Book 2 of The Vampire Chronicles, this story started better than the first one (Interview with the Vampire - IWTV) but fell short midway through in my opinion. The description is tedious and drawn out, and I found the back stories for some of the side characters unnecessary. I very much enjoyed the part about Lestat’s human life, his family and friends, and everything about Nicolas, Lestat’s best friend. Nicolas’s downfall was hard to read and I blamed Lestat for all of it. His selfishness in the name of protection contributed to Nick’s path into darkness and, because of that, I disliked Lestat as much as I did back in the first book. I despised Lestat’s wretch of a mother and wished she would’ve died, permanently. Armand’s back story was interesting but I didn’t see how it contributed to Lestat’s life or the choices he made. Marius’s back story, however, I loved and it fit well with this story.
I was disappointed with the recap of IWTV. It’s from Lestat’s POV but we learned very little about why he acted the way he did with Louis. Why didn’t Lestat help Louis and instruct him even though he couldn’t betray Marius’s secret? Why didn’t Lestat tell Louis that he only fed on criminals, not good people? (Though I’m not even sure if Lestat followed his own rules all the time while in New Orleans.) There were too many unanswered questions.
For me, the best part of the book was all the scenes set in 1984, before Lestat was turned into a vampire in 1780, and Marius’s back story.
2 Stars

Disclaimer – I received this book as a gift from my grandmother-in-law. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion.
( )

I remember loving this book when I first read it and I'm happy to say that has not changed. This is still one of my favorite novels. This whole series is my favorite, if I'm being honest. Lestat is such a charming impulsive troublemaker that I can't help but want to know what he's going to get into next. Marius is a really interesting character to learn about and from in this particular volume as well. ( )

*4.5 *

but in honesty, i wasn't sold with interview with the vampire. but this, this, was fun. enough depth to glaze a donut, a million subtextual elements that go nowhere, and an equal amount of details that probably just clutter any theme that might have been present–put that together with a healthy queer veneer and honey, i'm wrapped around your little finger tighter than anne rice's copious copyright claims.

here's a dump of my thoughts below because there's really no fan community anymore and heck, may as well entertain one (1) of you.

• doesn't anne rice get tired of her own fucking voice sometimes ?? like queen of not understanding pacing we love 10 pages of describing the fire against the walls
• if i have to even see the word preternatural again i'm cutting someone
• the rockstar side mission was . ..... .. questionable
• the vampire bar in san francisco is on castro street ? CASTRO street ?? ANNE.
• we love 90% of the character development during the last 10 pages
• i think i genuinely miss claudia
• anne really comparing armand to a caravaggio angel every 5 damn seconds forgetting her basic art history and realizing caravaggio only came back from obscurity in the mid 20th century
• you'll never convince me armand wasn't wearing some tricked out dress at that ball... being compared to cinderella i'm just taking the logical conclusion 😤😤
• i want more discussions on religion. die mad.
• gabrielle is trans and you're never ripping that from my sad little hands
• gabrielle, in general, is the coolest fucking one of the lot

see ya next book losers ( )

The first of Anne Rice's vampire trilogy, Interview with a Vampire, is probably the most read and the most famous, but for those who liked that introduction, the second novel, The Vampire Lestat, to me at least, is even better. Lestat, the protagonist of the second book, is not the morose and overly sensitive type, like Luis who was interviewed in book one, but neither is he the shallow and narcissistic dilettante you're led to believe him to be in Interview. Rather, Lestat shares many qualities with Louis, his ambivalence about his nature, questions about good versus evil, and above all, a love for humanity even as he takes great pleasure in picking off prey (hopefully bad people) as he sates his thirst for human blood as he takes his nightly drink. Lestat is filled with action from start to finish and picks up some of the plot threads from the earlier novel such as fleshing out (no pun intended) the story of Armand. Claudia is gone for good, except for some references to her, but Louis makes a cameo at the end and you are also introduced to some new characters, most prominently Lestat's mother Gabrielle, Armand's maker Marius, a powerful Ancient One, and Akasha and Enkil, Those Who Must Be Kept, the progenitor of all the Dark Ones. Lestat turns out to be deeper than one expected, yet a humorous and more fun protagonist. How can you not love a guy who emerges from a deep sleep in 1984 after slumbering since 1929, only to decide his greatest wish is to form a gothic heavy metal rock band and become famous on MTV? Louis would not be amused. ( )

Una vez que un aristócrata en los días embriagadores de la Francia prerrevolucionaria, el vampiro Lestat ha corrido a través de los siglos en busca de otros como él, desde Roma en la era de Augusto, a Gran Bretaña, durante la época de los druidas y el mundo frenético de la música rock americana, buscando la respuesta al misterio de su aterradora existencia. Decidido a alcanzar la fama internacional como estrella de rock mientras pone fin a siglos de silencio vampírico autoimpuesto, Lestat toma el mando de una banda y escribe su propia autobiografía, contando la historia de su búsqueda de los orígenes de los muertos vivientes.