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jasminawithab's review against another edition
- 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
claudia my beloved
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Racism, Animal death, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Classism, Slavery, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny
kalira's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Slavery, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
thesawyerbean's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
dagoth_ur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a book with VERY complex characters, so much so that I am very exited to read this book once again when I am older (and wiser) the plot is pretty simple, but it shines with how well written these characters are. The exploration of immortality and how a vampire would struggle with it was very intersting, I also could not put this down and read it I two days. It’s also interning reading this book and know what Anne was going through writing this makes it feel even more human.Very angsty and philosophical, but would pay money to have middle school me read these books, the writing style is also just so good, straightforward yet still beautiful.
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Grief, and Body horror
mothstrand's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Racism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Racism
Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Excrement, and Stalking
13octopus's review against another edition
- 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
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
mysimas's review against another edition
- 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
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…
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
knightreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Child death, and Death
Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, and Death of parent