The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having finally finished this book, I am unsure how I feel about it. I loved Anne Rice's creative use of language and her descriptions, particularly those of the house on First Street, really brought the book to life for me. Despite the masses of Paranormal fiction out there, I thought it stood out from the rest as being different. I was not put off by the chapters full of history, although I do think there was too much of it and would have found it easier & quicker to read if the pace was increased. Her characters were fantastic and I found myself really getting to know them, although not being able to keep track of who was related to who and how. I really enjoyed Part 3 and the beginning of part four as the tension was building and there was more action. I was quite disappointed with the way it ended. It was unpredictable, but I didn't really find the ending exciting and personally, although I expect a few unanswered questions to keep you guessing what will happen in the sequel, I like a book to end without such a big cliff hanger meaning you have read the next one to essentially find out how the story ends.

I have given it four stars, because although it took a very long time to get through and the ending was disappointing, I did like the story and the characters. I will read the next in the series, but not straight away.



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Witching Hour?

As I write, I am sitting in the dark with rain lashing outside my window and thunder bellowing.

"And the rain is brain-coloured.

And the thunder sounds like something remembering something." STAN RICE

Reaching page 106 of 'The Witching Hour' by Anne Rice, the only thing making me put this fantastic book down is the size of the text, so small I am straining my eyes to read, which is spoiling the reading experience. So, I went on a hunt to find this book in a larger print version (hardback or Kindle).

Starting my hunt at Amazon, as I invariably do, I was disappointed to find there was no Kindle version. Clicking the link to tell the publisher you'd like to read this book on Kindle, I took a cyber-stroll down to Ebay.

Before I continue, which is unfortunately always inevitable, I feel it important to affirm my open mindedness. Rarely judging people by the expressed opinions of others, I prefer to make my own judgements based on my experiences, which often earns me the 'I think you are mad, but I'm not going to say it, because mad people are unpredictable.' look from people.

My Ebay search turned out to be much more interesting than I had expected...

There were several different formats of The Witching Hour, but shortly after browsing the search results, I had forgotten that I was there to find a book. I had been distracted by these:

Having spent many of my teenage years being bitter and cross, ready to take revenge on the world, I am now surprisingly calm and understanding, believing that "everything happens for a reason" and "when one door closes another one opens." So I find it hard to empathise with anyone who would buy a spell for breaking up a marriage or make someone obsess over them. Why would you want someone to fall in love with you, knowing they didn't really love you? It makes me sad that people are desperate enough to want to do it.

Curious, I wondered what sort of feedback buyers left; whether they were happy or disatisfied with their purchases. After reading these, I really wasn't convinced.

I am more inclined to believe the results are from a change in the buyer's thinking- i.e. If you have taken action, you feel more positive about it.

But, assuming for a moment that it did work, I considered what spell I would buy...

This one is tempting...

and as a Twilight & True Blood fan, I quite fancy trying this one...

possibly combined with this one...

(if you are an Eric fan, you will appreciate this!)

But I finally decided, after wasting spending some time deliberating, that this one would be the best one for me...

I won't be trying any spells. The control freak in me says no to anything I don't understand (including politics and blue food), but before I had finished on Ebay I was yet again distracted by the sponsored links...