Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

44 reviews

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

A dark, eerie and dramatic memoir of the life and experiences of a vampire named Louis, told in the context of an interview with a terrified but intrigued boy. 
The story unfurls before us, laced with treachery, eroticism, death, love and a lot of blood; paced with twists, turns and climaxes; and underpinned with a nuanced discussion on existence and the concept of good and evil. 

What made me not enjoy it as much as I could’ve was the lack of connection with the protagonist. I know fundamentally he is supposed to be evil as a murderous vampire, but I think in reading vampire fiction we suspend the vilification of this inhumanity as one both expected and understood. However, the seeming obsession in contemporary vampire fiction of making important characters have involvement in the slave trade/confederacy is so off-putting and honestly needless. In addition, his relationship with Claudia (although a grey area considering her actual temporal age), was very strange and gave off similar vibes to that in Lolita. Overall my empathy with Louis was extremely stunted from the get-go which made the rest of the story quite the slog.

That was a shame indeed, as the writing is incredible - vivid, atmospheric and poetic. If my gripes with the characterisation were non existent I’d be tempted to give it 5 stars just for that. As an important part of the vampire canon I’d say this was worth the read, especially for spooky month.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Stalking, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

melihooker's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A propulsive, dark tale perfect for readers who enjoy the vampire subgenre of horror. Exhilarating at times, but often deeply melancholy and sad.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Child death, Gore, Toxic friendship, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

biab00's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Mortal beauty often makes me ache, and mortal grandeur can fill me with that longing I felt so hopelessly in the Mediterranean Sea. But Paris drew me closer to her hear, so I forgot myself entirely. Forgot the damned and questing preternatural thing that doted on mortal skin and mortal clothing. Paris overwhelmed, and lightened and rewarded more richly than any promise.

Wasn't expecting liking it so much, it was beautifully written with complex characters that you can't really tell who's the villain and who's not.
Anne definitely made the vampires more human, they aren't only these mindless creatures that are out for blood, but also creatures with feelings like the common people and with their own internal crisis about their existence.
I'm really excited to read the second book, to see the perspective of Lestat because from what I've heard Louis is a unreliable narrator.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Torture

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Child death, Gore, Classism, and Confinement

Minor: Self harm, Torture, Ableism, Cursing, Death of parent, and Animal death

usually_sleep_deprived's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Murder, Racism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gore, Slavery, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Violence

softwindflower's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, and Blood

delaney_de_spain's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Blood

mothstrand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Racism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Excrement, and Stalking

aleighc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Gore, Death, Blood, Body horror, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

carrionkid's review against another edition

5.0

Even before I read this book, it was extremely formative to me as my mom has been obsessed with Lestat since she was 14 and read this when it came out. That being said, it's a deeply visceral and emotional book, slow burning and tense. For all the author's flaws, this book remains an excellent piece of vampire fiction and definitely a touchstone of the lore as it currently exists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Slavery