Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

53 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This book hits a lot more differently now than when I read it seventeen years ago. Just because I can see the cracks does not mean that the spell has been broken. It lives in my heart, forever and always.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Grief, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Abandonment, Death, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Child death, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Torture, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Claudia as a five year old adds a disturbing layer to her scenes involving intimacy and violence, there is biting galore, property damage is imminent, and the complexity of destructive relationships (both with ourselves and others) is at the heart of the novel.

thebibutterfly's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Well-written and developed, but I was not prepared for the heavy sexual themes around children and the casual mention/reference to slavery in this book. Disturbing doesn’t begin to describe it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Slavery, and Child abuse

ninubean's review against another edition

4.0

At first, I was kind of put off by the structural choice of the book, but it is called Interview with the Vampire, so not sure what I expected lol once I got over that though, I came to enjoy this novel a lot! Honestly, it was very camp and I think people would enjoy this more if they thought of it like that. Louis is a gay little vampire with a tortured existence - his philosophical need to understand why he's alive is trivial, but his musings were intriguing and thought-provoking for me. Louis' narration is limited by design, so readers are bound to his opinions and interpretations of the events, but this only made me excited to read the book's sequels to know the other characters more.

Yes, there are uncomfortable concepts in this book and sometimes they are jarring to read. And yes, this book isn't really character-driven and is only slightly plot-driven, which makes the pacing feel strange. Since this is a dialogue though, I feel like the pacing can be forgiven since it is meant to be someone speaking and recollecting centuries of their life. Overall, I enjoyed this sad, gay vampire's TedTalk about why he hates himself LOL

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Gore, Incest, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

lennie_reads's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

izypup's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.75

The last twenty pages were I honestly the best out of the whole book. The obsession with childlike innocence and it being ‘sensual’ to the vampires reads off more pedophilic than symbolic. The vague homoeroticism didn’t make me care about the characters and the majority of the book was a drag. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Animal death

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, and Excrement

joonjxne'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Grief

wrensandroses's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Kidnapping, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Racism, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

lulubeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

erebus53's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

This was a bookclub read (that I nominated) for #FOMO club. As someone who was a goth kid in the 90s, I was already well familiar with the plot of the book, and the movie, and I had frequently listened to quotes and rants about it. I had learned much of the book from cultural immersion. As a result it's difficult to objectively review something that was just, Known, by my social group. It's like trying to review Princess Bride, or Star Wars.

There were a few little things that I picked up from this read through; for example, it rocks my world that there is a reference in the book about a lone leader who was the only one in the social group who didn't dye their hair black. If I had only read the book in 1996, I would have been able to quietly flex with all my baby bats... (as I didn't either).

Realistically though, the book has some very problematic and unsettling features. It's supposed to be gothic horror, and it gets that way by how it messes with people's heads. It's very dismissive of Consent, and it challenges Church and Morality. There is blood and booze, and debauchery. The main character comes across as remorseful and moody, but he is also inconsistent, and has low-key pedophilic vibes. The character is also fairly non-sexual.. being attracted more by beauty and vivacity, which I think leans a little into Acephobia, to try and un-human him.

As someone who was a LARPer (live action role player) I spent about a zillion nights in fancy dress playing at vampires. It was interesting to read about vampires who knew nothing about their own 
kind because as a player of Vampire games and student of vampire myths, it makes anything these undead creatures do in a book seem familiar to ME, but they of course, having only just being reborn into night (muahahah) they don't know what they can or can't do, and have no words for the things they feel.

I think the book is clever in the way that it launched thousands of vampire fans, and in how the struggles of immortality are depicted, but as a story it kind of drags, and the characters aren't particularly loveable (I know... but it's _my_ opinion, and LeStat is a deadbeat dad, and Louis is a moper).

All in all it's a so-so story. It's not bad, but also not something I'd rush out and buy a copy of to lend to all my friends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Violence, Death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Slavery, and Racism

michayla13's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Incest, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

I enjoyed reading this book but it was far from good. There’s a horribly written incest/pedophelia plot which seems more romanticized than condemned in any way. It feels very sloppily written as well. If you’re looking for a book to read based purely on vibes, then this book is okay, but try not to think too hard while reading it.