Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

28 reviews

penguuu's review against another edition

Way too long, way too slow, none of the characters are likeable, I couldn't do it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Violence, Racism, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Just, bad.

michayla13's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Incest, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

I enjoyed reading this book but it was far from good. There’s a horribly written incest/pedophelia plot which seems more romanticized than condemned in any way. It feels very sloppily written as well. If you’re looking for a book to read based purely on vibes, then this book is okay, but try not to think too hard while reading it.

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Interview With the Vampire was not what I expected. For whatever reason I thought it's be suave and golden, when really it was cold and sorrowful. I found the middle very much dragged for me, even up until the final 40 pages. A relationship between the protagonist and their closest friend is a strange one and I know it's supposed to be, but it toes a strange line. Don't get me wrong - Anne Rice can write some incredibly poetic lines. Every once in a while I caught glimpses of the heart of the matter and Rice's ruminations on eternity and love, but they were seen through the haze of conversations that circled around and lengthy traveling. 7/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Blood, Child death, Slavery, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Gore

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

This book is about the main character Louis telling the story of his life to an author. The story he tells starts a little before he is turned into a vampire by Lestat. Louis is living in New Orleans at the time. Louis tells the story of his time in New Orleans after his turning and his later travels to try to meet and learn from other vampires. It spans around 200 years. Although a little slow in parts, I really enjoyed the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death

barbarella85's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Pedophilia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

emmathebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have no idea how to describe the things this book made me feel, but let’s just say I needed a moment when I finished it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

e_freckles's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death

phillyhufflepunk's review against another edition

There's only so much casual pedophilia I can take. I tried to finish just to finish. I can briefly tolerate  that Louie is an unreliable narrator and begrudgingly read through it even though he doesn't seem to show any character growth in the hundreds of years since he was a bored, unthinking plantation owner who cared more about capitalism than the humanity of the people who worked his land. I just couldnt do it for nearly 300 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Colonisation, Confinement, and Gore

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I felt a lot of things reading this book - parts of it are deeply problematic (re: Claudia), but if you go in the with a grain of salt and self care ready, I think this is a solid read

The yearning is so strong in this book. There are moments where Louis’ sorrow is so tangible it has a physicality. It drapes over the narrative of prose of the book like a curtain.

Spoiler

“I didn’t know I thought these things. I spoke them now as my thoughts. And they were my most profound feelings taking a shape they could never have taken had I not spoken them, had I not thought them out this way in conversation with another. I thought myself then possessed of a passive mind, in a sense. I mean that my mind could only pull itself together, formulate thought out of the muddle of longing and pain, when it was touched by another mind; fertilized by it; deeply excited by that other mind and driven to form conclusions. I felt now the rarest, most acute alleviation of loneliness.  I could easily visualize and suffer the moment years before in another country, [. . .] and then that passionate and doomed affection for Claudia which made loneliness retreat behind the soft indulgence of the senses, the same senses that longed for the kill. [. . .] And it was as if the great feminine longing of my mind were being awakened again to be satisfied. And this I felt despite my own words: ‘But it’s that dark, that empty. And it is without consolation.’”

 The entire time I felt like I was seeing through Louis’ eyes and was keenly aware of

Spoiler

Lestat’s watchful gaze

“But Louis, this is the very spirit of your age. Don’t you see that? Everyone else feels as you feel. Your fall from grace and faith has been the fall of a century.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Animal death, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

greenrequiem's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Xenophobia, and Slavery