Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Intervista col vampiro by Anne Rice

8 reviews

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.

slimepuppy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Louis was a poor meow meow before the term was ever invented and I think that's beautiful.

I don't know how Anne Rice made such a pathetic, wet noodle of  man deliver some of theee most floor shaterring observations ever known to man, but she fucking did it!!! Every time Louis starts to talk about evil I sit my ass down and listen! 

But also Louis is so so lame. The first man to ever be baby trapped by another man, and he just keeps failing upwards. Eat some people! Fuck the blonde bitch! Adopt some more demonic children!

This book is a beautiful classic and everyone who's a fan of horror should read because Louis' capture in the end gave me anxiety. Also Anne Rice's vampires are super cool and evil when they aren't crying about how catholic they are. Were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Moderate: Colonisation, Gore, and Child abuse

eauderat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Child death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Pedophilia, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Dementia, and Sexism

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.

“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

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

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

A dark, eerie and dramatic memoir of the life and experiences of a vampire named Louis, told in the context of an interview with a terrified but intrigued boy. 
The story unfurls before us, laced with treachery, eroticism, death, love and a lot of blood; paced with twists, turns and climaxes; and underpinned with a nuanced discussion on existence and the concept of good and evil. 

What made me not enjoy it as much as I could’ve was the lack of connection with the protagonist. I know fundamentally he is supposed to be evil as a murderous vampire, but I think in reading vampire fiction we suspend the vilification of this inhumanity as one both expected and understood. However, the seeming obsession in contemporary vampire fiction of making important characters have involvement in the slave trade/confederacy is so off-putting and honestly needless. In addition, his relationship with Claudia (although a grey area considering her actual temporal age), was very strange and gave off similar vibes to that in Lolita. Overall my empathy with Louis was extremely stunted from the get-go which made the rest of the story quite the slog.

That was a shame indeed, as the writing is incredible - vivid, atmospheric and poetic. If my gripes with the characterisation were non existent I’d be tempted to give it 5 stars just for that. As an important part of the vampire canon I’d say this was worth the read, especially for spooky month.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Stalking, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

jackbifrost's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

mothstrand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Racism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Excrement, and Stalking

13octopus's review against another edition

dark funny relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: War