Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

68 reviews

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

Moderate: Colonisation, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

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

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This book hits a lot more differently now than when I read it seventeen years ago. Just because I can see the cracks does not mean that the spell has been broken. It lives in my heart, forever and always.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Grief, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Abandonment, Death, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Child death, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Torture, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Claudia as a five year old adds a disturbing layer to her scenes involving intimacy and violence, there is biting galore, property damage is imminent, and the complexity of destructive relationships (both with ourselves and others) is at the heart of the novel.

thebibutterfly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

Well-written and developed, but I was not prepared for the heavy sexual themes around children and the casual mention/reference to slavery in this book. Disturbing doesn’t begin to describe it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Slavery, and Child abuse

ninubean's review against another edition

4.0

At first, I was kind of put off by the structural choice of the book, but it is called Interview with the Vampire, so not sure what I expected lol once I got over that though, I came to enjoy this novel a lot! Honestly, it was very camp and I think people would enjoy this more if they thought of it like that. Louis is a gay little vampire with a tortured existence - his philosophical need to understand why he's alive is trivial, but his musings were intriguing and thought-provoking for me. Louis' narration is limited by design, so readers are bound to his opinions and interpretations of the events, but this only made me excited to read the book's sequels to know the other characters more.

Yes, there are uncomfortable concepts in this book and sometimes they are jarring to read. And yes, this book isn't really character-driven and is only slightly plot-driven, which makes the pacing feel strange. Since this is a dialogue though, I feel like the pacing can be forgiven since it is meant to be someone speaking and recollecting centuries of their life. Overall, I enjoyed this sad, gay vampire's TedTalk about why he hates himself LOL

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Gore, Incest, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

lennie_reads's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

mysamcatfan's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-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

Needed more homoeroticism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, and Murder

izypup's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.75

The last twenty pages were I honestly the best out of the whole book. The obsession with childlike innocence and it being ‘sensual’ to the vampires reads off more pedophilic than symbolic. The vague homoeroticism didn’t make me care about the characters and the majority of the book was a drag. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Animal death

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, and Excrement

joonjxne'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Grief

wrensandroses's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Kidnapping, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Racism, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

Honestly kind of read like Dracula fan fiction. I tabbed this book and there were far too many dark blue tabs for my taste (sections that made me really uncomfortable due to ethical reasons) and I just didn't enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence