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sagetappe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child death, Violence, and Slavery
Minor: Pedophilia
zombiezami's review
dark
emotional
tense
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Blood, Toxic relationship, Grief, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Animal death, Murder, Sexism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Incest
Minor: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
uv_sensibility's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Grief, Racism, and Sexual content
morenowagain's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Pedophilia, and Slavery
emtees'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
4.5
I read this book for the first time about twenty years ago. After that, I read a lot more of the Vampire Chronicles books, until I sort of fell off from the series and the genre around the time Blood Canticle came out. Some of them I’ve read multiple times, but Interview is not one of them, since I had a vague feeling of not liking that one was much. But with the TV show now out, I figured I would revisit it.
I ended up enjoying this reread much more than I expected. I had a vague sense of this book as being a slog compared to the others, but that wasn’t how I experienced it at all this time. Instead I found myself really appreciating Rice’s use of language and setting and tone. It is unquestionably a slow book, and a very internal book, and so it’s not going to appeal if you don’t like philosophical musings on the nature of evil and Catholic guilt and hallucinatory dream sequences that are never really explained and love letters to cities inserted directly into the narrative - in other worlds, if you don’t like Louis, the protagonist. I like him a lot and so I really loved his story this time around. You can see as you’re reading the way this book slots in between the horror-style view of vampires and the modern brooding tragic hero versions. Louis is both a brooding tragic figure who doesn’t want to be a killer and a horror character who enjoys it and that works for me better than either of the other two options.
I also found it much more consistent with the later books than I thought it would be. Rice famously wrote this as a stand-alone and then, when she expanded into a series, retconned some relationships and even whole scenes, with a sort of in-world explanation that Louis was an unreliable narrator. And he definitely is - even within this book, its interesting to see the ways that comes across - but I was surprised that so many of the characters still feel like themselves from the later books. I wasn’t really intending to but I think this is going to make me reread the whole series and I’m not sorry.
The one thing that is keeping me from giving this book a 5 star rating, though, is something that hasn’t… well, “aged well” isn’t really right, because the aging isn’t the problem. The handling of race is bad in this book, no question. It’s not a huge piece of the story, but its prominent in the first half and it’s an issue. Louis is part of the weirdly extensive class of fictional vampires who started out plantation masters, but the problem here goes beyond a kind of “the times were different” handling of the subject. Every mention of Black characters in this book comes across as fetishistic, and the fact that Louis never has any thoughts about the fact that he participated in slavery even centuries later - despite the fact that his entire story is otherwise about interrogating his own morality - is a very noticeable gap.
I ended up enjoying this reread much more than I expected. I had a vague sense of this book as being a slog compared to the others, but that wasn’t how I experienced it at all this time. Instead I found myself really appreciating Rice’s use of language and setting and tone. It is unquestionably a slow book, and a very internal book, and so it’s not going to appeal if you don’t like philosophical musings on the nature of evil and Catholic guilt and hallucinatory dream sequences that are never really explained and love letters to cities inserted directly into the narrative - in other worlds, if you don’t like Louis, the protagonist. I like him a lot and so I really loved his story this time around. You can see as you’re reading the way this book slots in between the horror-style view of vampires and the modern brooding tragic hero versions. Louis is both a brooding tragic figure who doesn’t want to be a killer and a horror character who enjoys it and that works for me better than either of the other two options.
I also found it much more consistent with the later books than I thought it would be. Rice famously wrote this as a stand-alone and then, when she expanded into a series, retconned some relationships and even whole scenes, with a sort of in-world explanation that Louis was an unreliable narrator. And he definitely is - even within this book, its interesting to see the ways that comes across - but I was surprised that so many of the characters still feel like themselves from the later books. I wasn’t really intending to but I think this is going to make me reread the whole series and I’m not sorry.
The one thing that is keeping me from giving this book a 5 star rating, though, is something that hasn’t… well, “aged well” isn’t really right, because the aging isn’t the problem. The handling of race is bad in this book, no question. It’s not a huge piece of the story, but its prominent in the first half and it’s an issue. Louis is part of the weirdly extensive class of fictional vampires who started out plantation masters, but the problem here goes beyond a kind of “the times were different” handling of the subject. Every mention of Black characters in this book comes across as fetishistic, and the fact that Louis never has any thoughts about the fact that he participated in slavery even centuries later - despite the fact that his entire story is otherwise about interrogating his own morality - is a very noticeable gap.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Child death, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Slavery
A main character is a slave-owner, with no criticism of that in the book, and there is some racist language used. Basically every relationship, romantic or otherwise, is toxic. Child death/pedophilia warning:danaslitlist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book is way too long and drawn out. Louis is the most annoying character and I honestly need both Lestat and Louis to stay away from children. Louis is too self righteous and thinks highly of his own intelligence when he’s actually quite dumb; I don’t understand the whole full circle idea of him now understanding Lestat either when Lestat was an abusive prick that by the end we’re supposed to sympathize and understand.
Other than that I found the majority of this book interesting and it had good ideas and moments. I know this is a series that jumps from character to character so I might pick up one or two more.
But I am baffled by the weird groomer/romance/“this is my vampire child but I wanna sleep with her” relationship between Louis and Claudia. I can’t imagine why it needed to be in the book at all and I was so f*cking uncomfortable the entire time they are together. And there are scenes with Lestat and a young boy too that I was going “hey Anne Rice, what the hell?”.
There were just so many ideas that could’ve taken over those weird moments and would’ve made the story better. Focus on Louis, Claudia and the other vampire woman as a family to make the rest of the book even more impactful. Lean into Louis relationship with mysterious theater Vampire, compare and contrast him more to Lestat for full effect! Just so many things that were glossed over to instead spend way too much time romanticizing a relationship between a child and her father figure.
Would I recommend this book? No.
Did I hate it? No.
Am I confused by a lot of it? Yup!
Other than that I found the majority of this book interesting and it had good ideas and moments. I know this is a series that jumps from character to character so I might pick up one or two more.
But I am baffled by the weird groomer/romance/“this is my vampire child but I wanna sleep with her” relationship between Louis and Claudia. I can’t imagine why it needed to be in the book at all and I was so f*cking uncomfortable the entire time they are together. And there are scenes with Lestat and a young boy too that I was going “hey Anne Rice, what the hell?”.
There were just so many ideas that could’ve taken over those weird moments and would’ve made the story better. Focus on Louis, Claudia and the other vampire woman as a family to make the rest of the book even more impactful. Lean into Louis relationship with mysterious theater Vampire, compare and contrast him more to Lestat for full effect! Just so many things that were glossed over to instead spend way too much time romanticizing a relationship between a child and her father figure.
Would I recommend this book? No.
Did I hate it? No.
Am I confused by a lot of it? Yup!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
mittymyers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia
stooby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, and Racism
abbylk's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I was so hung up on the pedophilia in the middle of the book that I forgot about the slavery in the beginning of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery
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.
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.
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