SOFT

by Jane Mai

Soft is a dark summer romance story between Laura and her sudden and close relationship with a real Hong Kong Vampire. The news is reporting mysterious deaths of teenagers around the city while Laura is become more and more attached to her new friend. SPOOKY!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, LGBT, Queer, Fiction, Lesbian

Paperback

First published May 7, 2015

Reviews

[Danika at The Lesbrary]

I was immediately fascinated by the choices made by Jane Mai in retelling Carmilla. First off, our main character, Laura, is young. She’s 15 when she meets Carmilla, and the book is structured like her diary. It really feels like a 15-year-old’s thoughts, including neat diagrams of her bedroom. The queerness is also actually named, unlike in the original, and we can see how Laura’s uneasiness with her relationship with Carmilla is made more complicated by her internalized homophobia.

This perfectly marries a realistic teenage life with the melodrama of the original story, and I can see how it ended up on a best graphic novels of 2024 list! I hope it gets more attention in 2025.

Full review at the Lesbrary.

[Lenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gillade verkligen dagboksformatet!! Så otroligt glad att jag hittade denna bok på en random seriefestival, sååå fin och sååå bra. Nytolkning av Carmilla i typ nutid? I Hongkong! Hade antagligen inte gillat den lika mycket om jag inte redan älskar Carmilla men går ju inte att vara objektiv osv osv

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Am I a monster, Laura? If I'm a monster, then what does that make you?"

I came across this graphic novel on Goodreads, and it's the second re-telling of Carmilla that I have read recently. Whilst both (this and Hungerstone) are very different, I have liked both.

SOFT is set out almost as though you are reading a teenage girl's diary. At the very beginning, she asks if we remember the first time that we fell in love. SOFT is her story of, when she was aged 15, she falls in love with another girl, Carmilla.

The story is a short one - I read it in one sitting, and I think in a way, this would be the best way to read it. After all, your first love is an all-consuming thing, and so to be swept away by the tale seems a fitting way to encounter it. The accompanying drawings are quite simple in style, so staying in keeping with this having been produced by a teenager's hand. Despite the short length of the tale, SOFT manages to explore the first stirrings of love, but also internalised homophobia. Laura's struggle with her own sexuality is perfectly explored through her attraction to Carmilla - on the one hand, she is attracted to her, whilst on the other she recognises that Carmilla has done, or is doing, bad things to others. She knows, deep down, that the relationship with Carmilla is destructive, something that she shouldn't want to pursue, but love doesn't work that way at times. It brings to mind the ways that people can find themselves in abusive relationships, and then the struggles that they face to get away from that negative force.

Although I have marked this as horror, the horror is very subtle. There is nothing overly gory, rather things are hinted at more so than laid out in plain sight. I think it's a book that I will go back to for another reading; it would be interesting to see if there is anything more that stands out upon further reflection.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn to this work because the main character’s Cantonese name is a homonym of my own and I’ve never seen my name out in the wild like this. Not knowing the original telling of Carmilla, I didn’t quite know what to expect beyond what the sleeve offers, a toxic teenage sapphic relationship. The drawing style was simple and pretty in a way that only a skilled artist can finesse combined with the traces of grid paper lines left behind make Laura’s story feel intimate and personal to the reader.

Soft is a short tale that can be read in one sitting. It may feel a bit wind swept in places, but the story consistently also holds the languid, heavy atmosphere of a doomed young love made even more tragic by Carmilla’s supernatural strangeness. It might be because Laura and I share many pieces of our identities in common, but I haven’t been able to stop turning the story back and over again in my mind. The complex, bittersweet battle of being entranced by a beautiful but cruel love in tandem with themes of of manipulation, abuse, and internalized homophobia make the romance unsettlingly relatable and more than just a new turn of an old story. It’s delicate and sad, heartbreaking and familiar.

My sole gripe would be the use of simplified Chinese characters when the story is set in Hong Kong where traditional script is much more common. Aside from that, I wouldn’t change a thing.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book the likes of which only Peow could publish. Jane Mai's Soft is a modern retelling of Carmilla. At the midway point between low and high brow. Slice of life horror at its finest. It's also a deep dive into sexual awakenings, coming out, and toxic relationships. Very cool, and very "soft" and cozy despite the murders happening in the background

[Eliud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soft by Jane Mai is a haunting, intimate, and visually arresting retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, reimagined through the lens of a 1990s teenage diary. This graphic novella stands out as both a queer coming-of-age story and a chilling portrait of first love’s dangers-where the supernatural is only one of many threats.

[Elena Varg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t read up on this at all, just picked it up before even checking the description. An excellent idea, the vampire reveal actually surprised me! I loved how simple the art style was and how you can tell it was drawn on graph paper!

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and bittersweet coming of age lesbian vampire romance. Love Jane's voice and style, coming from her other PEOW books that are really funny this one is gentle and sincere. Art is really nice and clean. TW abuse

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Carmilla last year, and while I liked it, it left me wanting more - more insight into Laura and Carmilla's relationship, a more satisfying ending. It turns out that this beautiful, tender little graphic novel was exactly what I wanted.

[crowsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Yoana Veselinova · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ½

[Jack Koeberle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A horror romance journal, and a unique experience, glad I picked this up 👍

[frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The style is awesome, I've always loved Jane Mai's work. I'm not sure if the story fully captivated me, and that's okay. It was still cute.

[Meggie Ramm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comic retelling of Carmilla done in a comic/journal format. This was the Carmilla I wanted!! Secrets and kissing but also the confusing dynamics of a first relationship.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very beautifully told; a good one to read in low light in the middle of the night.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute, endearing art style and a gripping first page. I enjoyed the pacing and characters, and would have loved to read more about their dynamics. Short read.