Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

22 reviews

laurenbowman323's review against another edition

medium-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

Anyone who says this book isn’t pedophilic is lying to themselves and others. Louis and Lestat were interesting characters, but there was no actual reason for Claudia to be a kindergartner outside of shock value and taboo. This book made me genuinely uncomfortable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Pedophilia

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book hits a lot more differently now than when I read it seventeen years ago. Just because I can see the cracks does not mean that the spell has been broken. It lives in my heart, forever and always.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug use, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Claudia as a five year old adds a disturbing layer to her scenes involving intimacy and violence, there is biting galore, property damage is imminent, and the complexity of destructive relationships (both with ourselves and others) is at the heart of the novel.

thebibutterfly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

Well-written and developed, but I was not prepared for the heavy sexual themes around children and the casual mention/reference to slavery in this book. Disturbing doesn’t begin to describe it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lennie_reads's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

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

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

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 to him.

But also Louis is so so lame. The first man to ever be baby trapped by another man, and he just keeps failing upwards. C'mon Louis! Eat some people! Fuck the blonde bitch! Adopt some more demonic children! I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

This book is a beautiful classic and everyone who's a fan of horror should read it because Louis' capture (and the entire Paris arc) 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, Child death, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, and Colonisation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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