shidoburrito's Reviews (1.54k)

You know, for a Vampire Chronicles novel that wasn't so bad. I was not a fan of the last one, "Realms of Atlantis". No, this one came back to good ol' vampires doing vampire-y things and hanging out, loving each other, weeping, and setting each other on fire. Ya' know, vampire things. It was short and brief, nothing got too long and dithering (for Anne Rice, at least). It almost seemed like a wrap up/ report on how things are going. Who is where, who's alive, who's happy, who's staying at the Château, how's the progress on the rebuilding going or the great Vampire Census. We get introduced to a new vampire who isn't as prominent as we are lead to believe, an oldie comes back and wreaks havoc, Lestat is in love with everything and everyone. That's pretty much my summary of this book!

How many times the word "weep" was used: 14 times.

Okay, so two stars because I didn't even get into the book until the last few chapters. I broke my usual rule of "give it 100 pages before giving up" because it's yet another installment of Vampire Chronicles! I've been reading Rice's rambling theology since 7th grade when I had no job and I had the TIME to read her banter. Now I have a job among books that ironically takes precious time away from reading them, but I still want to catch up with my buddies Louis and Lestat (mainly Lestat). Yet, since Blackwood Farm, either my life has gotten busier or her writing has gotten more rambling, I've found that nothing really happens until the last few chapters. Same with this one. And I think Anne Rice has taken yet another weird turn in the supernatural world our beloved vampires live in. Witches? Fine. Body swapping? Sure, whatevs. Ghosts and spirits? Turns out they're very prevalent.

Spoiler

Alien birds that hate mammals and feed off their despair and suffering, so they send in artificially created beings to stir the pot on Earth and these beings end up not following orders and can live forever and can clone themselves from severed limbs? Uh, whut??? Oh, and vampires are slowly turning into a biological, glass-like substance created by Amel who is the spirit that created all vampires and is actually a modified human abducted by the bird aliens? Anne Rice, what the FUCK have you been smoking?!

Also, someone is weeping almost every other page. Seriously. I'm waiting for my digital library copy of the Kindle book so I can do a word count.

Update: Word count on "weep": 42 times. "Wept": 10 times.

I can't do it! To be fair, I'm super excited for a Teen Reading Challenge so my mind keeps wandering to books that are more faster-paced. I loved this series in grade school, and Lestat is definitely my favorite character, but I had way much more time to read then. Nowadays, I don't have as much time to read, so Rice's usual banter about Good and Evil and God and Humanity and Right and Wrong and, and, and.... I wasn't able to get through it this time. I'll pick this book up again, for sure, when I'm in the right mindset, but for now, Lestat will have to put his plodding philosophies on hold.

Edit: Word count "Weep": 38 times. "Wept": 9 times.

Hm, the manga is actually a little different from the anime. It's only 3 volumes long so they're getting the introductions out of the way pretty quick. I really like the art for this. It's the same artist as the anime, Mahiro Maeda (GONZO) but they keep the sketchy lines and the shading is quick and I think digital.

Methinks this will be cut short since there's only one volume left and we're only just now getting to Edmond's revenge on Villefort...

Okay, for a person who doesn't normally read sci-fi or would pick out a book with someone who looks like a character from Halo on the cover, this was a pretty decent read. The first person writing style was... laid back and I had to suppress my grammar pickiness at times. Just think of it as being written the way a 20-something dude would talk. Complete with sentences starting with "So" and excessive usage of parenthesis. Once I got over that, it turned out to be a fun little story with suspense and mystery and intrigue and a fun cast of characters!

Let's just say I was glad to finally finish this book. Did you enjoy "Gone Girl"? Do you enjoy books with absolutely no redeeming characters? Do you want to be freaked out by seeing through the eyes of a male stalker (who's thought process and words may seem chillingly familiar to you through past relationships, working with the general, disgusting, creepy public). Usually I have the "100 Page Rule" where I ditch a book if I don't like it after 100 pages, but this book made it to around 214 when I was like, "Uuuuugggghhhh, I don't like ANYONE in this book! They're all psycho!" but decided to slog through it to the end. Eh.
Okay, there was ONE redeeming character:

Spoiler

Ethan. God bless that pure-hearted man.

Wow! This book was nothing like I thought it would be, but it was very original. Southern, Georgia setting, soldier from WWI with PTSD, and I applauded this book for the twist when you learn about "those across the river". I did not see that coming! The writing does get a bit slow in parts, but all in all it was a great book that really set the scene and well written atmosphere!

This was on a list of humorous books. Uh, I guess? I'm glad I wasn't in the frame of mind required to enjoy this book or see it as humorous: depressed, low-self worth, trying to fill the void with meaningless sex, desperate to find meaning in a mess of a life. So yeah, if that describes you, maybe you'll find it funny? Again, luckily that is not me, and this book honestly made me kinda depressed. I get like that with depressing fantasy. In my mind magic and fantasy should be a wondrous and awe inspiring change in your life, not depressing. I read fantasy for the adventure not to be depressed (fuck you very much "The Magicians"). There was also a lot of philosophical rambling that I honestly just kinda grazed over. After a while I was intent on seeing how it ended rather than caring about any of the characters. I guess Theo was fine and I kept reading it for him, it was Lucy who made me feel anxious and depressed. But like a train wreck I had to keep reading and I think the ending was the best part of the whole book. Didn't make the whole experience worth it but still, it was a... better ending than the book was good.

I guess I ran headlong into this trap. I didn't read any of the comments, just saw it was a humorous book on a book list put out by my library involving mermen.