦

💬┆Revenge against a shitty husband? Vampires? Feminine rage? I’m sat.🧎🏼‍♀️This is the second book in a row I’ve read that has fuck the patriarchy vibes & I’m completely fine with that. 💅🏻

• Since I heard about 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 it’s been one of my most anticipated reads of this year & it did NOT disappoint. I was instantly immersed in the story with the author’s atmospheric, poetic writing.

• The moment we were introduced to the FMC, Lenore, I felt for her & was drawn to her inner thoughts we continued to get throughout the book. I knew there was more to our girl than she was letting on.

• My one tiny complaint was I wish there was more of Carmilla, more specifically her story (where she came, her life, why she was the way she was 👀) & I wanted more of her & Lenore’s relationship.

◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦

❝𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝒽𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻. 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝐼𝒻, ���𝒽𝑒𝓃, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎, 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉.❞

◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦

✒️𓂃 ᴍᴏʀᴇ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ:

❝𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉—𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝒻𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉, 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓎, 𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁, 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒶𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒸𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓉. 𝐻𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉. 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃.❞

❝𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈. 𝐼 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻.❞

❝𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓃𝑒’𝓈 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝒸𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂. 𝒯𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓎. 𝒯𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓃. 𝒯𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓎𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉.❞

❝𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓁𝓎. 𝒲𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓋𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝒻 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈; 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝒶𝓌.❞

❝“𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝓱𝓾𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝒾𝓈?” 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓈𝓀𝓈, 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃.
𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹.
“𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓌. 𝒫𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂, 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹.. 𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀𝑒𝓇. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓃𝑒𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓊𝓃𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹.”❞

━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖ ◦━━ ◦ ❖

. . .𝕱𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖉𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖚𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗?🩸

[Chewable Orb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
4.25 rounded down to 4 🔮🔮🔮🔮orbs
Zando Publishing

1870s, The Bridge in the Peak District…

💡 Orbs Prologue: The sweltering heat of the nearby foundry has supplied the hardened steel needed to erect the old bridge. Connecting land like a suture closing a fresh, grotesque wound, it stands stable in a land of torrential chaos. Providing a pathway from poverty to wealth, from peasants to the aristocrats, the structure stands tall and resilient. However, this remains a facade to the naked eye. Skeletal hands chip away at the white arsenic enamel sprinkled upon the surface, rendering the bridge compromised to the harsh elements. Wind-swept clothing swirls around the legs of the woman peering down across the basin of the valley. Her porcelain face is in a trancelike state, fixated on the water, rocks, and debris that lie below. As the sun slowly descends behind the treeline, one thought comes to mind: whatever could she be thinking?

🔩 Nuts & Bolts: Author Kat Dunn sits daintily at the feast. A slice of deliciously cooked blood sausage appears on the tip of her fork, and small droplets of fatty grease drip onto the plate as Kat begins to tell a ghastly tale of Lenore Crowther. Oh, Lenore, we weep at how life has dealt you a wicked hand. Was this of your own doing? Were you blinded by a selfishness not yet realized? Parents long since perished, Lenore has gone to live with Aunt Daphne, a controlling, if not quirky, human being. As Lenore is part of an aristocratic family that has fallen on hard financial times, she requires a male suitor with sufficient wealth to match her family's status. Baiting the fishing hook, Lenore casts her secretive line towards the boastful Henry Crowther, owner of Ajax Works, a profitable steel company in Sheffield. Soon married, Henry begins to reveal his true nature, as his demeanor towards Lenore changes due to her inability to conceive a child. At an all-important gathering with those of the highest reputation, Henry makes a fatal mistake, one that Lenore bears witness to and promises to keep undisclosed. Ever the obedient wife, Lenore has promised to oversee the renovations of Nethershaw in time for Henry to entertain his own shooting party for the high-born in the area. Along the way to Nethershaw, an overturned carriage ejects Carmilla, an injured young woman who needs help tending to her ailments. Lenore and Henry agree to have Carmilla stay with them until she feels better. Once in the confines of Nethershaw, strange occurrences begin immediately; strange visions and activity cloud the environment. Carmilla has brought a sense of peculiarity and fervor to the mundane residence. Carmilla appeals to a plethora of Lenore’s senses, further diluting her sanity in an agonizing sequence of events that will have readers glued to the pages and Lenore asking, Who is telling the truth?

👍 Orbs Pros: Gothically Atmospheric! I remained firmly planted within this renovated home, surrounded by the intoxicating smells of fine meats wafting from the kitchen and the elegant sounds of Chopin playing in the background. The fire crackled from the stone hearth as Dunn’s beautiful passages placed me within this Gothic tragedy, encapsulating the beauty and simultaneous horror of that time perfectly. Lenore’s character awakened every emotion. I felt suffocated, as if drowning in a large body of water, and in the following instance, I was the conqueror, wielding a weapon in retribution. Finally, this story had a fantastic conclusion, one that brought a wry smile to my face.

👎 Orbs Cons: Nothing of significance. Carmilla’s backstory could have been fleshed out more, but those who have read Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla already have a solid understanding of her history.

Highly Recommended! If you are a Gothic horror reader, this book is for you. However, this novel should appeal to a wide range of people. Extremely well-written! The solid pacing makes for an enjoyable reading experience.

💡 Orbs Epilogue: Her long dark eyelashes flutter as emotions swell within her heart. She is broken, alone, and scarred. Peering over the edge of the bridge, the river below quickens in a swirling pace. Her mind is imploding with decrepit thoughts. Suddenly, the dark blue tint of the water begins to change color, as a dark red hue simmers to the top like molten lava. From a wound deep within, a ravenous hunger dwells in the woman. A hunger for love, passion, and truth permeates through her poisoned skin, like that of a cane toad. Does she possess the fortitude to live in this world, where evil lies behind the eyes of those closest? From a pool of darkness, a voice resonates clearly, speaking with veracity, and one that overwhelmingly persuades her to conquer those fears that haunt her reality. For you see, dear reader, there is one who understands, and her name is Carmilla.

[Zana · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jan Agaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the gothic vibes, the writing, the audiobook narrator, the lesbian vampires, & all the women's wrongs. this was way better than the original Carmilla!

[Mafalda · Rating 1 out of 5]

okay warning, this review is going to be terribly negative, although not mean-spirited. i'm a gigantic fan of Bitterthorn, a 2023 book by the author, so i swear my criticism isn't coming from chronic haterism. i'm truly just severely disappointed.

i'll start with a question. what was the point of inserting Carmilla in this story? Hungerstone's Carmilla is barely a person - she's incredibly 2D, she's used and forgotten according to what the story needs, she has no agency, and absolutely no backstory or development. she's not mysterious, she's just poorly written. and i guess she was inserted in order to act as the catalyst for Lenore's awakening, but was that even necessary? she was on the brink of getting there herself, and i feel like that would've been more interesting than this. and, of course, the whole vampire aspect of Carmilla was not much explored. which is fine - not everything has to have vampires - but, again, why use Carmilla then? i just can't make it make sense. it feels almost lazy to bring her into this.

my second bone to pick is the writing. i found it too literal, too online, and too repetitive. a lot of the sentences seemed as if they were put there just for aesthetics. and it felt like i was being told everything.

and speaking of aesthetics. i feel like this book really wanted to paint that aesthetic of woman driven mad by men and loneliness, and i guess it did that, but that's all it was: an aesthetic, a surface-level exploration. and i have no patience for aesthetics anymore. i think it generally failed to commit deeply to any of the things it tried to do: inserting Carmilla Karnstein into the book, setting the story in 19th century England (if i got that right), and creating an unsettling narrative of a woman's descent into madness/freedom.

on a positive note, there was actually a moment in which the story was truly fun, and i felt as though it was doing exactly what it had set out to do. for a brief moment (Lenore eating wood) it was actually unhinged and off-putting.

i think, in the end, the book would've gained from being shorter, more focused, less oriented to aesthetics, and with not including Carmilla Karnstein. i don't recommend it to fans of vampires or Carmilla - she's really just kind of there.

[mj · Rating 2 out of 5]

wanted to love this so badly, but ultimately it was lazy, predictable, and boring. did not expect a re-working of carmilla to relegate her to a simple plot device. 👎🏻

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars. Absolutely amazing. I could not put this down. I had to eat dinner, and I was reading the whole time.

Now that I devoured this, I understand why everyone is mentioning female rage in reference to this book. I was internally raging for Lenore!!

After ten years of marriage to Henry and no child on the way, Lenore feels the weight of burden strike their relationship. As Lenore and Henry prepare to host a special hunt, it brings up memories of the prior hunt and the secret that they've both been keeping since then.

Their lives get thrown for a twist when a carriage accident nearby brings a mysterious Carmilla to their home. As they offer Carmilla shelter to recover, they notice that she is sickly and weak during the day, but becomes much more lively during the night. Carmilla becomes a thorn in Henry's side as she works to help Lenore find herself. Lenore is hungry and needs to eat.

This is a beautiful retelling of Carmilla. The prose is stunning and makes you feel as though you're in the story yourself. There are so many amazing quotes from this book that I wish I could share. The story is atmospheric, mysterious, and tense. The characters were written extremely well. The characters that we're meant to love, I loved, and the ones we're meant to hate, I certainly hated. While this is a slow-burn romance, the rest of the book certainly didn't feel slow to me. And the wait was well worth it. I love that this story dove into the problems with gender roles and expectations that are imposed on women. It was a beautiful story of Lenore's self-discovery and acceptance of herself, flaws all included.

The ending of this book was amazingly poetic. I left this story feeling overwhelming satisfaction, and I can tell that this is a book that I will reread one day. This book isn't your typical horror novel, even though it is tagged as such. Please don't go into this book expecting scares. The horror comes more from the atmosphere and the depravity of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for sending me an eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I immediately preordered this book upon finishing reading.

TW: Gore, death, blood, vomit, gaslighting, violence, infertility, cannibalism, misogyny, murder, toxic relationship, confinement, infidelity, sexual content, death of parent

StoryGraph Review
Fable Review

[Boston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ate (literally)

[Sapphic Garlic · Rating 1 out of 5]

what a fucking disappoitment. i was hopeful and excited for this book but it completly destroyed my reading eagerness half throught it when i finally accepted that carmilla was a metaphor. i stuck through it hopeful, only to be let down again and again. the only good aspect of this book is that the main character becomes a vampire by having sex with carmilla but even that is kinda meh compared to what it could have been. on that note, this isnt a book about vampires or even a book with vampires. it is a book that happens to have a vampire to symbolise hunger (and what a fucking drag with all the allegories that was, yeah i got that lenore was hungry for something more by the second time she said it but by the the hundredth time she said something among those lines i was the one hungry for a shotgun so i could shoot myself with it. just slapping the reader with "omg can you understand this is a methapor?? can you see im being "clever" (yeah, in fucking quotes) with the text??" to compare this with dowry of blood was a fucking miss and the main reason why im so pissed, it was nowhere NEAR.

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am a woman woken from thirty years slumber, and I would eat the world should it satisfy this empty, keening void where my heart should be.

“A salacious tale of betrayal, murder and supernatural intervention." although this was in reference to a play in the book but it perfectly encapsulates what Hungerstone is.

Lady Lenore Crowther is confined in a loveless marriage burdened by remaining childless and her own husband's ambitions. There is a unending void in Lenore and life has been unkind to her but she must endure it all to maintain the façade of a prim and proper lady, however it isn't until the couple make their way to the countryside that things begin to change.

Lenore is haunted by peculiar dreams, some of which involve a woman but what happens when the very woman from her dreams is found injured in a carriage accident and is brought to Nethershaw manor.

Carmilla Kernstein is recovering at the Crowthers' eerie manor and her presence is both unnerving as it is soothing for Lenore as Carmilla pushes Lenore to face truths she had been in denial about for so long.

The threads of Lenore's sanity begin to unravel and she finds that the void within her is never satiated, no matter how much she feeds it.

If I am mad, it is only because they have made me so.

Exquisite prose.
Immersive storytelling.
Dangerously addictive.
The epitome of female rage.

I did not want to put this book down.

I was wholly entranced and kept on edge as the tension kept building up and up until the climax which was nothing short of a cathartic release.

The story takes place in the late 19th century so there is a gorgeous gothic Victorian backdrop that fed my imagination. It also draws inspiration from a well-known gothic Vampire story called "Carmilla".

I had to deduct a star as I was left wanting a bit more of Carmilla and answers for some of the questions that were left unanswered. Keep in mind that while this features a sapphic romance, it is not at the forefront. It's quite a character-driven story and the romance is the rewarding part.

If you're a fan of A Dowry of Blood, this is a must read!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for gifting me with an eARC in exchange for a review which is for one of my most anticipated 2025 titles.

This book contains triggering content which includes death, attempted murder, murder, blood, a bit of gore, infidelity, verbal and physical abuse and manipulation, etc.

[lea ִֶָ☾. · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What is a monster but a creature of agency?”

this book is a reimagining of the vampire classic carmilla, with more plotlines and a strong focus on female rage (and surprisingly few vampires?)
it also explores gender roles, the patriarchy, and class commentary. if you read the original and wanted more explicit sapphic tension, this book will deliver on that front!

at its core, this is a slow-burn revenge story set against an atmospheric and haunting victorian backdrop. the beginning is quite captivating but due to the slow pacing, it soon starts to drag and feel a bit repetitive down the middle, before it all comes crashing down at the end.

the alluring carmilla brings out this sensual darkness in lenore, but sadly, she felt less like a true character and more like a plot device to drive lenore's motivations in the second half of the book. i probably would've enjoyed the story a lot more if carmilla's character had been better developed and more fleshed out.

thank you to zando for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Carmilla retelling promising female rage and sapphic vampires that, sadly, doesn’t do anything new.

With comparisons to Dowry of Blood, I was expecting complicated relationships and beautiful prose. Instead, the plot was predictable, the prose was good but nothing special, and the ending felt lacklustre.

With the blurb, I expected more about the Industrial Revolution, yet this was very background - merely adding to Lenore’s discovery of Henry’s despicable behaviour.

If I am mad, it is only because they have made me

I was expecting a North and South, darkly feminist Carmilla retelling. Rather, it was a woman who was weak learning that she is not worth anything in society despite the steps she has taken to give herself status.

There was not enough female rage, more telling than showing, however I did like how the author executed steamy scenes without it getting to the spice but fading out.

Ultimately, this was just fine.

Audiobook arc gifted by Dreamscape.

Bookstagram

[erica ࣪ ִֶָ☾. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5★
”For what do you hunger?”

The last 40% of this book was EVERYTHING!!! The prose was so elegant, and the atmosphere was everything I’d hope to see in a gothic horror.

With a bit more Carmilla, and just a few more drops of blood, this would’ve easily been a 5 star. Either way I recommend this read 1000000000%!!!!

edit: changed my mind actually it deserves 5 🤭

[Brend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Statistically speaking, for women throughout history, it would beneficial to kill your husband


For what do you hunger, Lenore?

Idk, gumdrops, probably

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

READ THE FEMININE RAGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD

[Anna Meaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is a monster but a creature of agency?

Hungerstone is a reimagining of Carmilla set during the industrial revolution and follows Lenore, the wife of a steel magnate Henry. While preparing for a hunting party, the two encounter the mysterious Carmilla who begins to exert her power more and more on Lenore's life.

I think this book would have been stronger if I had not read the original Carmilla. Even though this book is significantly longer, I don't think it fleshes out the characters, especially Lenore. I also find the relationships between the characters to be lacking. Lenore has very surface level interactions with everyone for so much of the book, that it made her reactions to situations seem very out of place.

My biggest issue with the book, though, is the focus. What makes the original so interesting is the treatment of queerness. This book chose to focus more on Lenore's relationship to womanhood in relationship to Henry's patriarchal household. In my opinion, the more interesting take would have been to tackle Lenore's relationship to womanhood through the lens of queerness. Queerness and vampires have always been closely related to each other, and I felt as though this book missed on the opportunity to expand more on that. This book is more about feminism and less about queerness. Lenore's interactions with Carmilla are so shallow and consist mainly of Carmilla insisting that Lenore "want things." I wish that there was some kind of interrogation of queerness as a disruptive force, or something monstrous to the mainstream. There are lots of historical horror books about women realizing their husbands suck, and I don't think this book offers more than that (or more on the queer themes presented in the original).