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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
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.
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.
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 vampirismamotoquinha'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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Kidnapping, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, and Slavery
bruisedtigers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"I allowed myself to forget how totally I had fallen in love with Lestat's iridescent eyes, that I'd sold my soul for a many-colored and luminescent thing, thinking that a highly reflective surface conveyed the power to walk on water.
What would Christ need to have done to make me follow him like Matthew or Peter? Dress well, to begin with. And have a luxurious head of pampered yellow hair."
I'm not surprised people find this book boring or difficult to get through, since it is a novel entirely of poetic waxing. It certainly is slow, especially in the back half, but it makes the depth of Louis' gothic misery really feel all-encompassing. It feels helpless and hypnotic. It's frightening and miserable. So many lines hit like a punch. Everything with Claudia is absolutely heart-wrenching. I know it's not for everyone, but I loved feeling swallowed up in it.
I feel like we stopped actively acknowledging that most modern vampire lore comes from Anne Rice. She absolutely changed the genre and we still feel it fifty (fifty!) years later with nothing else coming close. My rating is biased, perhaps, but I just enjoyed myself.
What would Christ need to have done to make me follow him like Matthew or Peter? Dress well, to begin with. And have a luxurious head of pampered yellow hair."
I'm not surprised people find this book boring or difficult to get through, since it is a novel entirely of poetic waxing. It certainly is slow, especially in the back half, but it makes the depth of Louis' gothic misery really feel all-encompassing. It feels helpless and hypnotic. It's frightening and miserable. So many lines hit like a punch. Everything with Claudia is absolutely heart-wrenching. I know it's not for everyone, but I loved feeling swallowed up in it.
I feel like we stopped actively acknowledging that most modern vampire lore comes from Anne Rice. She absolutely changed the genre and we still feel it fifty (fifty!) years later with nothing else coming close. My rating is biased, perhaps, but I just enjoyed myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Child death
jackbifrost's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
caterina's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
For 7 days, I read this book in the dark of night, when sleep is challenging due to chronic pain, and I miss it now that it's over. I didn't expect to enjoy this so much, but the lush imagery and the wrestling with grief that reflects Anne Rice's own (loss of a daughter Claudia's age) drew me in. I'm glad I read this for a reading challenge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Blood, Murder, Death, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery, Racism, Animal death, and Suicide
biab00's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Mortal beauty often makes me ache, and mortal grandeur can fill me with that longing I felt so hopelessly in the Mediterranean Sea. But Paris drew me closer to her hear, so I forgot myself entirely. Forgot the damned and questing preternatural thing that doted on mortal skin and mortal clothing. Paris overwhelmed, and lightened and rewarded more richly than any promise.
Wasn't expecting liking it so much, it was beautifully written with complex characters that you can't really tell who's the villain and who's not.
Anne definitely made the vampires more human, they aren't only these mindless creatures that are out for blood, but also creatures with feelings like the common people and with their own internal crisis about their existence.
I'm really excited to read the second book, to see the perspective of Lestat because from what I've heard Louis is a unreliable narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Torture
bookbelle5_17's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Review of Interview with a Vampire
By: Anne Rice
I had read this years ago for a friend and at the time I liked it, but it was not for me at the time. This time I enjoyed it much more. Louis is a vampire telling his story to a journalist. He is made by the vampire Lestat, who is a vicious creature, but he is lonely. The pair are complete opposite viewing being a vampire in a different, and when Louis decides to leave Lestat makes Claudia. Claudia was a five-year-old girl at the time, and she becomes a daughter to them. She and Louis both become obsessed with how they were made and if there are others like them.
Even though I had already read this it felt like reading it for the first time, because I barely remember from when I read it before. It takes a look at the monstrous nature of vampires, but the romanticism of them as well. Don’t worry the vampires don’t sparkle. It examines the themes of the nature of evil and appreciating your humanity. Lestat had a terrible life, resenting his human existence, and Claudia never got to experience a life. Louis had a loving family, was wealthy, and had privileged existence, he has a human life to miss. He is philosophical throughout and constantly ponders his new existence. He cannot bring himself to feed off human, but prefers animal blood, frustrating Lestat, because he values human life. He wants to know if there are others like him and he questions if he is evil or not. Ironically, his enhanced vampiric senses allow Louis to see the beauty in the world around him. Throughout, there are discussions on what is the nature of evil, particularly when Louis and Claudia meet Armand, a vampire they meet later. His character is ambiguous, and we don’t know if we can trust him. He doesn’t see himself as evil, but Claudia believes him a threat to her relationship with Louis. At times Claudia is a brat and can be just as vicious as Lestat but with a more calculative mind. She is also sympathetic, because she was only five when sired and, in her mind, she ages. She is forever stuck in the body of child. She loves and hates Louis for his role in this. She needs him as Lestat did, but for different reasons. She is also the only one who will admit this. Rice also explores a different kind of love with her vampires that is dark and beautiful at the same time. Louis’ love for Claudia and later for Armand is complicated and pure in its own way. Getting bitten and turned into a vampire is erotic and Rice describes in artful and descriptive way. We see vampires as monsters but despite the implications they feel nothing and have no soul, they seem to feel everything, at Louis does.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Grief
amberinpieces's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Child death, Gore, Classism, and Confinement
Minor: Self harm, Torture, Ableism, Cursing, Death of parent, and Animal death
usually_sleep_deprived's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Murder, Racism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gore, Slavery, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Violence