Scan barcode
13octopus's review against another edition
dark
funny
relaxing
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
Minor: War
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
A fun, gritty, and atmospheric book about vampires. Published in 1976, this book was the precursor to the modern vampire and for that I applaud this book for being something original, unique, and fresh with good writing. I really enjoyed the reflective nature of Louis' character and overall found this to be a great exploration of the nuances and depth of vampires.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Animal death, and Violence
Minor: Confinement
mysimas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.5
I first saw the film when I was a child, a little older than ten perhaps; I was allowed to stay past my bedtime to finish it, and it was unlike anything I had seen before. I’ve been fond of it and the characters ever since, even if I now think the story a tad too melodramatic and emo for my tastes.
The book, I never liked as much - frankly, it’s bit of a slog at times, showering you with unnecessary words where much fewer would suffice. I’m sure at least half its shine stems from nostalgia. But like with the movie I’m fond fond fond and will keep coming back…
The book, I never liked as much - frankly, it’s bit of a slog at times, showering you with unnecessary words where much fewer would suffice. I’m sure at least half its shine stems from nostalgia. But like with the movie I’m fond fond fond and will keep coming back…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Child death
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Stalking
anastasiamakes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Confinement
arianappstrg's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
4: 'It didn't have to end like that... I don't accept it... You talk about things that millions of us won't ever taste or come to understand. And then you tell me it ends like that... You don't even understand the meaning of your own story, what it means to a human being like me'. And that sums up how I feel about this book.
I totally respect how much of a revolution this book was when it was first published not only because it breathed fresh air into the vampire universe/trope/canon but also because of the socio-political context of the period. You can read the story through various themes and events in American history such as opulence and crumbling economies, stardom, AIDS, the Vietnam war, corruption, homosexuality and art. It indirectly touches on all the above, whether that is through its elegant exploration of death, religion, existential dread or our sublime connection to nature and twisted need for blood, control and terror.
Rice humanizes vampires, makes them flawed and vulnerable and pits them against the great binaries; life and death, good and evil, God and Satan, knowledge and ignorance. To this day, I have never read a vampire story that subverts, so discreetly and intrinsically, what we think we know about vampires and human nature. It looks beyond the traditional vampire storyline, strives to be engaging, contemporary and subtly political and refreshingly philosophical. Honestly, you think you're reading about vampires, you think you're falling into that great abyss of fantasy and escapism only to discover that this immense abyss of blood-drinking, sensual killing and existential crises, gradually, starts looking back at you. In our own unique way, we are immortal. We delight in blood. We seek a deeper meaning in life. We lose ourselves. We curse our emotions and go numb. In the end, we are really not that different from Louis, Lestat and Claudia.
There are a few things I would like to say about religion and the quality of the writing. Exploring religion and the nature/existence of God seems to be one of Rice's main objectives, at least, in this first book and though she uses her extended metaphors, similes and all that magical imagery very well the theme does feel overly recycled after a while. I know New Orleans has marvellous sites, churches, and cemeteries for religious worship. I know that the quest for and questioning of God, defying God, living like a God, acting like a God, is part and parcel of the vampire's existential madness. However, there is no need for it to be explored on every other page. I caught myself wanting to skip most of Louis' religious rumblings to get to the bits where he talks about his emotions, his connection to human beings, his love of life and all things beautiful. Rice does a great job unravelling these aspects of her characters, especially when it comes to Louis but I feel there should have been more balance between the grand narratives she chose to explore. At times, I felt she was addressing me directly on the subject of God, like the author was present more than the character. It read like 'now, let me walk you through my PowerPoint presentation on my religious realisations' which is not a bad thing at all, it's just that there is too much of it.
Lastly, I am new to Rice's vampire verse, this is literally the first book of hers I read, but can someone help me understand that freaky 'father-daughter/lover-lover' (and that's a direct quote from the text) dynamic between Louis and Claudia? I feel this needs to be addressed 😂. It was simultaneously engrossing and gross. It is quite possible that human rules when it comes to parenting do not apply to vampire parents and I get that but the number of times Louis describes Claudia as an object of sexual interest is borderline pedophilic 😂. Now, because my little brain is sick and loves reading about all these twisted dynamics I found it, as I said, engrossing but at the end of the day, it didn't really bode well with my morals and took me places I'd rather not go. Still, I thank Anne Rice for making me confront topics I am not comfortable with. Something tells me she is doing exactly that in other books as well.
I totally respect how much of a revolution this book was when it was first published not only because it breathed fresh air into the vampire universe/trope/canon but also because of the socio-political context of the period. You can read the story through various themes and events in American history such as opulence and crumbling economies, stardom, AIDS, the Vietnam war, corruption, homosexuality and art. It indirectly touches on all the above, whether that is through its elegant exploration of death, religion, existential dread or our sublime connection to nature and twisted need for blood, control and terror.
Rice humanizes vampires, makes them flawed and vulnerable and pits them against the great binaries; life and death, good and evil, God and Satan, knowledge and ignorance. To this day, I have never read a vampire story that subverts, so discreetly and intrinsically, what we think we know about vampires and human nature. It looks beyond the traditional vampire storyline, strives to be engaging, contemporary and subtly political and refreshingly philosophical. Honestly, you think you're reading about vampires, you think you're falling into that great abyss of fantasy and escapism only to discover that this immense abyss of blood-drinking, sensual killing and existential crises, gradually, starts looking back at you. In our own unique way, we are immortal. We delight in blood. We seek a deeper meaning in life. We lose ourselves. We curse our emotions and go numb. In the end, we are really not that different from Louis, Lestat and Claudia.
There are a few things I would like to say about religion and the quality of the writing. Exploring religion and the nature/existence of God seems to be one of Rice's main objectives, at least, in this first book and though she uses her extended metaphors, similes and all that magical imagery very well the theme does feel overly recycled after a while. I know New Orleans has marvellous sites, churches, and cemeteries for religious worship. I know that the quest for and questioning of God, defying God, living like a God, acting like a God, is part and parcel of the vampire's existential madness. However, there is no need for it to be explored on every other page. I caught myself wanting to skip most of Louis' religious rumblings to get to the bits where he talks about his emotions, his connection to human beings, his love of life and all things beautiful. Rice does a great job unravelling these aspects of her characters, especially when it comes to Louis but I feel there should have been more balance between the grand narratives she chose to explore. At times, I felt she was addressing me directly on the subject of God, like the author was present more than the character. It read like 'now, let me walk you through my PowerPoint presentation on my religious realisations' which is not a bad thing at all, it's just that there is too much of it.
Lastly, I am new to Rice's vampire verse, this is literally the first book of hers I read, but can someone help me understand that freaky 'father-daughter/lover-lover' (and that's a direct quote from the text) dynamic between Louis and Claudia? I feel this needs to be addressed 😂. It was simultaneously engrossing and gross. It is quite possible that human rules when it comes to parenting do not apply to vampire parents and I get that but the number of times Louis describes Claudia as an object of sexual interest is borderline pedophilic 😂. Now, because my little brain is sick and loves reading about all these twisted dynamics I found it, as I said, engrossing but at the end of the day, it didn't really bode well with my morals and took me places I'd rather not go. Still, I thank Anne Rice for making me confront topics I am not comfortable with. Something tells me she is doing exactly that in other books as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Slavery
Minor: Pedophilia
A note on the pedophilic element of this novel. For me personally, it's minor and it's indirect but it's most definitely there. It's something in the way Louis describes Claudia, in his whole body language with her and in the thoughts he has about her. And then there is Rice's parallelism of the relationships between father and daughters and lovers which I feel might be disturbing and triggering for people. It was for me so I thought a heads-up was in order.sofipitch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A book that has lived in my mind rent free since I read it. Another book I wish I could forget so I could reread it.
9/22:
I read this book in Dec 2020 and promptly became obsessed with it and the Vampire Chronicles. I still am, I reread this in anticipation of the TV show which I am loosing it with excitement looking forward to us. This book and series and author has a lot of flaws and I think rereading IWTV with the knowledge of what AR's later books would be like and the themes she will just keep hammering without any self relfection (pedophilia and incest) did bring out it's flaws even more. But still I can't not love this book it means so much to me I can barely put it into words. At least not something as short as a review, maybe a 40 page essay. The characters and everything they go through just feels so real to me and feels like it captures emotions that before I myself didn't know how to put into words. So despite all it's flaws and the fact that I would very willingly have fought Anne Rice in a Denny's parking lot (or would popeyes be more appropriate? 😂) this book is probably my absolute favorite book of all time and means the world to me. This reread took so long compared to how quickly I read other books a) bc I have like half the book underlined with lines or scenes I like and mostly b) because the emotions it invoked are so strong I often had to take a break
9/22:
I read this book in Dec 2020 and promptly became obsessed with it and the Vampire Chronicles. I still am, I reread this in anticipation of the TV show which I am loosing it with excitement looking forward to us. This book and series and author has a lot of flaws and I think rereading IWTV with the knowledge of what AR's later books would be like and the themes she will just keep hammering without any self relfection (pedophilia and incest) did bring out it's flaws even more. But still I can't not love this book it means so much to me I can barely put it into words. At least not something as short as a review, maybe a 40 page essay. The characters and everything they go through just feels so real to me and feels like it captures emotions that before I myself didn't know how to put into words. So despite all it's flaws and the fact that I would very willingly have fought Anne Rice in a Denny's parking lot (or would popeyes be more appropriate? 😂) this book is probably my absolute favorite book of all time and means the world to me. This reread took so long compared to how quickly I read other books a) bc I have like half the book underlined with lines or scenes I like and mostly b) because the emotions it invoked are so strong I often had to take a break
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, Grief, Child death, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
lavender_ani's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Child death
Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Confinement, Animal death, and Slavery
knightbirds's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A pretty interesting book. The writing style was hit or miss with me, sometimes I found it riveting and capturing my attention, but sometimes it was too pretentious and I had a hard time telling what was actually going on. One of the many Dracula influences on this novel seems to be that the middle is boring as hell. Thankfully I found the beginning interesting enough, and the last 20% of the book was excellent.
I can't say I ever got a good grasp on any of the characters. the author's descriptions of characters isn't very tangible, and everything tends to center around the main character thinking about how sad and depressed he is.
Despite this, I enjoyed most of it, and will likely read the other books in the series.
I can't say I ever got a good grasp on any of the characters. the author's descriptions of characters isn't very tangible, and everything tends to center around the main character thinking about how sad and depressed he is.
Despite this, I enjoyed most of it, and will likely read the other books in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Confinement and Suicide
parttimerarebookdealer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Slavery
emakay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts
More...