Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

78 reviews

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.

---

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

decrapotae's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Grief, and Murder

vonaegir's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.5

if you're anything like me, you struggled to get through this book as a traditional reader, because reading non-stop dialogue descriptions of past events didn't really work for you. if that rings a bell for anyone, i fully endorse taking a stab at listening to this one as an audiobook. it was the only medium through which i could enjoy the original story, personally.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and Slavery

alisasreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

i'm reading this as a result of my obsession with the tv show and needing to consume everything that is attached to it. so ofcourse i had to read this book and it really did not disappoint. anne's prose is truly something else this book did not have one dull moment for me, i read it as if it was already a series and i'm so grateful that we got one. this book makes me understand why the tv show is as good as it is, it can take the dark and gritty stuff from the book and give it even more weight and power. i never expected it to almost be a 5 star read for me but it surprised me in so many ways. i feel lucky i get to experience it through the eyes of the tv series though because it gives me more attachment to a character like louis, who is so different in the book and with seeing the show first is easier to root for and understand. i am so excited to read "the vampire lestat" to see his perspective and his story since he has become one of my favourite characters after watching the show. at the end of the day it was a really good and true experience reading this.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

sleepye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

To give up humanity and mortality only to end up chasing it forever. 
I get IT, fully and finely.
And I thought I wouldn't like the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

hannahbananars's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Read the book because I love the show so much! It was fun to see where they got their inspiration from and the verbatim words they kept in. Overall, it’s a great book! I didn’t find it as slow and taxing as others described it but maybe that’s because I already love these characters. Louis’ catholic guilt is insane and at times so paralyzing. It’s exhausting to watch but his humanity despite his hunger and his senses are what make him such a compelling character. He doesn’t really paint Lestat in a great light at first, but his love for him is evident with the guilt of his murder. Claudia is such a tragic character, I found her the most macabre of all people. The way Louis describes her stillness as if she were just a doll is so eerie. I also noticed that Louis and Armand’s relationship really could have been something beautiful if not for their separate issues…..and that makes me sad. 

In conclusion, great book but I would recommend the television series more. They really take the essence of the book and make it better in my opinion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

random19379's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

laffi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

franklloydweft's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Once again raised my rating after having read more Anne Rice. I under appreciated the feeling that she injected here, and the transgressive themes still DO bother me but I consider that as something you just have to deal with when reading her.

Copied from fable: 
The reason this gets 4 stars is the same reason it doesn’t get 4.5 or 5: Anne Rice. As much as I enjoyed her contemplative and descriptive prose and her conception of the vampire, she can’t help but introduce the problematic elements she’s come to be known for. Namely, the weirdly sexual relationship between Claudia and Louis unsettled me. Her description of enslaved people at the beginning of the novel was also notable in its seeming lack of empathy. There is definitely a reason this book revolutionized the genre, and I very much enjoyed it, but Rice’s penchant for the weird sometimes goes a bit too far for me. This is particularly because, unlike what I observed of Butler writing Fledgling, I believe she actually possessed some of these beliefs. Rice has said some concerning things regarding race and sexuality towards children that lead me to believe this aspect of her writing is not to make vampires seem more inhuman like Butler, but a reflection of her. Just something to chew on. The show is doing a wonderful job with the source material however!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury