Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Veren vangit by Anne Rice

10 reviews

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

pkcaramel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault

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.

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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

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.

penguuu's review against another edition

Way too long, way too slow, none of the characters are likeable, I couldn't do it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Just, bad.

emmathebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have no idea how to describe the things this book made me feel, but let’s just say I needed a moment when I finished it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

taurus97's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

I found the narrative went through plot points too quickly and focused too heavily at times on emotional reflection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death

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

stooby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

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