Sunday, February 19, 2012

Review: The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice


Author: Anne Rice
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Release Date: February 14, 2012

The Wolf Gift is Anne Rice’s literary return to her horror roots. She became famous with her Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches books and returns to the darker, paranormal themes with her latest novel.

Reuben Golding is a San Francisco reporter who travels to a mansion on the California coast to do a story on it for its owner, heiress Marchent Nideck, who was hoping to sell it. She inherited the house from an uncle who disappeared twenty years previously. After a terrible bloodbath at Nideck Point the first night in the mansion, Reuben finds that his entire life has changed.

I absolutely love Anne Rice. The Vampire Chronicles are some of my favorite books, and I even named one of my cats after a Mayfair witch. I grew up reading the mistress of horror, and she is one of my all-time favorite authors. The writing in The Wolf Gift is beautifully descriptive and exactly what I expected from Mrs. Rice. Unfortunately, I had trouble connecting to any of the characters. Reuben is an arrogant man-child who is offended by his own youth and beauty. His girlfriend and family are equally distasteful in their own rights. Rice’s books are always fraught with immoral and reprehensible characters (Lestat himself was deliciously terrible), so I was able to look past them. I was even excited about the Man Wolf superhero. The background crimes were engaging. However, this book is not for me.

I am embarrassed to admit that I could not finish this book. There are few things in a novel that I cannot stomach, and bestiality (even implied) is one of them. The situation leading up to it was also extremely unbelievable. I still think Anne Rice is one of the most talented story-spinners that I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and I am sure that The Wolf Gift continued just as absorbing as it began. I can even happily recommend this to others who enjoy horror or extremely dark books. I, sadly, cannot continue it myself, and I write that with a very heavy heart.

To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received the book for free through NetGalley from the publisher. It in no way affected the outcome of my review.

5 comments:

  1. I'm embarassed to admit I haven't read anything written by Anne Rice, even if I have many of her books on my wishist.
    I don't like horror or extremely dark books, so The Wolf Gift is definitely not a book for me. Thank you for your review, Kayla! :D

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    1. Don't be embarrassed! If horror or dark books aren't for you, most of Anne Rice's books would probably not give you any enjoyment. However, she has written a few books about Christ that are really good. Her writing style in all of her books is beautiful, but she tends to get graphic (except in the Christ books, from what I can remember). :)

      And thank you for stopping by to read it! :D

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    2. I'm definitely going to try the Christ books! Thank you for your recommendation! :D

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  2. I'm really impressed by your review. Still I'd love to read this book, I love Anne Rice and her dark themes :-).
    Thank you very much, this is the first review I read of this book.

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    1. I'm so glad you were able to stop by and read my review! I would hate to discourage anyone from reading this book because it is so beautifully written. (And I am a huge fan of Anne Rice.) You should stop back by after you read it and let me know if you like it! =)

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You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!