So I finally finished this book... I needed breaks every hundred pages or so, not my favorite Anne Rice but I didn't hate it.

And just for the record- Lasher has nothing over Lestat, I mean come on the guy can fly, I think that trumps flowers any day... ( )

Great until the ending :) ( )

Wat ik geweldig vind is de opbouw van de hele stamboom van de mayfairs en ook de voelbare warmte van de familie, gecombineerd met wat ijzige types. Wat ik èn geweldig èn frustrerend tegelijk vind, is het einde. Nu heb ik nog niet het gevoel of ik echt weet wat er gebeurd is en of dat echt erg is of niet.

Ik werd ongeduldig op bepaalde stukken. Vooral op de stukken die meer beschrijvend waren. Niet dat die niet interessant waren, maar soms wilde ik dan gewoon meer informatie hebben over die personen en andere keren wilde ik gewoon weten hoe het verder ging in het nu en niet meer geschiedenislessen lezen.
( )

My favorite Anne Rice book. ( )

Rowan Mayfair is a neurosurgeon in California. Michael Curry renovates old houses in the San Francisco area. After a near-drowning, Michael acquires an odd power to "see" things and their histories when he touches them with his hands. Michael and Rowan are destined to cross paths, and inevitably they do. Having both been born in New Orleans, they find their way back there, together, when Rowan's birth mother dies and she discovers she descends from a long line of "witches". But was it really fate that brought Rowan and Michael together?

This was a re-read for me, and was a totally different experience the second time around. I remember reading The Witching Hour many years ago somewhat by accident, when the cassette tape audiobook version was in the company car that I was driving. I had never experienced a book on audio before, so I stuck the tape in and was subsequently entranced for the next few days during my commutes to/from work. I literally fell under this book's spell and have had an obsession with audiobooks since then. I also greedily consumed the next two books in the series, though didn't enjoy those quite as much. At any rate, when I heard that there was to be a series adaptation based on The Witching Hour, I decided to revisit the book. I wanted to repeat the audio experience, so borrowed a copy via the Libby app (be prepared for 50 hours if you're listening), but it wasn't the experience I remember at all. My best guess is that I previously read an abridged version, with a different narrator. This time around, the book really dragged for me, and that magical component just wasn't there. Anne Rice was great at researching history and creating a story with loads of historical context. However, I found that the excessive detail and repetition bogged down the story, and by the time the climax came at the end of the book, it was rushed and too fantastical to be credible. It was hard for me to come to terms with this re-read, as I found it so much more disappointing compared to my initial read those many years ago. And if that weren't disappointing enough, don't even think about watching Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches series on AMC. It's one of the worst adaptations I've seen of any book. The story is completely different and the casting is all wrong. Just don't do it. ( )