Bookstagram discussion

Hi, all! I'm new here and reading this series for the first time (read Interview back in March, just finished The Vampire Lestat, about to start Queen of the Damned), and I'd love some thoughts on this...

So, at what point did Nicki's affection for Lestat turn to hatred? Or did he always hate him deep down?

At first, I thought the resentment came from the fact that Lestat disappeared after becoming a vampire and Lestat's rejection of Nicki at the theater when he does resurface, which makes total sense. But then, later, after Nicki is turned and starts talking to Lestat about how he always meant for them to fail in Paris and resented Lestat's success as an actor, I started to wonder if Nicki ever really cared for Lestat at all. Was he always secretly spiteful? With him out of spite? Or was much of what he said later a result of him being a bit off his rocker by that point and not really an accurate reflection of his thoughts at the time when they were deep in "their conversation"?

Any insights would be much appreciated! Not really sure what to make of this myself.

I believe you have it right about Nicki saying hateful things to Lestat because his anger was too deep and too hurtful to control. My take is that Nicki loved Lestat so deeply that his desertion of him, however unintentional at the start, was unforgivable in Nicki's heart. It's true that we often hurt those we love the most; I believe that Nicholas was so hurt by the one he loved most that he could offer nothing but hurt in return.

Thank you! Your point about how we often hurt the ones we love most is a great one. I can totally see how Nicki would want to hurt Lestat as badly as Lestat had hurt him and also why, after everything he went through, he wasn't really capable of doing anything else.