Scan barcode
A review by mayefrati
Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
3.0
I wish I could give this book three and a half stars. The writing style was quite nice and it had a good flow for me, it was very interesting to read but every time I think Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles can’t get any weirder they do. I guess I prefer the book being absurd than being boring but I have a lot more to say.
First of all - Quinn. There is something in his manner that is so unawarely condescending, he keeps pretending as if Patsy’s treatment of himself doesn’t affect him so much and keeps pitying her and helping her but then the descriptions of her through his eyes follow as extremely belittling, he sees her as well as everyone else as cheap, as a failure. He also got so aggressively horny the more the book continued that it started to feel almost ridiculous. He is also somewhat of a Gary Stu.. I’ve seen it mentioned in reviews before I finished reading and now I truly get why. He is always liked, he is immediately good at most vampire skills, he is so much “smarter” and “intellectual” tham others his age etc etc…
Than there is Aunt Queen who was quite a lovely character but then midway through the novel it felt like she started making a ridiculous amount of sex jokes which almost felt out of character? It was a bit funny but it felt extremely unrelated in several scenes.
And then we have the Mayfairs.. I really wish Anne Rice would have gone easier on this crossover because it eventually started getting on my nerves that every single service and establishment in New Orleans just so happened to be run by the Mayfair Witches. And then there is Mona.. I don’t even know where to start.. she was such an overly sexualized character at merely fifteen(!!) years old, having slept with all her *cousins*! And then there was her mysterious mutated child? What happened to it? There was no closure in this volume or any hint even as to what might be up with her offring…
And Rebecca.. why did Patsy dying satisfy her? Don’t get me wrong, I hate Patsy and I can’t justify the way she treated any of her family members, she was extremely selfish. But how was Rebecca related? Why was Rebecca tortured? What weird pact did Manfred and Petronia have that required her to be hung brutally, pierced by a hook in the chest? Yes, she was a bit mad and desperate but it didn’t feel justified.
I was also feeling quite sentimental at all the Goblin reveals, they weren’t very surprising but as an identical twin myself seperation of twins in any way makes me quite emotional…
And Merrick, god, Merrick.. I am furious. It might seem cruel to say that I’m enraged that she killed herself in the fire with Goblin, and this is meant with no disrespect as someone battling with depression but really? After she persuaded Louis so aggressively to turn her into a vampire and having him feel so guilty about it that he attempted suicide and then just within such a ridiculous time span in an immortal sense just going into the fire? It felt disrespectful and impulsive and sudden.
Overall, I had my fun reading but I also felt that the last chapters were incredibly rushed and that the Goblin exorcism and everything leading up to it didn’t have enough substance to truly sink in as to what Goblin’s attachment to Quinn really meant..
First of all - Quinn. There is something in his manner that is so unawarely condescending, he keeps pretending as if Patsy’s treatment of himself doesn’t affect him so much and keeps pitying her and helping her but then the descriptions of her through his eyes follow as extremely belittling, he sees her as well as everyone else as cheap, as a failure. He also got so aggressively horny the more the book continued that it started to feel almost ridiculous. He is also somewhat of a Gary Stu.. I’ve seen it mentioned in reviews before I finished reading and now I truly get why. He is always liked, he is immediately good at most vampire skills, he is so much “smarter” and “intellectual” tham others his age etc etc…
Than there is Aunt Queen who was quite a lovely character but then midway through the novel it felt like she started making a ridiculous amount of sex jokes which almost felt out of character? It was a bit funny but it felt extremely unrelated in several scenes.
And then we have the Mayfairs.. I really wish Anne Rice would have gone easier on this crossover because it eventually started getting on my nerves that every single service and establishment in New Orleans just so happened to be run by the Mayfair Witches. And then there is Mona.. I don’t even know where to start.. she was such an overly sexualized character at merely fifteen(!!) years old, having slept with all her *cousins*! And then there was her mysterious mutated child? What happened to it? There was no closure in this volume or any hint even as to what might be up with her offring…
And Rebecca.. why did Patsy dying satisfy her? Don’t get me wrong, I hate Patsy and I can’t justify the way she treated any of her family members, she was extremely selfish. But how was Rebecca related? Why was Rebecca tortured? What weird pact did Manfred and Petronia have that required her to be hung brutally, pierced by a hook in the chest? Yes, she was a bit mad and desperate but it didn’t feel justified.
I was also feeling quite sentimental at all the Goblin reveals, they weren’t very surprising but as an identical twin myself seperation of twins in any way makes me quite emotional…
And Merrick, god, Merrick.. I am furious. It might seem cruel to say that I’m enraged that she killed herself in the fire with Goblin, and this is meant with no disrespect as someone battling with depression but really? After she persuaded Louis so aggressively to turn her into a vampire and having him feel so guilty about it that he attempted suicide and then just within such a ridiculous time span in an immortal sense just going into the fire? It felt disrespectful and impulsive and sudden.
Overall, I had my fun reading but I also felt that the last chapters were incredibly rushed and that the Goblin exorcism and everything leading up to it didn’t have enough substance to truly sink in as to what Goblin’s attachment to Quinn really meant..