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A review by lizziewaslike
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It’s difficult to say exactly what about this book I disliked so much. Maybe it was the sheer size of the thing (triple the length of The Vampire Lestat despite covering approximately the same length of time) that drew me off it. And certainly, in my opinion, there isn’t enough going on in this book to warrant the eye-watering 1200 page length.
It could also be that I personally didn’t like Rowan as a main character. Certainly she doesn’t stand up alongside Lestat, Louis, Armand, Ramses and Julie as life-like and convincing main characters. She’s simply confusing and her morals and actions made little sense and were often contradictory to themselves in my opinion. Also, I could really have done with less of the over-the-top sexual tension/themes between her and Michael (and later Lasher). It didn’t really contribute anything to the story and often shows up in moments that would have been much more emotionally striking without it. Honestly, at times it was almost comically out of place, which I strongly doubt was Anne’s intent.
There were definitely things and characters that I enjoyed in this book. Julien, Stella, Aaron, and even Lasher and Carlotta were interesting and complex characters that I would love to see more of. The investigative reporting writing style used in part two was well done and unique. Anne’s trademark introspective and poetic prose is certainly not lacking from this book. To be sure, there is a lot to like, and if you’re a fan of The Vampire Chronicles and/or Ramses the Damned, I would say it is worth trying the Mayfair Witches out. But I felt like this was much weaker and more artificial than her other works, and I don’t feel the need to read Lasher and Taltos in the future.