Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

13 reviews

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

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

A book that has lived in my mind rent free since I read it. Another book I wish I could forget so I could reread it.

9/22:
I read this book in Dec 2020 and promptly became obsessed with it and the Vampire Chronicles. I still am, I reread this in anticipation of the TV show which I am loosing it with excitement looking forward to us. This book and series and author has a lot of flaws and I think rereading IWTV with the knowledge of what AR's later books would be like and the themes she will just keep hammering without any self relfection (pedophilia and incest) did bring out it's flaws even more. But still I can't not love this book it means so much to me I can barely put it into words. At least not something as short as a review, maybe a 40 page essay. The characters and everything they go through just feels so real to me and feels like it captures emotions that before I myself didn't know how to put into words. So despite all it's flaws and the fact that I would very willingly have fought Anne Rice in a Denny's parking lot (or would popeyes be more appropriate? 😂) this book is probably my absolute favorite book of all time and means the world to me. This reread took so long compared to how quickly I read other books a) bc I have like half the book underlined with lines or scenes I like and mostly b) because the emotions it invoked are so strong I often had to take a break

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death of parent

parttimerarebookdealer's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Slavery