Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

6 reviews

bluelilyy's review against another edition

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

3.5

despite the ridiculous amount of time it took me to finish this book, i did enjoy it quite a lot.

lestat just kept pissing me off BAD so i took a lot of breaks and put down the book for like two weeks before picking it back up.

im gonna take a break from the vampire chronicles for a bit. i do have memnoch, whenever i decide to pick that up but i want to read something else and just take some time before i read anymore of these books.
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bolivianrash's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

Starting from 5 stars:
-1.0 for SA
-0.5 because wtf Louis
-0.5 because David deserved better
+0.5 for good boy Mojo
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raybudbury's review against another edition

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dark medium-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

5.0

*gets up on soapbox* the entertainment while reading this book was what lead me to giving it 5 stars there are a few things I could’ve done without
the rape scenes… technically two of them and then she runs rampant with fucking a nun for a bit there too
I feel like Anne Rice has such a compelling, juvenile at times but that’s partially just Lestat’s personality, voice while writing. 

Part of loving this book was I am in such a Vampire Chronicles headspace in the moment as I wait for szn 2 in May that I was craving any more content that I hadn’t already consumed. also sending my friends screenshots and voice memos of me reading passages which I think made me love this book even more because I was giggling and being like wait this is a good concept/paragraph/line. Like yes parts of it were WILD and reminded me of a 90’s sitcom
the stand off between the ‘villain’ of the book and lestat happens on a cruise ship which is so funny to go from iwtv olden times to 90’s cruise body switching + anytime Lestat was talking about shitting/pissing/weeping had me belly laughing.
. I kind of find Anne rice’s writing delicious even if she is going on a theological tangent or making lestat reprehensible at points.
Also the concept of a vampire switching bodies with a human and having to deal with human weaknesses is such a great idea. It’s like oh shit yes he would be upset about eating and peeing because he didn’t have to do this for like 200+ years. The whiplash of the tone of the book was also so funny and good at times. Like lestat’s ending the book by lighting a candle for himself and then there’s another chapter that’s literally like…. Actually there’s one more chapter read if you dare. And then the next chapter is MORALLY BAD LESTAT. I also really loved the power dynamic switch between him and Louis in this book. Actually any time Louis and lestat interacted in this book I was like oh fuck yes.
anyway what a fever dream but so good in my opinion
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avie_j's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense 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

3.5

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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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