The Witching Hour

LOVED thos one!!

I always feel torn with Anne Rice. There were parts of this that I actually really liked. But there is a LOT of incest. Like A LOT! I get the point of it. But it was really uncomfortable to read.

Also, all her books have the repressed Catholic issue of being really weird about sex. Which is why I think she went the direction she did for your vampire anatomy. You get that kind of Catholic guilt here as well.

And while she will always be dear as my first vampire series, they aren't my favorite. There are better vampire characters available nowadays in my opinion that feel freer.

Stalled out halfway through because it got too bogged down in details and lost the magic that the first third or so of the book had. Specifically, a third of the book should not be taken up by the files of the Mayfair Witches if they aren't fun to read...

I'M FREE. I'M FINALLY FREE.



This book had absolutely no business being as long as it was. Bloated and boring, the sex scenes and descriptions of bodies were super weird as well. I'm going to give the tv show a go as I haven't been a fan of The Vampire Chronicles so far but love the Interview With The Vampire tv show, so fingers crossed this is the same and the tv adaptation is more palatable for me.

I'm sure some people will like this freaky book but not me.

This book tells a fascinating tale of one family of witches. It is a spellbinding, engrossing, well-written tale with complex and mysterious characters. There are plenty of compelling twists and turns to keep the plot interesting.
The lives of all Mayfair Witches are enthralling and their history was the most interesting part of the book.
However, the second half of the book, nearing the end, could have been condensed a little bit.

Another hard one to review...
I love her writing. It is poetic, yet not purple, easy to read, and interesting. I love her descriptions of the places, I get the feeling she truly loves New Orleans. But - it's such drivel. In certain parts, it feels like she's just writing down her own thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and I disagree with her strongly, so it feels like listening to some “idiot” yap about their stupid thoughts without the ability to inject my POV into the issue. I feel preached on.
And... the characters don't catch me. I really am not interested in these people or what happens to them.

So, I DNFd this. Maybe I'll finish it one day. Maybe not. There are plenty of good books to read.
I read about 250 pages, so I think I have a good enough idea of what this book is and what I think about it.

A book about the lives of some people in New Orleans. A lot of character building, no plot. The problem is the characters are mundane. There is nothing exceptional about them.

Imagine your aunt telling the history of her life, in painstakingly details. Where she went to school, for how long, her relationship with her father...

The first chapter was omniscient enough. I thought it was VERY slowly building up the witches plot, making some brief and vague mentions regarding the Mayfair family. But then came chapter two, “The Life of Walter”. He has some ESP abilities, such as seeing images by touching objects and even by just coming near them sometimes. You might think the chapter would be interesting. It was not. I trudged on, but then skipped it.

I should have stopped then, but I continued reading because Anne Rice has become my favorite author. The next chapter was about father Mathew. It soon became clear what kind of book this is.

Read 5:14 of 50:02 / 10%

Epic romp with witches and some romance. Well written and bonkers. At 1207 pages I felt it could have been maybe 7 pages shorter.