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danaslitlist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Other than that I found the majority of this book interesting and it had good ideas and moments. I know this is a series that jumps from character to character so I might pick up one or two more.
But I am baffled by the weird groomer/romance/“this is my vampire child but I wanna sleep with her” relationship between Louis and Claudia. I can’t imagine why it needed to be in the book at all and I was so f*cking uncomfortable the entire time they are together. And there are scenes with Lestat and a young boy too that I was going “hey Anne Rice, what the hell?”.
There were just so many ideas that could’ve taken over those weird moments and would’ve made the story better. Focus on Louis, Claudia and the other vampire woman as a family to make the rest of the book even more impactful. Lean into Louis relationship with mysterious theater Vampire, compare and contrast him more to Lestat for full effect! Just so many things that were glossed over to instead spend way too much time romanticizing a relationship between a child and her father figure.
Would I recommend this book? No.
Did I hate it? No.
Am I confused by a lot of it? Yup!
Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
nightfell's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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 vampirismstaceyinthesticks's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
3.0
Moderate: Death and Child death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
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
jackbifrost'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
4.25
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
amberinpieces'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
4.5
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
snowkestrel's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
mothstrand's review
- 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
looking4thedr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal death and Excrement