Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Veren vangit by Anne Rice

25 reviews

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

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

semisinful's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Wow. Truly one of the best vampire stories. No adaptation has in any way captured the feeling this book gave off. It’s truly remarkable. I can’t imagine a better first vampire novel. I’ve seen plenty movies, shows and games of vampire stories but this is my first ever vampire novel and it was remarkable. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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.

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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.

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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

kanjichris's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

[norm macdonald voice] and here's my review, not homoerotic enough

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Content Warnings

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

mcfauljade's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

snerp_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I found this book to be very entertaining, and though they have their literary weaknesses, I quite liked the characters. The tension between the main cast was palpable, if a bit rushed. (However, this may be because of the 'recalling memories' style of telling a story) The use of an interviewer-intervewie narrative added to the atmosphere, the interviewer's naivety of the story working as a classic stand-in for the reader, making it a good introduction to a series. 

However, I had a few issues with the word and portrayal choices within the story.

The biggest issue for me was the characterization of Claudia, who seemed to be treated as an adult while being described as a child. This could have been a good way to explore the effect of vampirism on a growing mind stuck in an eternally small body, which I suspect is what Rice was going for, but her portrayal of Claudia came across as more uncomfortable than anything. Louis and Claudia are specifically described as father and daughter throughout the book, and Louis met her when she was just five years old, but Rice soon begins trying to implement a strange psuedo-romantic relationship between them, which comes off as gross in every way possible.

I don't think it was executed well at all, and I have to remove a star for this reason. 

My more brief issue was the description of a mass killing of vampires as "the Holocaust", which is a very distasteful choice, for multiple reasons.

Other than that, I enjoyed the story, and will continue reading the series. If you can get past the portrayal of Claudia, you may also really like this book as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Minor: Genocide, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism