Reviews - The Vampire Lestat

2.63k reviews for:

The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice

3.99 AVERAGE

anappmag's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amadeostat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

geofrog's review against another edition

2.0

While I loved the heart of the first novel, it was a heavy read and wasn’t at all what I was expecting from a vampire novel. The first time I attempted to read this book, the sequel, I had trouble with the pacing and it felt like the story didn’t capture my attention. Upon returning to this book right before the premiere of the second season of the television adaptation, I felt like I understood more clearly that this novel (and maybe all of Anne Rice’s works) were not meant to be read in a single sitting. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice is the second book in her The Vampire Chronicles series. It follows the story of Lestat de Lioncourt, a charismatic and powerful vampire who recounts his life story. From his origins as a young nobleman in 18th-century France to his transformation into a vampire, Lestat's tale is one of love, betrayal, and the quest for meaning in an immortal existence. The novel delves into Lestat's struggles with his identity, his relationships with other vampires, and his desire to find his place in the world. Rich in atmosphere and complex characters, The Vampire Lestat is a compelling blend of horror, romance, and philosophical exploration. While at first I found the plot to be meandering, I enjoyed the different settings and seeing the vampire Lestat navigate these different locations filled with different characters. I loved the atmosphere of the vampires in Paris, there was something intriguing about seeing otherworldly characters interacting in real historical and human cities and locations. I’m thankful to have read this book when I did, as Anne Rice’s complex and nuanced views on religion influence her stories, and I think I’m finally in a place spiritually to be more flexible to these ideas after a lifetime of atheism and agnosticism. I loved seeing these immortal creatures of the night looking for meaning and their place in this world, questioning their faiths and the creation of the universe. I love how Anne Rice focuses on how these immortal creatures seek meaning and sometimes have very unique relationships with human beings and humanity as a whole. It makes me wonder who I would become if I was a being that could never die. How long would it take me to see immortality as a curse? How many iterations of myself would there be if I knew that I could never die? It’s interesting because I think there isn’t a clear answer for anyone, and I think that the truth of it is that immortality is seen as desirable from mortals but as a curse by the undead. Life is only precious because it ends, as they say. While I did think most of this novel was intriguing, it did feel like Anne Rice wrote a whole book about vampires standing around and talking about vampires. One could argue that this entire novel is Anne Rice exploring the lore and world building off of her first novel through the lens of her favourite character, and there are a lot of interesting ideas here. I think that the constant info dumps and expository dialogue can get tiring, and that element may turn off many readers. I will say that learning about the oldest and most ancient vampires in this story’s world was interesting, and seeing other story threads from Anne Rice’s other books made me curious about those stories and storylines. The “vampire in a 90s rock band” portion of this book should have been the entire premise, along with learning about the ancient vampires. Overall this book’s format and pacing was a slog to get through, but it was an interesting piece of vampire fiction. A lot of what happened in the Queen of the Damned movie happened in this book, which makes me curious about what will happen in the next book in the series.

“Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds -- justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they can't go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner.”

dollangengar's review against another edition

5.0

i don’t think other books from TVC will top this one, but i’m open-minded, i need to be blown away again and again!

i loved this book, it’s twisted, complicated and your relationship with the characters will probably the same too. i have to admit that i wouldn’t actually recommend to people IRL, but if you manage to go with the flow and let yourself be captivated by it, no matter how twisted it is, you’ll love it!

i loved lestat, brat and rebellious, and i loved armand, who’s tragic and definitely not rebellious but is as drawn to lestat as the reader is, because he probably sees in him what he could never have the guts to become. i can’t wait to read his whole story, because even though i loved his character in IWTV, this book did it for me!

“i’ve been a rebel always, you’ve been a slave of everything that ever claimed you”

and nicki! i can’t put my mind around the fact that some people hate him, while i absolutely loved him. i love tragic characters, he is indeed similar to both louis and armand in this. a tragic, lonely character in love with lestat and jealous of his approach to life. his relationship with lestat will always break my heart. and i absolutely loved the queer narrative. how can people say this book wasn’t queer?

“lestat, we’re partners in sin, you and i. we’ve both behaved badly. both been utterly disreputable. it’s what binds us together.”

and, finally, lestat’s relationship with louis! louis’ character in the book is NOTHING like in the tv show (tv shows portraits him way better imo) but his relationship with lestat is still gut wrenching.

“have you come back to me, as lovers say?”
“no, you have come back to *me*”

draculogan's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sunshinemc's review against another edition

5.0

I love any story that plays devil’s advocate, and this book certainly does that. In “Interview with a Vampire,” Lestat is this somewhat annoying, seemingly irresponsible, directionless villain. In this sequel, you get to see inside his head and hear his side of things, thus understanding him much better. I love the idea that once you understand someone you can’t really hate them anymore, and this book did that for me. This sequel makes the first book richer, I think, once you understand Lestat.
I love the poetic, sensual, historical, philosophical, and somehow musical feel of this book. Rice’s writing is always descriptive and beautiful, and I love that that language is applied to these really dark, violent characters and their world. The angsty feel of the writing can make Lestat and other characters (Nicki especially) quite emo at times, but I think that’s part of the vampire territory.
(I also hate that I can’t picture Lestat without him looking like Tom Cruise, but that’s a whole other thing.)
At first it feels like there’s no real plot to the book and that they just kind of talk and discuss and explore without really going anywhere, but the book gets more and more interesting as new characters enter the story, and every character adds something that ties it all together. I love the time periods shown, the different journeys, and the great leaps the mythology takes.
Overall, this is my favorite of the books in "The Vampire Chronicles" because it feels contained unto itself, has a solid framework to the story, and also sprouting tendrils that reach into the other books.