Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

124 reviews

citrusking29's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

The plot is super interesting but the main character is the most insufferable hypocrite I've ever read the perspective of

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pedophilia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

erika_winters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

2.25

This book took me a very long time to read because of how densely packed it is. Anne Rice created a very unique concept of what a vampire is in this book, and for that I will commend her. However, the idea of Louis questioning his existence and the meaning of being a vampire (am I an entity of evil created in Satan’s image?) grows old for the reader trying to navigate a point in the text. There were times when Rice’s ability to write beautiful passages was on full display, especially when detailing Paris and the Théâtre des Vampires. Another aspect I enjoyed was the implicit gay love affairs that Louis has throughout the book; the one with Lestat being extremely toxic and doomed, whereas the second with Armand being one of curiosity about one’s vampiric life that is also unfortunately doomed. Parts that could’ve been left out was the overt racism at the beginning of the book (Louis is a slave owner on a plantation in New Orleans), and the unsettling adjectives used to describe Claudia who is a young child turned vampire (“sensual” being one I remember here, which is cringy). Some parts read very pedophilic at times because of the interactions between Louis and Claudia, as well as just words to describe actions between the two. Overall, I expected more from this, and was disappointed to find that the end of the book leads into a second book so I just sat frustrated for a minute after closing it since I spent 15 weeks reading it. Sigh.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, and Blood

solusipse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

hedonsgaybookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Incest

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.

---

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.

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. 

---

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🫶🏻✨️✨️

---

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

sassyjax's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I can't believe I read this book almost 30 years ago.  I've kept meaning to do a re-read, but didn't want to be disappointed as the later vampire books in the series caused a sour taste in my memory.  The story is just as powerful as I remember.  What I didn't realize then that I realize now is that the story is very much about an abusive relationship, leaving it, and then finding a life after.  

I wish that Anne Rice wrote more in Louis' perspective, but I understand that she found Lestat a much more intriguing point of view.  Even now, I identify more with Louis than Lestat.  Well, I know he appears in later books, but after being burned by 2 or 3 books after Queen of the Damned, I pretend that there are no more Anne Rice books after QotD.

This book still holds up for me and the fact that it was published 20 years prior to my first reading. I can't believe the book was published in the late 70s and still holds up (for me at least).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

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

---

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

kirahvireads's review against another edition

Too dark and violent

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence