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Post by meganthele on Jun 24, 2013 19:57:01 GMT -5
Review of Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally CarterOut of Sight, Out of Time is the fifth installment of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. The overall basis of the series is about Cammie Morgan and her friends Bex, Liz, Macy, and Zach, who all go to Gallagher Academy, a school for young spies. As the semesters go by and the girls gain more spy training, Cammie begins to realize that there are people after her and they want her to die. So, after school let out from the spring semester, Cammie decided to run away to try and find out what the Circle of Cavan wanted from her and what they did with her father, who had disappeared when she was in sixth grade. The bad thing was, when she woke up in September, she couldn't remember a thing about her summer or where she had been. After she returned to Gallagher Academy, all of the staff and Cammie's friends are on high alert to protect her, help her remember anything she can from her summer, and keep the Circle from finding her again. In order to find the Circle and to help Cammie remember what she had done over her summer vacation, she must travel with her friends to Rome, Ireland, and the Alps to find clues. They have to be quick since the Circle is hot on their trail and constantly trying to capture Cammie again. It's a race against time for Cammie, Bex, Liz, Macy, and Zach to find what her dad had been so close to finding, as well as what happened that made her the prime target for the Circle of Cavan. I have always been intrigued by mysteries and spies, so a few years ago when I stumbled upon the first books of the Gallagher Girls series, I immediately fell in love with them. The concept of a spy school, the training, and adventures that come with it were new to me. Taking interest in this series has been one of the best decisions of my literary life. I have enjoyed the four preceding books to this and I wanted to continue on in the series, so this novel was next. It was definitely a great addition to the series and added so much more suspense to make you want to know what happens in the next, and final, book. The storyline was great, always adding in more and more details to confuse who was good and bad, and always changing where the clues led them. Cammie's friends added some much needed humor in tense situations. The Circle added suspense as to what would be Cammie's fate. Overall, if you like spies, mysteries, and a great suspense-filled storyline, Out of Sight, Out of Time would be a great book for you. Mostly girls would be interested, but it isn't completely girly, so boys could enjoy this too.
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Post by Emily Michalak on Jun 24, 2013 20:06:29 GMT -5
I read Awakening by Wendy Corsi Staub. Awakening is the first book in the Lily Dale Series. It is about a seventeen year old girl, Calla, who recently lost her mother due to a tragic fall down stairs, and because her father accepted a job in California, Calla must find a place to stay for a couple weeks before school starts. Since the other places to stay are very unreasonable, she decides to stay with her grandmother, Odelia, in Lily Dale, which is where her mother grew up. Calla hopes to become closer with her mother by learning about her mother's youth, but little does Calla know that Lily Dale is a town full of mediums and psychics or that she is one too! Throughout Awakening, Calla must learn to fit in, learn how her gift works, and learn which information she should give out about Kaitlyn Riggs's murder, the ghost Calla sees.
I chose this book because my aunt and mother had read the book and they really enjoyed it, and my mother grew up in Buffalo, NY, which is about an hour away from Lily Dale. The characters and setting are not something usual in every book, so that is also why I read it. I really enjoyed reading this book because it includes a topic I am not very familiar with: spiritualism. Calla, the main character, made the book extremely relatable. Everyone can imagine what a tough time it would be to get over losing their mother, and it makes her actions and thoughts very understandable.
If you like suspenseful books, Awakening is a great book to read. Spiritualism is not accepted by the Catholic Church, but because you read this, does not mean you support it or believe in it. This book has a great plot, is very interesting and worth reading.
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Post by ivy868 on Jun 24, 2013 21:37:22 GMT -5
This summer I chose to read the book called the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Katniss the main character is chosen to participate in the battle called the “Hunger Games”. Katniss is 16 years old she isn’t rich and lives in Panem which used to be United States. Katniss is competing for food and also power but along the way she has many obstacles which includes a special someone. I have heard many great things for this book and never had time to really enjoy it. This book is for anyone who wants a good book to sit down and enjoy!
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Post by alyssavazquez on Jun 24, 2013 22:25:28 GMT -5
I read the book, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. This book is about two friends. One named Lennie that is mentally ill and another friend named George. George is looking out for Lennie, after Lennie’s aunt dies. They travel around to look for work. They finally find a place to work at a Farm. The two friends share the same dream. Their goal is to get their own land and live peacefully and be their own boss. On the farm they meet their boss’ son Curly that does not like Lennie. Curly is a jealous man that is constantly looking for his wife. Curly's wife likes to leave her house and flirt with the workers. Slim is somewhat the head of their group and tells them to work. Slim is also good friends with George. Candy is another worker that hears about their dream and wants to join them.
I chose this book because the summary on the back of the book looked interesting. Also, my mom told me it was an interesting book that she read when she was in high school too.
This book showed me true friendship. It touched on disability, sexism, and racial discrimination. I think that this book appeals to anyone who likes to read about friendships, journeys, and the struggles that come with it. This book definitely has a twist ending that you will not forget. The beginning was a little slow for me but I would recommend it to anyone .
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Post by Noah Boeckman on Jun 24, 2013 22:33:23 GMT -5
The book I read was "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. This book is about two men who are somewhat of a strange pair: George, a scrawny, smart man, and Lennie, a huge, strong dummy with a great heart. They are looking for work after being run out of the town of Weed for one of Lennie's mishaps. They find work in a town called Soledad. George and Lennie always fantasize about getting enough money to buy their own land, live own their own, tend to some rabbits, and "live of the fatta the land." This fantasy drives Lennie to be good and try to behave as best as he can. I cannot go any further because that would ruin this fantastic story. I chose this book because it was one of the recommended Pre-AP books to read. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought it was going to be a boring old book that teachers always make you read, but, to my delight, it turned out to be great. This book kept me interested the entire time and its not too long. It pulls at your heart strings a little bit and you feel for Lennie and his problems. I would recommend this book to anyone because its a great book. There is some racial slurs so if that offends you, then I wouldn't read it. Also if you are a mouse lover I would not recommend this book. There are very few mice in this book and the few that are in the book are killed. "Of Mice and Men" is a fantastic book and I would give it a read if I were you!
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Post by Kayla Gallagher on Jun 24, 2013 23:20:08 GMT -5
My first book that I chose to read is called Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. This book is about a group of school boys who have crash landed on a deserted island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch shell on the beach while exploring the island. They use it to summon the other boys on the island. Once assembled, the boys elected a leader of the group of boys and devised a way to be rescued. They choose Ralph as their leader, and Ralph decides that another boy, Jack, should be in charge of all of the boys who will hunt food for the entire group. Ralph also becomes in charge of finding a way to be rescued. He decides on making a signal fire on the top of the mountain. At first, the boys enjoy their life without grown-ups and spend much of their time splashing in the water and playing games. Ralph, however, complains that they should keep the signal fire going and building huts for shelter instead of playing games. The hunters become increasingly preoccupied with the act of hunting, and they let the signal fire go out, when a ship is passing by. This starts a fight with Ralph and Jack about the importance of the fire. The boys turn on each other and the fighting starts. The hope of getting rescued seems farther and farther away as the boys are too busy fighting to find ways to get rescued. I chose this book because it seemed really interesting and I love books about survival. I enjoyed this book to an extent, because although it kept me on the edge the entire time I was reading it, I found that many parts where I wanted to know more weren't explained enough. It still had a great message in it about survival and it showed how kids really would behave in a situation like this one. I think that anyone who likes a lot of adventure and enjoys reading books that have a lot of surprises in it should read this book. It can be a little confusing but if you like to read about survival and adventure you should really read this book.
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Post by Jordan Cowan on Jun 24, 2013 23:45:39 GMT -5
The first book I read for summer reading is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book is about a 15 year old, Charlie, who faces the ups and downs of being a teenager. He captures these moments in letters. He writes these letters to his "friend". We don't ever find out who his "friend" is, Charlie doesn't even know who the person is that he is writing to. Charlie goes through a lot his freshman year. It all begins with dealing with the loss of his best friend Michael. Michael committed suicide. During the course of the year, Charlie has his first date and first kiss, makes friends and loses them, then gains them back, and also has his first experience of drugs and alcohol. Charlie has a pretty stable home life, but still faces struggles with his family. Towards the end of the school year, a disturbing family secret that Charlie has pushed away and tried to ignore, surfaces. Charlie can't deal with the emotional pain and has a mental breakdown, and ends up in the hospital. Charlie's final letter closes in a positive way, talking about hope and being released from the hospital, finding new friends, and trying his best not to be a wallflower. He hopes to participate in live and enjoy in, and not watch it fly by right in front of his own eyes. I chose this book because of two reasons. The first reason being that I saw the movie and I loved it. I've seen the movie probably 5 times now and still enjoy it like I did the first time I saw it. Something about the way it portrayed Charlie's life and everything he dealt with, really caught my attention. It was all just real and it was the truth. It didn't try to sugar coat anything about life. The second reason was that my brother and friend had both read the book and they said that it was 10 times better than the movie, so I definitely wanted to read the book. I agree that the book is a lot better than the movie. I say this because the book talks about everything in a lot more depth and detail than the movie does. I really liked the book because it is so relatable for teenagers, girl or boy. I recommend this book for anyone. I think that anyone would love this whether you're a boy or a girl.
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Post by makenziiiieee on Jun 25, 2013 0:18:42 GMT -5
I read Tangerine by Edward Bloor. I really like this book because it is basically a mystery through the whole book. But then at the end the brother figures out why he is blind and gets mad at his brother. I have no clue who would like this.
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Post by Jerry Luttrell on Jun 25, 2013 8:31:15 GMT -5
The book I chose to read was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is about a game show that is called the Hunger games and the contestants are kids and are chosen randomly ever year out of the twelve districts to be on the show. The kids are put in a setting and giving some weapons and must fight to the death until there is just one person left. The kids that where chosen to be tributes for district twelve were Primrose Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Primrose’s sister Katniss Everdeen thought Primrose was to weak and knew she would be killed so she volunteered as tribute. She was more than ready to be in the games because she had very good archery skills. Haymitch Abernathy who won the 50th Hunger Games also trained her. Peeta wanted to for a alliance when they are being trained but Katniss declines his offer. Katniss is not liked by the judges but is loved by the viewers. Her and Peeta act like they like each other when they are around the viewers to gain help from people by the silver parachute. She did not want to kill anyone at the beginning but when she found she had to too survive she started. She killed 3-4 people but only started when she had to because her and Rue were being threatened by another tribute. Later on in the book the people who run the Hunger Games make an announcement that there can be two winners and Katniss go on the hunt to look for Peeta. She finds him hidden in rocks because he is hurt. They make an alliance to help each other because they actually in love now. They kill everyone but Cato who is another tribute who has trained for this his whole life and is very good with the weapons. Peeta and Katniss go back to the cornucopia because of these dogs like things that are chasing them the find Cato there on top of the cornucopia were they are going. Peeta, Katniss, and Cato all fight on top of the cornucopia as the dog things are try to kill them. They finally get Cato toward the edge and kick him off and the dogs kill him. The announcement comes on again and says that there can only be one winner. Peeta tells Katniss she can kill him so that she will win but she does not want to because she loves him. They go through the woods and gather poisonous berries and are going to eat them at the same time so they could make it so the people in charge would have no winner. As they are fixing to eat them the announcement goes off and say there can be two winners. They go back to the city where the game show host is and Haymitch tells them that the producers of the games are very mad at them because of they were going to kill themselves but the won. I chose this book because my sister’s and Brian lively read it but I had not yet and they all said it was good. Also people were all talking and The Hunger Games all the time. I did not know what the Hunger Games was or was about besides it was a book until this summer. They all said it was good and I am glad I listened to them and read it. I think this book was very good and entertaining for people who do not like to read books and don’t mind kind of gory stuff. I loved this book and I am sure that most of the other people that people that read it will too. I think that the younger people will like this book and maybe some older people. My mom stared to read this but she stopped because she hated the gory stuff.
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Post by Nick Tyler on Jun 25, 2013 10:24:29 GMT -5
I read the book The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. In this book members from Camp Half-Blood, the greek camp and Camp Jupiter meet in Camp Jupiter to send 7 demigods on a quest to stop the evil mother of the giants, Gaea. While at Camp Jupiter, Gaea sends spirits called eidolons to possess one of the seven demigods, Leo, to fire at the camp, from the ship the Argo II that the group is going to take, so the Romans will turn against the Greeks. The group flees but their ship is damaged so they have to go somewhere where there are the materials to repair the ship. They go to Salt Lake City, Utah and Hazel and Leo go on a short adventure to get the Celestial Bronze they need. When they get back to the ship they decide to go to Topeka, Kansas. In Topeka Piper, Jason, and Percy go to talk to the wine god Bacchus. After they finish talking to him the eidolons take hold of Percy and Jason and they start fighting each other. If it wasn't for Percy's horse, Blackjack, they would have killed each other. When they get back on the ship Piper discovers the eidolons and forces them out of Leo, Percy, and Jason. They decide they have to go to Rome but first they have to go to Atlanta to find the help of the god Phorcys. In Atlanta Percy, Frank and Coach Hedge go to enlist the help of Phorcys. At the aquarium in Atlanta Phorcys and his sister Keto trap Percy and Frank. Coach Hedge helps them escape. Annabeth says they need to go to Charleston to find a map to help them find the Mark of Athena. In Charleston Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper talk with Aphrodite/Venus the god of beauty. After their talk the Romans find them and attack the Greeks. Annabeth finds the map and is stopped by the Roman leader Reyna. She lets Annabeth escape but says the Romans are going to attack Camp Half-Blood. The group then heads to Rome and Hazel shows Leo something that connects them together. The ship gets attacked by a giant see monster from Keto. The group barely defeats the monster but Frank, Hazel, and Leo get taken to an underwater camp headed by Chiron's, a centaur, half brothers. They are questioned and then let go. The group makes it to Rome without any other interruptions. Once in Rome Piper and Jason talk to Hercules and Achelous to get permission to pass the Mediterranean. After some rough negotiations they get through. In Rome the ship gets attacked a lot. The Argo II gets attacked and pillaged by another ship headed by Chrysaor, the son of Medusa. After the group escapes Chrysaor, two groups goes ashore in Rome, Leo, Frank, and Hazel is one and Percy and Annabeth is another. Hazel's group is going to search for her brother Nico and Annabeth's to find the Mark of Athena. Nico is guarded by giants and the Mark is as well and Annabeth has to go on her own. I know there is a bit more left in the book that I will be missing but if I keep going I will spoil things so thats where I will leave the summary. The rest of there journey is very interesting. I chose this book because I had read the first two of this series and all of Rick Riordan's other Greek and Egyptian gods books and they are really good. This book did not disappoint and lived up to the other books Rick Riordan has written. It pulls you in and leaves you thinking about it when you are not reading it. It is very action packed. However at points I found it a little boring. There were lulls in the book at certain points where I was not as interested in it. But towards the end it was hard to put down. If you like the Greek and Roman mythology you would enjoy this book and I think most people in general would enjoy it. It is a great book.
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Post by jordan99 on Jun 25, 2013 11:05:48 GMT -5
The book i chose to read was the Demonata series(Lord Loss book 1) by Darren Shan. The book was very gruesome, yet filled with humor and magic. It follows this one guy around and it is told from the first person perspective and was very well told. I loved this book and could not put it down. this series sounds like a good one and i would recommened it to every one who is able to withstand very gruesome descriptions. I grabbed this book by accident i went to the library and all of my selections were gone so i just grabbed the demonata series and just read the back and i was instantly drawn right into this book. I would definitely recommend this to every one.
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Post by jennifersherry on Jun 25, 2013 13:58:05 GMT -5
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This book is fiction but based on real events that took place. In this story a widowed father, Atticus Finch, and his 2 kids ,Scout finch (girl) and Jem Finch (boy) are pretty well off compared to everyone else that is also suffering from the Great Depression in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout and Jem like to tell stories with their friend Dill, then one day they decide to go to a house that everyone forbade them to go into, and were shot at and Jem lost his pants. The next day the kids find them in the whole where they have found many other presents in a tree. It had to be the mysterious Boo character. The kids would not let it go. While the kids are investigating there findings Atticus is too, but in another way. Atticus is a lawyer and he is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, he was claimed to have raped a white woman. He lost in an unfair trial and is going back to the holding cell where Atticus promises him they will try again. On Toms way back he escapes because he refuses to go to jail but gets shot and passes away. During the whole trial Bob Ewell feels humiliated and sets off to hurt Atticus. Not physically but through other people. On one occasion he trys to hurt Atticus' kids on their way home from a Halloween party. Boo saves them but stabs Bob with a knife. He brings the injured Jem home and stays with them for a while. Scout is thankful and starts to understand what life was for Boo.
I chose this book off of your ap book choices. I mainly wanted to get my higher level book done first.
I liked this book a lot, it really shows you how life was back then. It was kinda hard to read in some places but it was worth the read.
I recommend this book the the people that like historical fiction. It is a sad story but also a really good one.
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Post by marieshadid on Jun 25, 2013 14:41:34 GMT -5
I read the book Safe Haven written by Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks writes a lot of romantic love stories but this story is by far my favorite of all. I have read many Nicholas Sparks books but Safe Haven is the one that touched me the most. It is a book that is full of surprises which makes you not want to put the book down once you start it.
Safe Haven is about a woman named Katie that has a very troubled life. She decides to leave her home and move to Southport. She doesn't have much at all but manages to get a home that is surrounded by trees and hidden from the rest of the town. She first meets a woman that lives right down the street from her named Jo. They become quite good friends and walk back together from the town to their homes. She then meets a man by the name of Alex. He is a man that has two kids, a son and a daughter. Katie and Alex's friendship starts to grow as time goes on and she starts to warm up to the town. Katie was a very private person. She didn't share much about herself and wasn't one to just go out and try new things. After being in Southport for a while and meeting Alex, she begins to open up and start her life back up again. Later in the book she begins to tell Alex about her life and she reveals her real name to him. She begins to fall in love with him and decides to tell him about her marriage. She tells him about how her husband Kevin would beat her and how she was so afraid that she had to get out of there and came here to Southport. One night, she is staying at Alex's house with his kids while Alex is away. She falls asleep and has this strange dream. In her dream she is on a Ferris Wheel with Jo and Jo says, "He's here". Katie wakes up for a second and then falls back asleep shortly after. She hears this whisper saying, "Can you smell it?" What Katie isn't aware of is that Kevin has found her and is outside of the house pouring gasoline on the home and lights it with a lighter. Katie wakes up wondering if the whisper was a dream or reality and suddenly realizes the house is filled with smoke. She runs to go find the kids and gets them out of the house including herself. She then starts her fight with Kevin and realizes he has a gun so he has the kids go run and hide. Over time, Alex arrives and breaks Kevin's hand which causes him to run off. Katie and Alex rush to Katie's house to get the kids and Kevin is already there. Next thing you know Kevin is dead on Katie's front porch.
Time has gone by and one day Alex decides to give Katie a letter. As Katie begins to read this letter, many things become clear to her and some of the biggest surprises are revealed. Katie has a shocking discovery and Alex makes it clear that he is ready to start a new life with her.
I chose this book because I have read many Nicholas Spark books and I have loved them all. I had heard about this book from my mom and she said it was a great book that you just couldn't put down. I am not a fan of reading but I couldn't put this book down. I enjoyed this book a lot. It was sweet and it was pretty realistic for the most part. I love to read books that you can relate to in some way and for people who are lost and think they won't be able to make their life better, this book is an inspiring story. I think that if you are a young girl and you want a sweet love story but also has a deeper meaning to it than you should definitely read this book.
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Post by Claire Gallagher on Jun 25, 2013 16:04:50 GMT -5
The first book I read was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This book was about a group of boys who crash landed on an uninhabited island. They don’t know where they are, and they have no idea how to get home. Two boys, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch shell. They use this shell to summon all the survivors together. Once there, they soon elect Ralph as their primary leader. Another boy, Jack, decides he will be in charge of hunting. Ralph, Jack, and another boy named Simon decide to go to the top of the mountain on the island to see what is around them. There, they build a fire in order to create a smoke signal. All goes well for the first few days on the island; they all spend their time swimming or playing in the sand. But soon Ralph sees that nothing is getting done, nobody seems to be listening to him. Until the hunters let smoke signal goes out and a ship passes by. This sends Ralph over the edge. Jack starts fighting with Ralph and chaos spreads among the island. Jack goes off on his own and the majority of the boys follow him. Ralph and his small group of followers have to fight against Jack’s group in order to survive all while trying to find a way off the island. I chose this book because it tells a story of how someone would act in this type of situation and I love books about survival. It’s a different take on your average “lost in the woods” type of stories. I loved this book and it never seemed to get boring. Although some things weren't explained as much as I wanted them to be, it all made sense in the end. I think anyone who enjoys books about survival would love this book. You should read this book especially if you want to read something different and a little bit edger than normal.
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Post by christiancurling on Jun 25, 2013 17:18:46 GMT -5
I read "Interview with a Vampire" by Anne Rice. I chose this book as I was looking for a fictional novel, as opposed to my normal non-fiction, and this caught my attention with it's religious and political themes and recognition of the social situation in the South throughout history.
The novel documents the history of a French immigrant to Louisiana from the 1700s to modern days by means of an interview with a young man. The protagonist begins at the very first moments of his life, immigrating to the States and becoming a plantation owner outside of New Orleans. Throughout his mortal life, he was haunted by his younger brother's death, for which he held himself responsible. His younger brother was filled with faith- all he was interested in was prayer and his leather bound "Lives of the Saints" book. In his undying affection for the saintly boy, Louis built him an altar and small chapel on the property, where he would sleep and pray all day. Confiding in Louis, he reveals the visions from the Virgin that he claimed to have- he was to return to France and become a great religious leader, defeating the secular-democracy brought about by the French Revolution. Of course, Louis found this preposterous and dissuades the younger brother. In the next few moments, he would fall down the stairs, break his neck, and die. It was unknown whether or not it was intentional. This would haunt Louis for the rest of his immortal life.
In his depression, Louis would come across a vampire named Lestat, who in a moment of compassion, turns him to a vampire to rid him of such mortal feelings- in return for a home for his dying father. The two would begin a life together, killing in secret and caring for Lestat's father on the old plantation. However the cold and prideful Lestat tried, he could not rid Louis of his conscience- except in moments of dire necessity, Louis would kill only animals. Louis grows in his misery, recognizing that he is the work of the devil, and fearing for his fate after his immortality comes to a close.
Louis and Lestat would then "adopt" a young girl, who was turned into a vampire. They became a twisted, strange family in their coaching and fatherhood of the small girl. The small girl would then become tired of Lestat, and wishing her liberation from his coldness and authority, devised a plan to rid herself of Lestat's oppression forever. She coldly killed Lestat, the one who gave her life, and flees with Louis to central Europe.
Before leaving for Europe, they are attacked by a furious Lestat, who appeared to have recovered from the apparent murder. Setting fire to their home, the leave Lestat to burn. In their search for other vampires in Europe, the two find the others to be little more than lingering corpses. They eventually find likeminded creatures in Paris, where Louis is drawn to a vampire named Armand, and they become companions. Armand runs a horrific "Theatre des Vampires" where they draw unknowing mortals to act in mock-plays, where they would be killed and fed upon. The girl, Claudia, despised what she deemed petty theatrics.
Lestat appeared to have survived the other attempt on his life and seeks punishment for Louis and Claudia. Louis was condemned to starve and Claudia to be burned by sunlight- Louis survives, due to the rescue by Armand, but Claudia did not. Louis would then grow tired of the Old World and move back to New Orleans, where he is assumed to stay for the rest of his life. The vampire concludes his interview with the young man, and the book ends.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite my hesitance toward fiction and especially "vampire" tales, this was just fantastic. Anne Rice is incredibly talented, there is not one boring moment in the novel. I intend on reading others of hers.
Those who are interested in the paranormal would obviously enjoy it, but people like me, with an avid interest in religion, politics, and society, would enjoy it as well. The descriptions, especially of Catholicism, are great. I recommend it to anyone.
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