Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

23 reviews

bunbunbooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Gosh what a book! I found the development of the characters so fascinating! I felt like going in I didn’t  understand the appeal of the monster genre but this really opened my eyes to the reflective nature of these books. I feel like each character explored different human traits that are taken to the extreme as a supernatural trait. The plot itself was pretty slow so that’s where I personally dock points but otherwise supremely written!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

tdawgg07's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I don’t really understand why this book is so beloved. Much of it was very slow and it’s a bit hard to read as a lot of the problematic/evil behavior was pretty gross. I don’t think the point was to glorify their evil behaviors of course, but I don’t enjoy reading it. I can appreciate the internal struggle Louis deals with of what is evil and his guilt over being a vampire, and how immortality itself can be a purposeless and boring existence, but I wouldn’t recommend this book or re read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

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

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

theacousticfuneral's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, and Sexual content

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

rosalux's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

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

micallab's review against another edition

dark sad

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Blood

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