Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

17 reviews

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I felt a lot of things reading this book - parts of it are deeply problematic (re: Claudia), but if you go in the with a grain of salt and self care ready, I think this is a solid read

The yearning is so strong in this book. There are moments where Louis’ sorrow is so tangible it has a physicality. It drapes over the narrative of prose of the book like a curtain.

“I didn’t know I thought these things. I spoke them now as my thoughts. And they were my most profound feelings taking a shape they could never have taken had I not spoken them, had I not thought them out this way in conversation with another. I thought myself then possessed of a passive mind, in a sense. I mean that my mind could only pull itself together, formulate thought out of the muddle of longing and pain, when it was touched by another mind; fertilized by it; deeply excited by that other mind and driven to form conclusions. I felt now the rarest, most acute alleviation of loneliness.  I could easily visualize and suffer the moment years before in another country, [. . .] and then that passionate and doomed affection for Claudia which made loneliness retreat behind the soft indulgence of the senses, the same senses that longed for the kill. [. . .] And it was as if the great feminine longing of my mind were being awakened again to be satisfied. And this I felt despite my own words: ‘But it’s that dark, that empty. And it is without consolation.’”

 The entire time I felt like I was seeing through Louis’ eyes and was keenly aware of

Lestat’s watchful gaze

“But Louis, this is the very spirit of your age. Don’t you see that? Everyone else feels as you feel. Your fall from grace and faith has been the fall of a century.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Animal death, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

zombiezami's review

dark emotional tense

3.75

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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

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Blood, Child death, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol, Ableism, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

nightfell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book has the most developed characters of any vampire novel I've read so far. It took a while, but the main characters really grew on me and the ending really left an impression that I wasn't expecting. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Slavery, Child death, Grief, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Stalking and Death of parent

All the obvious triggers that comes with vampirism

amotoquinha's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Kidnapping, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, and Slavery

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

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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

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