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econsidine's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
If you liked the first book, I guarantee you will really like this second book. I've seen a lot of reviews characterize this as some kind of "redemption" or "justification" of Lestat, and it's not really that, nor is it a retelling of Interview with the Vampire--instead, it's essentially a prequel that makes the first book a lot more complex. It's also a lot more fun to read than the first (and I *liked* the first!) mainly because it's told by Lestat instead of Louis.
Lestat is a great narrator, particularly because he is horrible. He is a misogynist and a terrible friend, with a giant ego, a violent streak, and no impulse control. He's definitely got some kind of incestuous relationship going on with his mother. And he's also a literal monster and kills people all the time. There is no redeeming him--which feels very much on purpose--and yet Anne Rice makes you empathize with him all the same. She never lets you forget how much of a monster he is, but also makes it clear that he feels immense love and pain at the same time. It's a refusal to equate evil with unfeeling that I find refreshing. It can be easy, in both stories and in real life, to try and see abusers/criminals/perpetrators of harm as coldhearted, lacking in self-awareness, and detached from humanity, but that's not necessarily the case. People can be loving and smart and self-aware, passionate and well-intentioned and victimized themselves, and can still do horrible things and be forces for evil. And Rice makes both the evil and the love unavoidable parts of her characters.
As a book, it's also a historical adventure story, moving from Auvergne to Gaul to Egypt to San Francisco and a whole lot of other places in the middle. There's also a lot of other characters' stories in this one, despite the title. The book reads almost like interconnected short stories, which makes sense for a tale about immortals.
And I guess that brings me to the other thing that strikes me about this book, the immortality of it all. Like the first book, but even more so, this book has a lot of philosophical musings about immortality and making it all meaningful and who is best suited to continue raging against that dying light the longest. Really, it feels like a way to discuss how to make an actual mortal lifetime meaningful, with the maybe-easier-to-digest natural phases and metamorphoses of an eternal lifetime acting as comparison. It reads, to me, like something written by someone who is very worried about death and about making life count. Though maybe that is projecting a bit too much. Either way, there's a lot going on here and it hit home for me.
Lestat is a great narrator, particularly because he is horrible. He is a misogynist and a terrible friend, with a giant ego, a violent streak, and no impulse control. He's definitely got some kind of incestuous relationship going on with his mother. And he's also a literal monster and kills people all the time. There is no redeeming him--which feels very much on purpose--and yet Anne Rice makes you empathize with him all the same. She never lets you forget how much of a monster he is, but also makes it clear that he feels immense love and pain at the same time. It's a refusal to equate evil with unfeeling that I find refreshing. It can be easy, in both stories and in real life, to try and see abusers/criminals/perpetrators of harm as coldhearted, lacking in self-awareness, and detached from humanity, but that's not necessarily the case. People can be loving and smart and self-aware, passionate and well-intentioned and victimized themselves, and can still do horrible things and be forces for evil. And Rice makes both the evil and the love unavoidable parts of her characters.
As a book, it's also a historical adventure story, moving from Auvergne to Gaul to Egypt to San Francisco and a whole lot of other places in the middle. There's also a lot of other characters' stories in this one, despite the title. The book reads almost like interconnected short stories, which makes sense for a tale about immortals.
And I guess that brings me to the other thing that strikes me about this book, the immortality of it all. Like the first book, but even more so, this book has a lot of philosophical musings about immortality and making it all meaningful and who is best suited to continue raging against that dying light the longest. Really, it feels like a way to discuss how to make an actual mortal lifetime meaningful, with the maybe-easier-to-digest natural phases and metamorphoses of an eternal lifetime acting as comparison. It reads, to me, like something written by someone who is very worried about death and about making life count. Though maybe that is projecting a bit too much. Either way, there's a lot going on here and it hit home for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual assault, Car accident, and Incest
Sexual assault clarification:tbd24's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
honestly I wasn’t convinced i was gonna continue the vampire chronicles at the end of IWAV, but right from the start this book got me interested. well maybe not RIGHT from the start but once Lestat started talking about his past. I loved his melodrama, the way he turns everything into a philosophical puzzle to be solved. And unpopular opinion lol but I like that Anne Rice made the vampires not care about human conventions like incest and age gaps, it shows how they are fundamentally changed from human kind. Even if these are still meant to be morally questionable actions, the modern vampires all maintain that they are evil creatures so why shouldn’t they commit horrific social crimes??? they kill people lol . Ultimately, i can understand why some people wouldn’t enjoy a book that happens mostly in someone’s thoughts and memory but boy is it my cup of tea, i’m so excited to read the next one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Incest and Racism
Minor: Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, War, and Violence
crisisalide's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence
ek4therin4h's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
claire_3lyse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Animal death, Blood, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment and Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Vomit, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
biab00's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
But what have I done? I thought. I didn't ask for this, I didn't give in. Even when Magnus told me I was dying, I fought him, and yet I am hearing Hell's bells now.
Loved to read more about Lestat background, given the fact that he didn't say much about it in the first book. And also the reason behind some attitudes that he has in it.
Also rockstar Lestat rocks can't wait to see how they do it in the Tv series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
super_panda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Slavery and Incest
themelleh's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Lestat is one of my first crushes so my love of this book is purely nostalgic. I love my trash vampire and his completely over the top, dramatic flair.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Classism, Death, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
mayastone's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book offers the vampire origin story, how some vampires have chosen to interpret their gift/curse, a different perspective to some of the events in the previous book, the formation of the Theatre of the Vampire, as well as an in-depth look at Lestat himself. As such a lot is packed in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Incest, Murder, and Violence
meganpbennett's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It is always hard to rate Anne Rice books, and The Vampire Lestat is no exception. Like Interview, it starts out strong, with action-packed pages and a lovable anti-hero. And, like Interview, it gets to a point where Lestat decides that it's time to tell his story in incredible, intimate detail. And it's not just his story. It's Armand's story. It's Marius' story. It's the story of Those Who Must Be Kept. The middle of the story - from around the time Lestat is turned into a Vampire until he departs for New Orleans - is a bit of a slog. The stories told are amazing and fantastical, but they seem to drag on and on. But if you make it through those pages, the action picks up again, and the book ends in a cliffhanger, setting off the sequel, The Queen of the Damned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Death
Minor: Vomit, Grief, Incest, Slavery, and Terminal illness