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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That non-ending was incredibly frustrating. I stuck around for 50h of this story, and you're not even going to bother to tie up any of the loose ends...?!
*sigh*
It was a fun book, though. I was reluctant to read it, since the whole concept of "witches" doesn't appeal to me at all, but...Kate Reading is my favourite narrator, so I had to listen to it. Lukily, for a book about witches, there is very little magic involved...no wands or spells or lame things like that. And even though more than half of the book was essentially the history of a fictional family, it somehow wasn't boring.
Anyway. Obviously I'm going to read the sequel, because I've already sunk so many hours into this story... I have to know how it ends. Also because the sequel is called "Lasher" and I really want to see his POV because...I have no idea if he's evil or awesome or both.
*sigh*
It was a fun book, though. I was reluctant to read it, since the whole concept of "witches" doesn't appeal to me at all, but...Kate Reading is my favourite narrator, so I had to listen to it. Lukily, for a book about witches, there is very little magic involved...no wands or spells or lame things like that. And even though more than half of the book was essentially the history of a fictional family, it somehow wasn't boring.
Anyway. Obviously I'm going to read the sequel, because I've already sunk so many hours into this story... I have to know how it ends. Also because the sequel is called "Lasher" and I really want to see his POV because...I have no idea if he's evil or awesome or both.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A gothic masterpiece. Deliciously creepy. Anne Rice is simply an incredible storyteller. I am a little mad about the ending, but now I must read the sequel, and even after over 1000 pages I am still dying for more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is extremely rare that I give a book a one star review. In order to receive one star, this book must be something I was required to read for some reason, but wanted to DNF it very early on. In this case, Anne Rice's The Witching Hour was part of a book club, and though I loathed it, I trekked through it all.
There are many issues that I have with this novel, starting off with the fact that it's about 1,000 pages and could be told in around 350. Rice is egregiously wordy and overly descriptive in this novel and gives a plethora of useless information. On top of all of this intricate detail, for some reason, Rice concludes this novel with a handful of unanswered questions and an overall lack of clarity on who is actually good and who is evil. I understand that this is meant to be the first part of a series, but the cliff hangers weren't strong enough to compel me to ever pick up one of The Mayfair Witches books ever again (unless it was to chuck it out a window).
Rice is not a bad writer, as one can easily tell from the opening chapter of The Witching Hour. It was gripping, interesting, had a beautiful setting evolving, and built up a lot of mystery and intrigue. Unfortunately, Rice was not able to keep up that alluring aspect of the book as she stepped further away from the mystery of the New Orleans witches and closer towards the mundane love affairs of rich people in San Francisco. I'm convinced the reason Rice spent almost 600 pages gushing over (historically inaccurate) witch history is because she knew from the jump it was stronger than the actual plot and characters she used to push her narrative forward. In short: Rowan and Michael are two of the most unlikable characters I have ever read solely based on the fact that they're annoying, entitled, and out of touch with how the majority of people in America live. They sit on their high horses of morality and virtue and judge those around them, but remain overtly hypocritical in their own self-serving actions.
And the moral high ground seems to be something Anne Rice really wanted to shove down the reader's throat during this tale. Having a character say in one sentence that he believes a woman has a right to choose to have an abortion, but then spend the entire rest of the story talking about how evil abortion is and how much it ruined his life that a woman chose to have one was a questionable character arc. While Rice is entirely entitled to her opinion on the matter, this continued sense of hypocrisy carried throughout the novel to evolve into the grotesque thesis statement concluded at the end of the book. After 900 pages, Anne Rice seems to be implying that not only is stem cell research an offense punishable by death, but also one that can only ever result in the incubation of an evil abomination.
And while I wish I could write this attitude off as Rice simply being an extremely moral person who believes in everyone's right to life, the rest of her writing in this novels easily negates that. While she sits preaching that a controversial science is evil, she then consistently appropriates voodoo culture, consistently referring to white men and women of Scottish and French descent as voodoo kings and queens. Not sure if Anne Rice knows the origins of voodoo, but it sure as hell isn't from Scotland or France. At first, this could be tallied up to a lack of research into the history of witchcraft (though highly doubtful), but Rice's constant depiction of black characters in this novel as poorly educated servants (and, if the time period is right, slaves) tells me it's something much deeper and nastier than that.
And finally, once we get beyond the racism, lack of historical research, basking in the wealth of high society, and all the other privileges Rice tried to glamorize, we get to my biggest issue with this novel: pedophilia. Oh yes! Rice takes a pivotal character, depicts him as both sympathetic and heroic and then surprises the reader with the fact that he's a pedophile. But wait! There's more! Not only is he a pedophile, he's also super into incest and still lauded as a grand figure by everyone who knows about his horrific deeds. Want more? After the reader learns all about this character, we find out that his descendants are also beloved rapists, pedophiles and willing participants in incest, and everyone is just okay with it all! It was at this point in the book that I really debated chucking it out a window. There's nothing more grotesque in my mind than a child rapist, and any author who writes characters to be likable and lauded even after they reveal what their true intentions are is disgusting. This fact alone makes me never want to touch anything Anne Rice has written ever again. It's nauseating.
I could easily go on about how much I detest this novel for another slew of paragraphs, but I'll leave my anger here. This novel is infuriating, and the fact that it is so highly rated and was on the best seller list for 5 months confuses me to no end. The only recommendation I would ever make about this book is that if you see it, just throw it away. The less people who read this racist, anti-feminist, anti-child garbage, the better.
There are many issues that I have with this novel, starting off with the fact that it's about 1,000 pages and could be told in around 350. Rice is egregiously wordy and overly descriptive in this novel and gives a plethora of useless information. On top of all of this intricate detail, for some reason, Rice concludes this novel with a handful of unanswered questions and an overall lack of clarity on who is actually good and who is evil. I understand that this is meant to be the first part of a series, but the cliff hangers weren't strong enough to compel me to ever pick up one of The Mayfair Witches books ever again (unless it was to chuck it out a window).
Rice is not a bad writer, as one can easily tell from the opening chapter of The Witching Hour. It was gripping, interesting, had a beautiful setting evolving, and built up a lot of mystery and intrigue. Unfortunately, Rice was not able to keep up that alluring aspect of the book as she stepped further away from the mystery of the New Orleans witches and closer towards the mundane love affairs of rich people in San Francisco. I'm convinced the reason Rice spent almost 600 pages gushing over (historically inaccurate) witch history is because she knew from the jump it was stronger than the actual plot and characters she used to push her narrative forward. In short: Rowan and Michael are two of the most unlikable characters I have ever read solely based on the fact that they're annoying, entitled, and out of touch with how the majority of people in America live. They sit on their high horses of morality and virtue and judge those around them, but remain overtly hypocritical in their own self-serving actions.
And the moral high ground seems to be something Anne Rice really wanted to shove down the reader's throat during this tale. Having a character say in one sentence that he believes a woman has a right to choose to have an abortion, but then spend the entire rest of the story talking about how evil abortion is and how much it ruined his life that a woman chose to have one was a questionable character arc. While Rice is entirely entitled to her opinion on the matter, this continued sense of hypocrisy carried throughout the novel to evolve into the grotesque thesis statement concluded at the end of the book. After 900 pages, Anne Rice seems to be implying that not only is stem cell research an offense punishable by death, but also one that can only ever result in the incubation of an evil abomination.
And while I wish I could write this attitude off as Rice simply being an extremely moral person who believes in everyone's right to life, the rest of her writing in this novels easily negates that. While she sits preaching that a controversial science is evil, she then consistently appropriates voodoo culture, consistently referring to white men and women of Scottish and French descent as voodoo kings and queens. Not sure if Anne Rice knows the origins of voodoo, but it sure as hell isn't from Scotland or France. At first, this could be tallied up to a lack of research into the history of witchcraft (though highly doubtful), but Rice's constant depiction of black characters in this novel as poorly educated servants (and, if the time period is right, slaves) tells me it's something much deeper and nastier than that.
And finally, once we get beyond the racism, lack of historical research, basking in the wealth of high society, and all the other privileges Rice tried to glamorize, we get to my biggest issue with this novel: pedophilia. Oh yes! Rice takes a pivotal character, depicts him as both sympathetic and heroic and then surprises the reader with the fact that he's a pedophile. But wait! There's more! Not only is he a pedophile, he's also super into incest and still lauded as a grand figure by everyone who knows about his horrific deeds. Want more? After the reader learns all about this character, we find out that his descendants are also beloved rapists, pedophiles and willing participants in incest, and everyone is just okay with it all! It was at this point in the book that I really debated chucking it out a window. There's nothing more grotesque in my mind than a child rapist, and any author who writes characters to be likable and lauded even after they reveal what their true intentions are is disgusting. This fact alone makes me never want to touch anything Anne Rice has written ever again. It's nauseating.
I could easily go on about how much I detest this novel for another slew of paragraphs, but I'll leave my anger here. This novel is infuriating, and the fact that it is so highly rated and was on the best seller list for 5 months confuses me to no end. The only recommendation I would ever make about this book is that if you see it, just throw it away. The less people who read this racist, anti-feminist, anti-child garbage, the better.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes