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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lestat is probably my favourite character in any media ever so reading this was a delight for me. i read the first half a year ago then got in a reading slump and finally finished it today. so much happens in this book, the characters, different eras, countries.. its pretty insane. every page that had loustat together was magic. i loved reading lestats pov and literally can't wait for the new season which just started filming. very interested in how they're gonna translate this crazy book into a few episodes but my hopes are very high!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the first book Interview with the Vampire, but this one I was not a fan of. Hopping between perspectives made it more of a chore to listen to. I'll still read the third book, but this one was a struggle to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe you should tell your autistic husband that he is in fact your husband, that would probably make things a lot simpler for your relationship. It took Lestat 200 years to figure that out, but he got there in the end
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is everything. oh my god
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Incest, Cannibalism
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Incest, Self harm, Suicide, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was so gay. Big fat queer vibes. And I'm demanding an invitation to Lestat and Louis' wedding please and thanks😁
This book has everything you could want from a vampire story: queerness, moral ambiguity, rock music, drama, satanic covens, creepy rituals, internal battles between goodness and evil, complicated relationships with God, complicated relationships with eachother- I ATE IT ALL UP !!!
Before starting this book, I had conflicted feelings about Lestat's character. After finishing this book, he's one of my favourite fictional characters of all time!
Something about his insatiable desire to have a connection to mortals and goodness despite his nature being the very opposite of all of that just hit too close to home for me. Something I adore in vampire stories is the exploration of being something 'other,' and being different in some inherent and unchangeable way and suffering because of it. Lestat gives a voice to anyone who feels 'other.' "You sense my loneliness...my bitterness at being shut out of life. My bitterness that I am evil, that I don't deserve to be loved and yet I need love hungrily. My horror that I can never reveal myself to mortals." CRYING
And it's this idea of "otherness" and difference that makes this book appeal to me as a queer as well!! It's a feeling I'm sure most LGBTQ+ folks have experienced at some point.
The discussion of good versus evil was also so very facinating!! Especially when it's explored primarily through the eyes of Lestat, who wants so desperately to be good despite his evil nature. This book asked facinating questions. What purpose does a man-made concept of goodness serve to those who are no longer human? What does evilness mean when it's an inherent part of your nature? Can you still be good when youre considered a monster? Funky innit!!
Through the theme of good vs evil, this book manages to stay relevant despite being written in the 80s. We follow the characters of this book across centuries, and so we explore the standards and ideas of goodness through these times, because good and evil are ever-changing concepts! "It's a totally new age. It requires a new evil. And I am that new evil...I am the Vampire for these times."
UGH ITS SO FUN!!
Like every good sequel, this book successfully expands the world this series is set in, and it does so magnificently!! Vampires are my favourite creatures ever, so I absolutely adore seeing them portrayed in creative ways. Rice takes the legend of the Vampire in a totally new direction, one that I'm so excited to see further explored!
I didn't expect to become obsessed with this world and these characters but oh well🙂↕️
This book has everything you could want from a vampire story: queerness, moral ambiguity, rock music, drama, satanic covens, creepy rituals, internal battles between goodness and evil, complicated relationships with God, complicated relationships with eachother- I ATE IT ALL UP !!!
Before starting this book, I had conflicted feelings about Lestat's character. After finishing this book, he's one of my favourite fictional characters of all time!
Something about his insatiable desire to have a connection to mortals and goodness despite his nature being the very opposite of all of that just hit too close to home for me. Something I adore in vampire stories is the exploration of being something 'other,' and being different in some inherent and unchangeable way and suffering because of it. Lestat gives a voice to anyone who feels 'other.' "You sense my loneliness...my bitterness at being shut out of life. My bitterness that I am evil, that I don't deserve to be loved and yet I need love hungrily. My horror that I can never reveal myself to mortals." CRYING
And it's this idea of "otherness" and difference that makes this book appeal to me as a queer as well!! It's a feeling I'm sure most LGBTQ+ folks have experienced at some point.
The discussion of good versus evil was also so very facinating!! Especially when it's explored primarily through the eyes of Lestat, who wants so desperately to be good despite his evil nature. This book asked facinating questions. What purpose does a man-made concept of goodness serve to those who are no longer human? What does evilness mean when it's an inherent part of your nature? Can you still be good when youre considered a monster? Funky innit!!
Through the theme of good vs evil, this book manages to stay relevant despite being written in the 80s. We follow the characters of this book across centuries, and so we explore the standards and ideas of goodness through these times, because good and evil are ever-changing concepts! "It's a totally new age. It requires a new evil. And I am that new evil...I am the Vampire for these times."
UGH ITS SO FUN!!
Like every good sequel, this book successfully expands the world this series is set in, and it does so magnificently!! Vampires are my favourite creatures ever, so I absolutely adore seeing them portrayed in creative ways. Rice takes the legend of the Vampire in a totally new direction, one that I'm so excited to see further explored!
I didn't expect to become obsessed with this world and these characters but oh well🙂↕️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To me, The Vampire Lestat is a novel that is 90% perfect.
It takes Lestat de Lioncourt, a character who appears in Interview as little more than a detestable self-aggrandized hedonist and morphs him into something else. Don't get it wrong - he's still a self-aggrandized hedonist. When told from his own perspective, though, Lestat oozes a sort of rakish charm that is altogether captivating and begrudging lovable. There's a constant undercurrent, too, of boyish insecurity that's as endearing as it is heart-wrenching; he has a child's fear of abandonment, bolstered only by his deeply unhealthy (and often concerning) relationship with his mother, Gabrielle.
Above all, Rice was a master of voice; if I didn't know better, I'd believe whole heartedly that this novel and Interview came from two entirely separate individuals. She possessed a singular talent for creating characters who seemingly possessed her to pen their own stories to the page, even if the plot building and prose can feel a little slapdash at times.
Which brings us to the 10% of this novel that I, personally, would deem imperfect: the nine-chapter Lore Dump where we learn the rich history of how vampires came to be. Of course, I understand why this information is important; if nothing else, it provides crucial context to events that both precede and follow it. But it feels like a bit of disjointed slog in the middle of an otherwise utterly gripping prose, and Rice takes around 50 pages to tell a story that could really have been confined to 30 or less. It feels less like we're being given information we need and more like a ham-fisted way to introduce a new character and set up the sequel, with spades of needless exposition piled on top.
That one criticism aside, The Vampire Lestat is, in my view, an absolute must-read for anyone who is a fan of anything a little vampiric. 4.75 stars.
It takes Lestat de Lioncourt, a character who appears in Interview as little more than a detestable self-aggrandized hedonist and morphs him into something else. Don't get it wrong - he's still a self-aggrandized hedonist. When told from his own perspective, though, Lestat oozes a sort of rakish charm that is altogether captivating and begrudging lovable. There's a constant undercurrent, too, of boyish insecurity that's as endearing as it is heart-wrenching; he has a child's fear of abandonment, bolstered only by his deeply unhealthy (and often concerning) relationship with his mother, Gabrielle.
Above all, Rice was a master of voice; if I didn't know better, I'd believe whole heartedly that this novel and Interview came from two entirely separate individuals. She possessed a singular talent for creating characters who seemingly possessed her to pen their own stories to the page, even if the plot building and prose can feel a little slapdash at times.
Which brings us to the 10% of this novel that I, personally, would deem imperfect: the nine-chapter Lore Dump where we learn the rich history of how vampires came to be. Of course, I understand why this information is important; if nothing else, it provides crucial context to events that both precede and follow it. But it feels like a bit of disjointed slog in the middle of an otherwise utterly gripping prose, and Rice takes around 50 pages to tell a story that could really have been confined to 30 or less. It feels less like we're being given information we need and more like a ham-fisted way to introduce a new character and set up the sequel, with spades of needless exposition piled on top.
That one criticism aside, The Vampire Lestat is, in my view, an absolute must-read for anyone who is a fan of anything a little vampiric. 4.75 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment
Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping