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It was slow to read at times, especially the beginning, but once I got into it, I was engaged in the story, and by the end, each character arc ended in satisfying and bittersweet ways that further endeared me to them.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves vampires, and would advise them to try to stick with it to the end.
I know Louis and Claudia have a father-daughter relationship...however why did Anne Rice feel the need to have them call each other their lover etc? Like... I know it's not like that but I felt icky sometimes idk if that was just me.
I loved Louis and Arnard, I interpreted their relationship as queer (idk how u wouldn't), and it was funny how Louis would keep internally justify their love as platonic, metor-mentee kind of bond but PLEASE they were spewing the most romantic lines. I was crushed by the ending, they were so close to happiness together.
In the end, I felt so bad for Lestat, and I liked how full circle Louis arc was as he finally understood Lestat, and in a way became like him by the end.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder
Minor: Stalking, Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail