Review by es1265 - Interview with the Vampire

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es1265 's review for:

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

3.5

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Such a complex book with a hell of a lot of flaws but Rice's writing is so engaging and sensual that it's clear why it's such a classic. First off, I really dislike Louis in this, I get it's Gothic fiction but did he really have to be a plantation owner?? Mostly I just really missed Jacob Anderson. Most of the criticism surrounding this book centres around Louis' Lolita-esque descriptions of Claudia which I agree are really icky and made me cringe several times but it really made me interested in what a book from Claudia's POV would be like as she is such an interesting, tragic and enigmatic character and I feel like Louis' unreliable narration doesn't really do her justice. At times I struggled a little bit with the pacing as it seemed to kind of gloss over the parts between the main events which made me glad that I'd watched both adaptations so I could fill in the gaps. Speaking of the adaptations, I was kind of underwhelmed by Louis' and Lestat's relationship and Lestat as a character in comparison to how these are portrayed on screen but I'm hoping The Vampire Lestat will make me view him a lot differently. In contrast I was really surprised by how intense Louis' relationship with Armand was depicted in the book, personally I find Armand to be the most compelling/interesting character of the novel. Overall I would recommend this, but I wouldn't recommend going in blind as it is quite a heavy book and I can see how some would consider it quite disturbing at times.

Content Warnings