Reviews - En vampyrs bekännelse

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8.83k reviews for:

En vampyrs bekännelse

Anne Rice

3.76 AVERAGE

burndeehousedown's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The story of Louis de Pointe Du Lac, a plantationer accosted one night by a vampire who returns to Louis in the sickbed he was left in to offer a deal, and how his life spins out from there. The book is driven by Louis musings over the morality of being a vampire, something that requires a continuous supply of death, the disastrous relationships he is surrounded by, and his ever present lack of a fucking spine.

Before I actually dive into my review a little context, I originally picked this book up years ago, probably around 16~17, and bounced off of it hard cause I was a sensitive kid and abusive relationships made me feel pretty bad. Last year I sat to watch the two seasons of the show based on the book and fell in love. Now that I’ve come back to the book I am actually a bit disappointed. The pacing of the show and the actual characters made not only a much more enjoyable story but also a far more complex one. That and instead you follow a gay man of color in the 1910s onward instead of a whiney ass slave owner.

Which was another thing, this book having been written in the 70s shows quite a bit at times, and hardly at all in others. For being such a gay story for the time it came out, its amazing, there is not a lot of traditional romance, but dramatic yearning and an actual “I love you” between two characters is not something I expected from the 70s.

But it also has really weird descriptions of the character Claudia who in the books is trapped in 5 year olds body, which while is likely a very interesting concept to explore, not only maturing is a frozen immature state but to be immortal in one. But the book doesn’t develop it nearly enough, and just sticks to a few “i hate i was made this way” & gross descriptions.

I will also say her and Louis relationship is very much there but is never feels as solid as the relationships between Louis and his romantic interests. This is not a romance novel so to me it really just feels like she gets unfairly sidelined. Also she is a stand out part of the tv show and it kind of sucked to see all the potential that the show took advantage of not getting the same treatment here.

Take all of this with a grain of salt, since this is just the wining of someone who liked the show better. Lord knows what I’ll think of the movie if I ever see it.

taniyo_k's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the Devil. I don’t know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible, and goodness is eternally difficult.”

The thing I appreciated most about this book was how far Anne Rice went in exploring the deeply inhuman psyche of the vampires. My enjoyment of the story was aided by Simon Vance’s narration; the audiobook format fit well with the fact that the vast majority of the book is a monologue of Louis’ philosophical musings and angst.

Content Warnings