A Mac's Reviews > Interview with the Vampire

Louis never wanted to be a vampire, nor did he even believe in their existence. But in Louisiana in the 1800s, he discovers there’s much more to his world than he ever knew. But his maker, Lestat, does not make his life easy and even goes out of his way to antagonize Louis. A third vampire eventually joins their group, which creates a nice balance at first. But when things begin to unravel, Louis is forced to choose between his companions, a decision that will affect the rest of his immortal life.

I was a little concerned with the way the story is told that it wouldn’t be that engaging or come to life. Since it’s written as Louis telling his story to someone else, it’s not set up in a way that traditionally encourages engaging descriptions or a meaningful atmosphere, but the author did a decent job incorporating both of those things (more descriptions than atmospheric, though). I did like that the vampires in this book were all awful in their own way. There was no sexy, brooding vampire that humans can’t help but love. They were all despicable to varying degrees, and the author didn’t shy away from the bloody horror of vampirism.

I enjoyed how character-driven this tale was and how it examined relationships. I think the discussion on the power of the “creator” over the newly created vampires was fascinating, especially surrounding the concept of how a newly created vampire might be in for a struggle if their creator is a toxic megalomaniac who is unwilling to share vital information. In fact, relationships were the strongest aspect of this work. I loved the incorporation of a child vampire and the many issues/struggles that entailed as well – it seems that many vampire books stay away from that topic.

There were some (many) instances where Louis waxed poetic and it got rather boring, but overall, it was an engaging vampire read.