Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Witching Hour

What a fantastic book! My goodness, I devoured it. The characters were brilliant, I loved the first section- how each chapter introduced a new character and then the culmination of them all. The second section was so rich in storytelling and so wonderfully written. The following sections were great too. Though I must admit, the ebook i read had a lot of typos as I got near the end of the book. Sometimes one wrong word would completely change a sentence and I would have to reread the sentence to understand what was being said.

The ending seemed a bit rushed, but knowing this is but book one of a trilogy makes up for it. The ending was surprising for sure, didn't expect that turn of events. Not sure how I feel about it tbh, didn't hate it, and I know all questions will be answered in the next two books.

I planned to start a different book before I hit the sequel, but since the book ended on such a cliffhanger I feel like I have no choice but to read the next book!

I fell in love with Anne Rice's writing from the very first page. What a fantastic author. Definitely close to a 5 star book, maybe I'll get a different version of the ebook so I don't have the typos in the last two sections.

Edit:
I shouldn't have but I read up on the next two books and.....it's really put me off. Michael sounds incredibly ooc and I just kind of hate the direction the books go? I'm not sure I want to read the sequels now. It's really marred my view of the books and the world of the Mayfair witches. Man, I shouldn't have read the future plots! Still keeping the rating at 4.75 as I enjoyed this book immensely. I think I will hold off reading the sequels, just..hm.

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damiscous's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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? No

4.5

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willow1113's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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aliennas's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

It honestly has no business being this long. The “Yes, rape me!” and the pedophilia, incest and other… uncomfortable aspects of the book were big yikes. That being said, the narrative and the plot in itself is really cool. Part 2 is a clear highlight.

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vanessaedwards1882's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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cuteasamuntin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I’m not sure I particularly liked this book. It isn’t a particularly fun or nice read, but I can already tell that it’s going to really stick with me. While it’s slow enough that I was at times impatient for Rice to get on with it, the narrative was still very compelling.

I really enjoyed the family chronology and learning more about the Talamasca. My favorite parts were 1) the deep and pure expressions of familial and romantic love dappled throughout an otherwise grim and haunting story and 2) Michael

in a joyous frenzy over restoring the house, to the point that I was hanging onto every word about his historically accurate and thoughtful renovations

, but the latter is probably just a hazard of my day job.

Funnily enough, I just didn’t care at all about the spirit Lasher, to the point that I found myself actively bored when

he is finally present in the narrative and begins interacting directly with Rowan

. I think this may have been a stronger story without that aspect being so explicitly present. This may, of course, be in part to already knowing the general principles of how spirits/“demons” work in the Anne Rice universe due to being a dedicated admirer of Maharat and her Great Family™ from The Vampire Chronicles.

For audiobook listeners, the talented Kate Reading really makes this heavy tome a lot less of a slog.

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starry2013's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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