Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Tale of the Body Thief

‼️I heavily advise looking at the trigger warnings before reading this book ‼️

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I’m giving this book a 4 ⭐️ review because despite the emotions I’m currently feeling I liked the book and will probably read it again.

This book should be called “ what the fuck is wrong with you lestat “ because I found myself saying that out loud so much. This is the most frustrating lestat has ever been as a character because he continually refuses to listen to logic and the vampires around him then lashes out at them when things don’t go his way . I think this book has some of the most cruel and borderline unforgivable things lestat ever does in them and it also has the most we’ve ever seen him struggle internally. I find myself jumping between sympathy for lestat and thinking he’s getting exactly what he deserves which is why I think he’s a perfect anti hero.

The body thief plot was extremely fun to read and had me genuinely wondering how lestat was getting out of this one . The first 100 pages were a drag to read ( but that a problem I have with most AR books ) but once it picked up I flew through the book. I actually enjoyed the progression of David Talbot as a character and his interactions and relationship with lestat. Seeing Louis is always a joy tbh. I also enjoy the villian of this book because of the real threat that he posed to lestat and David and think the ending to that plot was very shocking but I enjoyed it. I also enjoy whe we temporarily leave the main genre and it turns into a crime triller with David and Lestat trying to catch James on and off the cruise ship( which I enjoyed all off . The last 150ish pages do the heavy lifting of this story but that’s common in AR books and I’ve come to like the pattern. The ending was very strong but very shocking

Overall I enjoyed this book and will continue reading the vampire chronicles .

Content Warnings

yomireads's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I have never, and likely will never enjoy a plot centralized on an incredibly powerful character yearning for normalcy.

But at least in this instance Lestat recognizes pretty quickly how much he romanticized his own mortality.

Also, the rape? Disgusting.

My love for Lestat's character crumbled in that moment, and the rest of the book I struggled to enjoy the story at all. I want to say I appreciate the way it showed how flawed a man and monster he is, but, honestly, that could have been done without

having him become an apologetic rapist who makes amends with jewlery.

I enjoyed some bits in the middle, especially with how it reflects the distinct differences between mortal and vampire. I loved the exploration of his relationships, and how impotent his anger can be.

I was especially in love with his and David's rapor.

But the ending? Come on. What I love(d) most about Lestat was, to a degree, his sense of justice and mercy.

The dichotomy in the violent taking of his choice at his dark birth, and the offering of free will to his own creations was so well established in the previous books... for that to just be tossed aside at the last moment? For him to bring violence upon a friend whom he harbors no I'll intent towards? A destruction of character imo. And then to whine and cry about it, "I don't know why I did it" is so cheap and painful. If I wasn't utterly in love with his and David's relationship, I'd be done reading this chronicles right now.

What saved this was entirely the exciting evolution of lore and world building, the thrilling depiction of Anne Rice's vampires, and the commitment of characters to the ideas they have of themselves.

lestat believes himself evil, so he enact evil upon his loved ones. David believes himself morally upright, so denies the truth of his carnal desires.

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econsidine's review against another edition

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dark funny 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? Yes

3.5

There are other reviewers who put it better, but this feels like the book where Anne Rice really, really wanted to remind readers that her main character Lestat is a terrible person. He's a fan favorite, since he's charismatic as hell and an entertaining narrator, but it's easy to forget that he's done and continues to do some horrendous things to the people he claims to care about. If you love Lestat and see him as a misunderstood/tortured soul, this will be a tough read. If you enjoy him as a character/narrator but would hate to meet him in real life, you'll probably still enjoy this one.

There's nothing really new or surprising if you've read the first three, unless you've been reading this character with major rose-colored glasses on, but this book really hammers home his selfishness, violence, and complete lack of respect for other people's bodily autonomy. In this book he (vague spoilers ahead; see tags)

rapes a woman, burns his lover's house down, and turns someone into a vampire against their will. He also murders a lot of people as vampires tend to do

. As narrator, he acts like all of this was on impulse and he had no control over himself, immediately regretting all actions afterward, though I'd argue none of this is portrayed as okay or redeemable in the text. The "Body Thief" of the title very much refers to Lestat in a LOT of ways other than the obvious.

If you're okay reading all that, then you'll get a few beautiful moments with Louis (in his best taking-no-bullshit-era), Claudia haunting everything, and one of the best dog characters ever. Otherwise it is a lot of Lestat being horrible and having conversations with his old man friend David. Which really doesn't interest me. All that to say, gonna pause here with the series for now.

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moreau's review against another edition

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dark funny 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? It's complicated

3.0

this was the most atrocious book I've ever read. worse than prince harry's, worse than all the tiresome classics and 2010s manga. i thought queen of the damned was mid, this is an abomination. i couldn't put it down, so i'm still giving it 3 stars. also david is a chad (as is ever character played by paul mcgann) but this is a violation to all the senses, even though its just words on paper. so many descriptions of piss and shit, the least sexy sex scenes, a full on rape scene and an extremely rapey vampire transformation. what even is the plot?? why the fuck are mortals psychic now? how do you get your fucking body stolen? lestat went from being the best character in the series to a mega mary sue. sure he was always a dick and somewhat abusive, but now he's a rapist?? and he's got every fucking vampire power and is so dumb he gets his body stolen. HIS BODY. STOLEN. he is so dumb, overpowered, abusive and over all circle tool flipaclip 2017 furry oc. anne rice shouldve been arrested for conjuring up this fuck of a book. im definetely reading something else between this and the next vampire chronicle as my head hurts from this bullshit.

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ariel_is_a_dreamer's review

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Lestat is an idiot. He's an absolute imp. He's impossible. He's the damnest creature.
I know I rated this highly, -I had to. I would read even Anne Rice's shopping list. -But truly I found some parts hard to read. Mainly the rape and... and well, the thing at the end. So be warned, I guess.
I seriously wish the vampires in this book would stop moaning about being damned or being the devil or whatever. But I guess they won't so... :/

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arnrockwell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Let it be known that I can indeed to critical of Anne Rice's books, and not completely blinded by nostalgia. And boy, do I have some words on this one.

The Tale of the Body Thief, the fourth book in the Vampire Chronicles... definitely suffers from middle book syndrome, among other things.

This book picks up after the events of The Queen of the Damned. The vampires who came together to fight Akasha in the previous book have all gone their separate ways.It's a thing for Rice's vampires to becomes sick of the presence of others of their kind and wander the world alone. Lestat has taken to prowling Miami, Florida.

He also travels to England in order to interact with David Talbot. Talbot was introduced in the previous book as a high-ranking member of the Talamasca, a human organization that studies the paranormal. He has basically become Lestat's new fascination, and Lestat really wants to turn him into a vampire.

Now, Lestat is also being watched by a strange man who claims he can switch bodies with people and offers Lestat the chance to live life as a human again. This is obviously a bad idea. The majority of this book is Lestat being an idiot and proving he didn't really learn anything from his time with Akasha at all.

The whole body-switching thing is an interesting concept, but it felt out of place in this book. It seemed like just an excuse to throw Lestat in a human body just so Rice could write a few quick sex scenes. One of which was a rape, by the way.

It’s so incredibly convenient that a couple of women decide to they want to screw Lestat’s young mortal body when they see him. Because he’s hot and charming, or whatever. Look, I know one night stands happen all the time in real life. But this felt forced. Sex for because why not? The vampire don’t do it, so gotta throw it in there somewhere. Only the second one was justified and even that’s kinda shaky.

The second woman he has sex with also happened to be a nun, temporarily taking time off, because she wanted to find someone she felt right in fucking so she wouldn’t die without knowing what it was like. And of course Lestat happens to meet her at a hospital while he’s recovering from severe illness. How convenient. That nun was also in the book for another convenience: theological discussions.

For context, this book and the one that came after, were written during a time when Anne Rice was becoming a hardcore Catholic and she used Lestat as her tool for expressing her beliefs. In general, I’m not against that sort of thing. Authors can do what they want. But with most of the other things that happened in this book, it felt like it was a bit too much.

Then there’s the fact that Lestat knew this whole body switch thing was a bad idea, of course. Louis told him it was bad idea. David told him it was a bad idea. But Lestat was so blinded by his desire to live like a human again, that he didn’t care and went through with it anyway, only to get screwed over, forcing him to seek help to get his body back.

He learned really quickly that he over-romanticized human existence in his head, even his own from way back when, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Which is pretty much the only thing he learns over the course of the book.

Another problem I had was… the lack of vampire stuff going on in general. When I read a vampire novel, I expect there to be a certain amount of vampire shenanigans. Even, and especially, if the protagonist is a vampire or heavily involved with them. But there’s not a whole lot of that in this book.

If you were to completely remove the whole “body thief” plot, there’s not a lot left over. Sure, there’s still a few parts where Lestat and David have some interaction that’s not dependent on the plot, but that’s it. There’s no other subplots or characters that he interacts with for any reason outside of what the plot dictates. Now that’s not a big deal if you like the book, of course. Then that’s fine. And it’s not a badly written book. It’s written about as well as her other stuff really. But I felt like the book had almost no reason to exist. Lestat is almost the exact same person at the end that he was at the beginning, and I did not want to waste my time time reading over 400 pages to find this out.

I cannot rate this book any higher than 2-stars. If I wasn’t used to Rice’s writing style, honestly, I don’t think I would’ve finished it.

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