Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

50 reviews

solusipse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

dandyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

This book is a slog until Part 3. It's an "okay" book, but I would not recommend it. Make sure to read the content warnings before you pick it up, because it's explicit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

There are two scenes with children that have a distinct sexual overtone and are given explicit details of their bodies in the narration. As well as the issue of Claudia who

grows into an adult in a child's body

, but is nonetheless described with sexual overtones throughout the book. This is not even to get into the fact that the main character owns a plantation and Rice delves into the reality of the enslaved persons living there, and, while there are no slurs used from what I remember, they are talked about in racist ways throughout the beginning of the novel. In addition to this, while there's a lot less of it, there is xenophobic language towards Eastern Europeans, as well.

leosaki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

I have not had this much fun reading an actual physical book in... honestly, maybe years.
That being said, parts of this might be some of the most atrocious things I've ever read.
In any case, it's greatly entertaining and I love being insufferably insane about it.

Louis my beloved, autistic coded Catholic guilt riddled queer icon who was married and divorced twice without ever even noticing bc he has not one single social skill beyond being polite, you will always be famous. Go send those insanely powerful narcissistic monsters into a downward spiral simply by being pretty and sad🫶🏻✨️✨️

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sassyjax's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

I can't believe I read this book almost 30 years ago.  I've kept meaning to do a re-read, but didn't want to be disappointed as the later vampire books in the series caused a sour taste in my memory.  The story is just as powerful as I remember.  What I didn't realize then that I realize now is that the story is very much about an abusive relationship, leaving it, and then finding a life after.  

I wish that Anne Rice wrote more in Louis' perspective, but I understand that she found Lestat a much more intriguing point of view.  Even now, I identify more with Louis than Lestat.  Well, I know he appears in later books, but after being burned by 2 or 3 books after Queen of the Damned, I pretend that there are no more Anne Rice books after QotD.

This book still holds up for me and the fact that it was published 20 years prior to my first reading. I can't believe the book was published in the late 70s and still holds up (for me at least).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

mostly_present's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

abookplaylist's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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

" La grande avventura della nostra vita. Che cosa significa morire quando si può vivere fino alla fine del mondo? Che cos'è la fine del mondo se non  un modo di dire, che chissà anche soltanto cos'è il mondo stesso? Mai ho già vissuto due secoli e ho visto le illusioni dell'uno completamente distrutte dall'altro, sono stato eternamente giovane ed eternamente vecchio, senza possedere illusioni, facendo Ottimo per attimo come un orologio d'argento che batte nel vuoto; quadrante, lancette delicatamente intagliate, nessuno guarda, e che non guardano nessuno, illuminate da una luce che non era luce, come la luce alla quale Dio crea il mondo prima di aver creato la luce. Tic tac, tic tac, tic tac, la precisione dell'orologio, in una stanza vasta come l'universo "

Anne Rice ha uno stile sublime ma ha un grosso difetto: la sua narrazione è molto lenta.
Penso che ad una certa ho talmente sentito pesante Louis come personaggio da aver pensato che forse era meglio Lestat.
Dopo la lettura di questo volume mi è venuta un'insana voglia di farmi un veloce rewatch del film e iniziare la serie TV uscita qualche anno fa.
È stata una lettura sofferta che continuerò in tutta calma, anche perché sono davvero curiosa come continuano le vicende.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

rosenrot's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

Overall a slow read. 
Louis is not as interesting a character as he makes himself out to be.
Deals with the unreliability of memory, catholic guilt and morals. 
He is constantly struggling with his vampiric nature and his need to drink blood and bring death vs. his own moral superiority and general aloofness. 
Because the world is being told through Louis and he isn't as interested in the history of vampires and his own struggle with existence it is at times hard to symphatize with him as a character. 

His inner thoughts about Claudia become very uncomfortable, especially when you keep in mind that she is physically 5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, and Slavery

smaber23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

I love New Orleans, I love vampires, so of course reading this felt like destiny.

Rice is a powerful author whose eloquent prose and captivating imagery will leave you breathless. To say this novel is a tragedy is an understatement and it is clear she wrote it from a place of profound grief. 

Like her predecessor Mary Shelley, Anne Rice was inspired to write a novel about life, death, and immortality following the loss of her child. She inserts her late daughter into the novel as Claudia, an immortal child who fully develops mentally but is eternally cursed with an adolescent body. She is raised by her two gay dads (jokes) Louis and Lestat, the former a depressed and tortured soul serving as our narrator, the latter a flamboyant hedonist who wants nothing more than to suck the marrow from life (or undead-ness) itself.

I don't recommend this novel for everyone as it can be supremely triggering for survivors of CSA. It is abundantly clear Rice desperately tried to keep her daughter alive into adulthood through Claudia, who continues to evolve sexually and emotionally beneath arrested physical development. Grief can create amazing art and, in spite of these harrowing depictions, this is no exception.

If you feel called to read this, I implore you to do so. You will walk away with a different impression of life, death, and beauty.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol