BOOK REVIEW: Prince Lestat by Anne Rice

I think I’ve said it in some posts how much I loooove the works of Anne Rice. I remember vividly reading The Witching Hour, feeling the strange need to check my windows, and scaring the hell out of myself but I just. can’t. stop. reading. I felt the same with every single book and I have since started collecting the Vampire Chronicles series with a very few missing links which I intend to fill soonest.

Prince Lestat follows well, of course, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, the most famous and most swoon-worthy of the Blood Drinkers in the Vampire Chronicles. If I remember correctly, there is only one installment from the whole series where Lestat wasn’t the narrator. This was a long awaited novel, having been released 11 years after the Blood Canticle which was thought to be the last. I almost fainted when I saw the news about the release of PL and wanted to just grab it as soon as it was released, but then life got in the way, and so I was able to grab a copy during the first quarter of this year. I devoured this book let me tell you. I am now flailing about this, because, you guessed it, I looooved it! Now, no book is absolutely perfect, so let me get into the nitty-gritty.

I remember writing in my goodreads review that it was the culmination you knew was coming but one from which you still want more. And I think I saw something on the internet that had my hopes up for another book coming.

There were a lot of characters. I mean A LOT. I mean I wouldn’t mind that, except you have to memorize all their weirdly beautiful names and every now and then you’d have to stop and think, who was he again? There is a sort of index on all the characters at the end of the book which was really helpful, but then it was a lot of going back to that index for me.

BUT, they were introduced, explained, and immersed into story beautifully. I couldn’t think of one that didn’t make any sense. They had their plays to part, and they played them well. Rice is a wonderful story-teller, being able to describe emotions, and power, and things beyond the physical world like a dream. You get sucked into this world of wonderful human emotions told in the eyes of those who call themselves damned.

Now this novel is long, which usually I don’t mind. I appreciate a good long read any time. BUT I think some of the chapters were a little bit of a drag.  There were whole chapters about certain characters I honestly couldn’t care less about. I saw how they made sense to the story, but really? a whole chapter? At some points I wanted to just skip them altogether, but I am a bit patient about these things so I carried on.  

In my opinion, it could be a stand-alone novel. With each character or event, there are bit and pieces of references to the other novels, keeping the reader somehow knowledgeable about what was going on and why was it happening.  Also, I loved how the characters developed throughout the book. But like I said, so much characters! The character development of Lestat has been apparent through all the books of the series, and that may be the reason why it has a cult following. He was a vampire, but he was emotionally vulnerable like the rest of us.

With this book, you kind of have an idea what the ending will be, but you are so looking forward to how that will happen. And that, was what really shocked me. There are gory details here so if you are not a fan of blood and skulls being turned to mush then look away and just keep distance.

A wee bit of a disclaimer, this is my cup of tea people. I love this genre and I would pick it up any time of the year. I have adored Anne Rice for years. But, I try to be as objective as I can manage. So, if you didn’t like this book, or this is not the genre for you, then I can’t see why you would want to pick it up. But if you want a really good, rich, epic vampire story, then Anne Rice is your queen.  I personally think she writes the best vampire stories period.

4 and a half stars plus all my love.

Let’s chat 🙂

Do you like vampire stories? NO? Why not?  If yes, which ones? Recommendations? Have you read Prince Lestat? Share your thoughts and let’s be friends!