BLOG TOUR --- Carmilla by Kim Turrisi [Review + Giveaway]

Title: Carmilla
Authors(s): Kim Turrisi
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Edition: Hardcover, ebook; 224 pgs
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Kindle - Barnes & Noble - The Book Depository
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tour Schedule

Week One:

4/29/2019- A Dream Within A Dream- Excerpt

4/30/2019- BookHounds- Excerpt

5/1/2019- Books Coffee and Repeat- Excerpt

5/2/2019- Dani Reviews Things- Review

5/3/2019- Novel Novice- Review

Week Two:

5/6/2019- Fyrekatz- Review

5/7/2019- Literary Meanderings- Excerpt

5/8/2019- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

5/9/2019- The Layaway Dragon- Review
5/10/2019- Eli to the nth- Review (ME)

The Summary

An adaptation of Shaftesbury's award-winning, groundbreaking queer vampire web series of the same name, Carmilla mixes the camp of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the snark of Veronica Mars, and the mysterious atmosphere of Welcome to Nightvale.

Newly escaped from the stifling boredom of a small town, college freshman Laura is ready to make the most of her first year at Silas University. But when her roommate, Betty, vanishes and a sarcastic, nocturnal philosophy student named Carmilla moves into Betty's side of the room, Laura decides to play detective. Turns out Betty isn't the first girl to go missing? She's just the first girl not to come back.

All over campus, girls have been vanishing, and they are completely changed when (or if) they return. Even more disturbing are the strange dreams they recount: smothering darkness, and a strange pale figure haunting their rooms. Dreams that Laura is starting to have herself.

As Laura closes in on the answers, tensions rise with Carmilla. Is this just a roommate relationship that isn't working out, or does Carmilla know more than she's letting on about the disappearances?

What will Laura do if it turns out her roommate isn't just selfish and insensitive, but completely inhuman? And what will she do with the feelings she's starting to have for Carmilla?

Produced by Shaftesbury, and available on the YouTube channel KindaTV, Carmilla is a global sensation. A scripted transmedia series that puts a modern spin on the cult-classic gothic vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, Carmilla has generated over 71 million views and 245 million minutes of watch time across three seasons since its launch in 2014. It has been translated into more than 20 languages, and has been made into a feature film.

Author Kim Turrisi brings her trademark humor and sensitivity to an adaptation that offers a deep dive for existing fans and a portal for new fans around the world.

(Goodreads)

My Review

I didn't realize that this book was based on a web series before I signed up for the tour, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found out, as the series is very funny and quick to watch.  Also, another layer of adaptation is that the series is based on the 1872 Gothic vampire novella, of the same name, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.  So we have a book that is an novelization of a web series which is an adaptation of another book.  Crazy.

Carmilla is not a hard-hitting paranormal mystery, but a quick piece of sweet campy drama, full of weird disappearances, menacing shadows, and one hot vampire.  At 224 pages, it is a fast read, and follows the web series quite closely, expanding on some aspects of it, but not very many.  It is full of ridiculous, over-the-top characters and events, set in a unrealistic, but nonetheless, menacing university.  Laura is naive, but likable and Carmilla is sexy, but frustrating.  Making the perfect enemies to lovers trope within the story.

I will say that while Laura identifies as a lesbian right away, there is a character who presents as genderqueer, which is handled not very well.  So while the main romance is a female/female one, the other representation is lackluster.

Overall, not an earthshaking book, but still a fun read.  It goes super quick, and was interesting to read while I watched the web series.  I always enjoy different iterations of stories, so Carmilla by Kim Turrisi is definitely an interesting addition.

Final Rating

Fun Extras

CARMILLA - SEASON 1, EPISODE 1

About the Author

A graduate of Florida State University, Kim Turrisi began her career in film and television. After a year of on-set production (getting coffee, wrangling actors and taking lunch orders) Kim segued to the development side of the business. First working as a development executive at Columbia-Tri-Star and eventually shepherding many projects in family entertainment for Disney, Viacom and Hallmark.

Kim created and wrote an online web series for which she won a Daytime Emmy. She wrote for ABC Family's webisode series, Pretty Dirty Secrets, an internet companion piece to smash hit Pretty Little Liars.

While she’s always been a voracious reader and writer, she never thought about writing for teens until she immersed herself in the children’s publishing world as the Director of Special Projects for the Society of Book Writers and Illustrators. There, reading children’s literature is a big part of her job.

Her debut Young Adult novel Just a Normal Tuesday is loosely based on the author's own experience, the debut YA novel follows 16-year-old Kai as she struggles through the emotional aftermath of her sister's suicide. Kai spends a month at grief camp, discovering a roadmap to piecing her broken heart back together.

One of Kim’s favorite parts of the writing process is to create playlists for her characters that she listens to when she writes. When she revises her manuscripts, she’s generally in mismatched plaid and her desk is riddled with junk food. She collects Chuck Taylor’s, Van’s, and has a killer sock collection.

Born in Hawaii, she credits her love of travel to her life as an Air Force brat moving every two years. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found obsessing over her dogs, Riley and Rocco.

Represented by Tricia Lawrence at EMLA

Website | Twitter  | Instagram | Goodreads 

Giveaway

3 winners will receive finished signed or unsigned copies of Carmilla, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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