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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This was quite a thick book to saw through but it was very enjoyable. I think I like Anne Rices witches more than her vampires at this point which is unusual for me. I loved the family “history/estimate” told through the view points of outsiders but of course what I really want is the real story from “the man” and the family itself. Really hoping we will get to see some of that in the sequel Lasher. My biggest issue was the character of Rowan. I felt like she changed into a completely different person from the first half of the book to the last half. Not sure if that was supposed to be Lashers influence or what but it just didn’t sit well with me. However the book was worth reading alone for the insane family history so still worth at least 4 stars IMO.
I was hoping that with a subject that I like more, ie. witches, I would enjoy Anne Rice. That was not the case. I stubbornly finished this book, but will not recommend. Anne Rice is not for me.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really did enjoy this book. It's classic Anne Rice and quite fucked up at times, but I loved the lore. The lore is what made this book for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Incest, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death, Pregnancy
unexpectedly, i found myself enjoying this mammoth tome, despite the many obstacles that seemed to be stacked in my way. that being said, there’s a lot to unpack with this one and i had complicated feelings.
rice’s prose, as always, is intensely readable for me; i love the way she writes and in this book especially you can tell how much she adores new orleans. every time she writes about the city it makes me want to visit - the attention to little details and the love that her characters feel for the place build a vision of loveliness that i would love to inhabit. i think i have to admit that i’m hooked on her writing style; it draws me in and catches me in its claws even when the words i’m reading are in fact absurd.
and absurdity runs rampant throughout the witching hour - from unnecessarily graphic incest to the bulk of the book being a complicated genealogy to the absolutely batshit crazy ending. i’ll give her credit - at no point did i know where the plot of this was actually going - but part of that is the fact that the plot just simply stops in the center. i love rice’s tangents and complex character backstories, but this was a bit much; i was forced to look up a mayfair genealogy in order to keep the whole thing straight (and the one i sourced the most turned out to be wrong about who exactly julien fathered).
also, this was definitely the most explicit of rice’s works that i’ve read so far, and that was Interesting. i had loose plans to read her works written under pseudonyms out of simple curiosity and a desire to say i’ve read her entire bibliography, but the weird inability of any character to confront the reality of rape or incest makes me hesitate. i understand that this was written in a slightly different time, but that doesn’t lessen or invalidate the discomfort of the reader. from what i’ve heard, this only gets worse in lasher, which i’m decidedly not excited about. (speaking of lasher, he is the worst character ever. worse than marius and no i am not joking)
this sounds like a review full of criticisms, which it is, but i did rate the book four stars. it was readable, with notable exceptions it was fun, the plot was interesting, and i genuinely enjoyed reading about all the mayfair witches over the years once aaron lightner’s narrative took over the file. the characters, save lasher, were captivating and i am very interested in what rowan does next and a little more explanation behind her motives at the story’s conclusion. long review and i could say more, but it was a good read with some unavoidable caveats.
ps: i don’t feel super confident in my ability to speak on it well, but the depiction of race and sexuality, in addition to the topic of assault (which i did touch on), in this story is shaky at best. by nature of a story about an old southern family, it is racialized and does perpetuate a lot of harmful stereotypes about slavery and race relations; while i again don’t feel entirely equipped to speak on it, i would be remiss if i didn’t at least mention it for my own notes.
rice’s prose, as always, is intensely readable for me; i love the way she writes and in this book especially you can tell how much she adores new orleans. every time she writes about the city it makes me want to visit - the attention to little details and the love that her characters feel for the place build a vision of loveliness that i would love to inhabit. i think i have to admit that i’m hooked on her writing style; it draws me in and catches me in its claws even when the words i’m reading are in fact absurd.
and absurdity runs rampant throughout the witching hour - from unnecessarily graphic incest to the bulk of the book being a complicated genealogy to the absolutely batshit crazy ending. i’ll give her credit - at no point did i know where the plot of this was actually going - but part of that is the fact that the plot just simply stops in the center. i love rice’s tangents and complex character backstories, but this was a bit much; i was forced to look up a mayfair genealogy in order to keep the whole thing straight (and the one i sourced the most turned out to be wrong about who exactly julien fathered).
also, this was definitely the most explicit of rice’s works that i’ve read so far, and that was Interesting. i had loose plans to read her works written under pseudonyms out of simple curiosity and a desire to say i’ve read her entire bibliography, but the weird inability of any character to confront the reality of rape or incest makes me hesitate. i understand that this was written in a slightly different time, but that doesn’t lessen or invalidate the discomfort of the reader. from what i’ve heard, this only gets worse in lasher, which i’m decidedly not excited about. (speaking of lasher, he is the worst character ever. worse than marius and no i am not joking)
this sounds like a review full of criticisms, which it is, but i did rate the book four stars. it was readable, with notable exceptions it was fun, the plot was interesting, and i genuinely enjoyed reading about all the mayfair witches over the years once aaron lightner’s narrative took over the file. the characters, save lasher, were captivating and i am very interested in what rowan does next and a little more explanation behind her motives at the story’s conclusion. long review and i could say more, but it was a good read with some unavoidable caveats.
ps: i don’t feel super confident in my ability to speak on it well, but the depiction of race and sexuality, in addition to the topic of assault (which i did touch on), in this story is shaky at best. by nature of a story about an old southern family, it is racialized and does perpetuate a lot of harmful stereotypes about slavery and race relations; while i again don’t feel entirely equipped to speak on it, i would be remiss if i didn’t at least mention it for my own notes.
A handful of things that make a reader-living-in-the-year-2025's eyes widen.
But other than that, its size is both its strength and its downfall; there's a ton of room for great writing and a lot of room for bore-you-to-tears writing. Like after the long family history (which I actually enjoyed): the history portion is such a great, slow crescendo that creates so much intrigue (IMHO) that afterwards when you get back to reality you then have to read the dullest & longest description of New Orleans and a big house. What a let down.
And just my own personal pet peeve, but when an author's philosophy of life comes out at the ending through one of their characters, it always sticks out to me like a sore thumb and never rings true. My own pet peeve, though.
But other than that, its size is both its strength and its downfall; there's a ton of room for great writing and a lot of room for bore-you-to-tears writing. Like after the long family history (which I actually enjoyed): the history portion is such a great, slow crescendo that creates so much intrigue (IMHO) that afterwards when you get back to reality you then have to read the dullest & longest description of New Orleans and a big house. What a let down.
And just my own personal pet peeve, but when an author's philosophy of life comes out at the ending through one of their characters, it always sticks out to me like a sore thumb and never rings true. My own pet peeve, though.
. . . I finished. Where is my badge? I feel like I deserve one for getting through 60 audiobook hours in a 2 week library loan.
On to book 2. More development of the rising action expected.
On to book 2. More development of the rising action expected.
Ugh. That was my initial reaction at the end of reading this book. In fact, when reading the last 100 pages or so of the book, I actually said 'ugh!' or 'ick!' out loud at least 3 times. A pithy review would read 'A tedious overlong mix of Edgar Allen Poe and Twilight.'
The relationship between Michael and Rowan is nauseating. He says 'honey'. She starts crying. And after so much spur-of-the-moment but drawn out over 300 pages romance, and after about 900 freaking pages of history and warnings of how horrible Lasher is, Rowan falls under his spell in about 5 seconds. Just because he sexes her up, which she previously claimed repulsed her. And after spending her entire life wanting to be a neurosurgeon and wanting to use the legacy money to start a clinic, Rowan throws it away for some good sex with a bizarre spirit demon. It's unbelievable that her character would be legitimately curious about forming an abhorrent new life form, after viewing Lemle's fetus experiment. And it's even more unbelievable that after she is forced to literally give birth to this horrendous creation, after it destroys her natural child, she would then help it and want it to survive.
What's up with Michael's hand power? What was the point of him having it? And why did it leave? What did it reveal to him? And what did Lasher see in Michael? A dupable man-toy from New Orleans? How would he know that's what Rowan would like, when he appeared to Michael before Rowan was born?
I guess one legitimate question could be: who caused Michael to drown, Lasher or the Mayfairs? By the end, I accept that the deceased Mayfairs, for all their conniving and disagreements while alive, wanted Michael to persuade Rowan to not allow Lasher into her life and thereby prevent the aberration of his human form. However, did they cause him to drown, so that Rowan would find him, fall in love (since she apparently is highly suggestible to love interests), and then be so happy that she wouldn't fulfill the prophecy? If so, what assholes; that is a risky way to go about things. Or did Lasher arrange it (since he is also in tune to Rowan's romantic tastes) just to have some man sperm present at the required time? If Lasher was the one to initially cause their paths to cross, did the Mayfairs then use his convenient time when dead to give him an alternate purpose?
While I did not enjoy this book the writing did kept me reading. However, I would also be more than happy to replace this entire 1000-page novel with half an hour with a picture book of the houses, gardens, and history of New Orleans. The bizarre story did make me curious about the later installments of the series. However, reading the wikipedia articles on Lasher (the book) and Taltos was more than sufficient to convince me I do not want to invest any more time into reading the series, as it seems to delve even further into absurd erotic horror/sci-fi.
The relationship between Michael and Rowan is nauseating. He says 'honey'. She starts crying. And after so much spur-of-the-moment but drawn out over 300 pages romance, and after about 900 freaking pages of history and warnings of how horrible Lasher is, Rowan falls under his spell in about 5 seconds. Just because he sexes her up, which she previously claimed repulsed her. And after spending her entire life wanting to be a neurosurgeon and wanting to use the legacy money to start a clinic, Rowan throws it away for some good sex with a bizarre spirit demon. It's unbelievable that her character would be legitimately curious about forming an abhorrent new life form, after viewing Lemle's fetus experiment. And it's even more unbelievable that after she is forced to literally give birth to this horrendous creation, after it destroys her natural child, she would then help it and want it to survive.
What's up with Michael's hand power? What was the point of him having it? And why did it leave? What did it reveal to him? And what did Lasher see in Michael? A dupable man-toy from New Orleans? How would he know that's what Rowan would like, when he appeared to Michael before Rowan was born?
I guess one legitimate question could be: who caused Michael to drown, Lasher or the Mayfairs? By the end, I accept that the deceased Mayfairs, for all their conniving and disagreements while alive, wanted Michael to persuade Rowan to not allow Lasher into her life and thereby prevent the aberration of his human form. However, did they cause him to drown, so that Rowan would find him, fall in love (since she apparently is highly suggestible to love interests), and then be so happy that she wouldn't fulfill the prophecy? If so, what assholes; that is a risky way to go about things. Or did Lasher arrange it (since he is also in tune to Rowan's romantic tastes) just to have some man sperm present at the required time? If Lasher was the one to initially cause their paths to cross, did the Mayfairs then use his convenient time when dead to give him an alternate purpose?
While I did not enjoy this book the writing did kept me reading. However, I would also be more than happy to replace this entire 1000-page novel with half an hour with a picture book of the houses, gardens, and history of New Orleans. The bizarre story did make me curious about the later installments of the series. However, reading the wikipedia articles on Lasher (the book) and Taltos was more than sufficient to convince me I do not want to invest any more time into reading the series, as it seems to delve even further into absurd erotic horror/sci-fi.
Re-rating this at 4 stars on my second read through (down from 5) because I'm apparently old and cynical now and I don't care if there's a reason for instalove or not, I hate it goddamnit, I just do. And there's more erotica in this story than there is in a lot of actual erotica. Jesus fucking christ; calm the fuck down.
The bit when Rowan and Michael are cleaning up the mansion and just throwing around money is just self indulgent and uninteresting. An argument can be made for pacing and setting atmosphere and whatnot but no. Just no. It really just ate up a few hundred pages. *sigh*
Over all, it's an utterly fantastic ghost story. Still loved it.
The bit when Rowan and Michael are cleaning up the mansion and just throwing around money is just self indulgent and uninteresting. An argument can be made for pacing and setting atmosphere and whatnot but no. Just no. It really just ate up a few hundred pages. *sigh*
Over all, it's an utterly fantastic ghost story. Still loved it.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a weird one for me. I was hooked by the mystery in the beginning and enjoyed the detailed explanations giving backstory for Rowan and Michael. The middle part going through the Mayfair history kept me interested although obviously got more uncomfortable as I kept going. The third part is where it lost me - it became a romance horror story where I just got more and more annoyed at Rowan before being ultimately horrified when it turned to body horror. I tried to give the sequel a chance but the first chapter just made it exponentially worse. No thank you!