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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
smaber23's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
semisinful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The way Anne Rice has such a command of her prose is truly awe inspiring and the level at which relationships and the drama therein is what drives the plot is absolutely what I desire to do with my writing and I now see it can be done successfully for this style of story.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
sleepye's review against another edition
- 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
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
I get IT, fully and finely.
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
- 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
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.
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
laffi's review against another edition
- 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
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
peachmoni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Kidnapping
franklloydweft's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury
kanjichris's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Colonisation