Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I have read
Review: This book is completely absorbing. I didn't know if I would like it as well as Anne's vampire books but I actually liked it better. Her writing is so beautiful and the story was just so interesting. The characters were extremely well-developed and the past of the Mayfair family was very exciting. Rowan Mayfair was sheltered from her heritage as a witch. But circumstances force her to become involved with her family and to find out the truth about herself and her heritage. What happens after that is just incredibly absorbing. This is a book that I will read over and over. Definitely one of Anne's best, if not the best.
Rating: 
Summary: An intriguing tale
Review: This book has one little problem: It is about 400 pages too big. The book packs punch with the history of the Mayfair Witches which is described for 300-400 pages in the middle of the book. In this description, the first 200+ pages are summarized. A question beckons: Why bother reading the first 250+ pages? There is no good answer. The only interesting story in the first part of the book is of Michael Curry and his romance with Rowan Mayfair. This is spilled over a hundred pages but could have been told just as well in fifty. The history of the Mayfair Witches is extremely intriguing. So intriguing in fact, that nothing compares before or after it. The rest of the book is a bit stale and the final confrontation is so weak and completely unresolved that unless you continue on to the sequel, you will be left unsastisfied.One of the biggest problems in the whole book is that the character that supposed to be the most interesting, Rowan Mayfair, is extremely unlikable. Like Aaron, I could not warm up to her. And then, right when I became used to her too-smart-and-cool-for-her-own-good persona, she becomes a weak, weeping woman that is pathetic. Michael is a better character but he is depicted as so trusting that he appears weak. The only characters that I really admired were Aaron and Carlotta. Carlotta might be an evil character but at least she stays true to her nature. Aaron is truly the hero of this novel: principaled and unjudgemental, he is the only character in the novel that I liked and admired. As I said before, the history of the Mayfair Witches is the most interesting part of the whole book. I especially liked the characters of Deborah, Mary Beth, and Deidre. Charlotte, Julien, and Cortland were a little bit demented and scary. Katherine, Stella, and Antha were just too pathetic. The most disappointing character of all was Lasher. I expected for him to be a debonnaire and intriguing figure like Lestat in "Interview with the Vampire", but he is far from being "irresistable" as Anne Rice wants us to believe. I recommend the reading of the history but advise to skim all the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: I recommend this book only to my enemies
Review: Over the years I have read many novels and as time passes I only come to remember the very good and the very bad, the rest sliding away into the sleepy land of mediocrity. Let me say that I will always, always, remember the Witching Hour and only for the wrong reasons. I suppose I could write a thorough essay on the technical reasons why this book is flawed. However, having already sacrificed on an extremely bloody alter so much of my time on this lengthy story, I will edit myself in a way Anne Rice obviously never was and keep myself pointed. This book is boring. After a few hundred pages of character development one wonders if Anne Rice is simply trying to torture you. Then a few hundred more pages pass, the end starts coming, all the character traits simply vanish in what must be 900 pages of character resolution in the last fifty pages, the story crumbles, and you are left with nothing more than tendinitis from holding the book up so long. Oh yeah, you are also left with anger. As for some other reviews claiming that Rice's style is wonderful, my reply is that if somebody spends nine hundred pages describing a sloth crossing a concrete room in the most poetic manner possible, I still do not have to like it. Please don't read this book.
Rating:
Summary: hated it
Review: Liked the first hundred pages. Then the book became extremely repetitive. The ending was no reward for sticking it out through the entire the witch genealogy. The strong female character set up in the beginning was irrelevant in the ending. As far as I could see it could have been anyone with a womb.
Rating: 
Summary: left me confused
Review: This book had some extremely good parts, like the supernatural part of it all. The ending however, left me...just stumped. It was really descriptive (too descriptive in parts) and the story line isn't in chronological order. Its all over the place. The end made me totally pissed that I'd read OVER 1000 pages (only 400 GOOD pages) for that type of an ending. I think I could've written a better ending myself . By the time I got to the end I couldnt remember half of the cluttered history the book liked to refer back to.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating...
Review: This book was kind of hard to get into at first, but it's worth sticking it out! The story of the Mayfair witches is woven with a rich history rooted in the southern city of New Orleans. Anne Rice has created a fascinating geneology that provides the background for the plot - in fact, my favorite part of the entire book is the middle section, which is the Talamasca's (remember them from the Vampire books?) records and history of the Mayfair family and their ties to the mysterious being known as Lasher. The characters were well-developed and their relationships completely enthralling. The cliffhanger ending made me run out and buy the next two books in the trilogy. They were okay, but I didn't enjoy them half as much as this first one. Definifely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Truth About Witches
Review: The Witching Hour is a book that can fit no particular genre. It has horror, adventure, love, and reads like nonfiction! From the beginning, it holds mystery, and keeps the pace the whole way through. Although it may get slow at parts, The Witching Hour makes up for it! The Mayfair family holds secrets that no one, except for a small business called that Talamsca knows. Now, those secrets are being revealed. And they all lead up to a surprising, and very bizarre, ending. While giving her mind a break, Rowan Mayfair finds a man floating in the middle of the ocean. She picks him up and revives him. Later, she finds his name is Michael. Michael now searches for answers. After meeting Rowan, they enter a lusty relationship. He also finds these answers from Aaron Lightner. He works for a business that keeps track of paranormal happening and so forth. They have been keeping track of the Mayfairs for quite some time. Now, read what terrible and tragic secrets lie hidden in the Mayfair. And take a journey through the sinister truth in the Mayfair history. The journey starts... NOW!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastically Dark and Gorgerously Written
Review: If I can sum up this books in a few words I would, but I cannot. It would not do this book any justice to give you a few simple descriptive words on how much I loved this book. Mrs. Rice has out done herself once again, by creating an entire world for us to dwell in and stretch our imaginations even further. Her mastery of the unknown, description, and the undead is a tremendous gift. The Witching Hour kept me glued from the very first page to the very last. She has weaved an entire family history with so many "magikal-skeletons", a prime time televison mini-series would be the perfect display of the magnificence of this novel. The Witching Hour in short, is one big history book. It details the past and current adventures of the family Mayfair, that through the years have amassed great wealth, magic, and influence from an entity known as Lasher to their kin. However, in the old tradition of witch covens - there can only be one who sits at the head of the family - and she is Deidre Mayfair and she is about to die. Her daugher, Rowan Mayfair,whom was taken away at the moment of her birth, never to know her family, has come back to claim what's rightfully hers. However, unbeknownst to Rowan, there's more to this family that meets the eye. We come to find that only women can inherit the role of the head witch of the family, but all is not as it seems because there is a power at work that is claiming this family into it's insestous ways to make the most powerful family. Through a mystical and magikal journey into the dark beginings of this family's history, you come to know the most powerful witches of the clan. In a word-Julien..mesmerizing. When you read this you will know what i mean. Rowan and her family give a stellar performance, as they jump off the pages and you being to take the trip into this dark world with them. Fans of the Vampire Chronicles will have a certain kinship to these books, because our friends from the Talamasca are all over this book. This book is a pure triumph and something that needs to be read carefully, for there is a lot of history and names to know. What I suggest, which is a very fun and interactive way to get involved with the book, is make your own timeline of the Mayfair family and follow along with it during the course of the story as it unfolds and as you are introduced to more of the clan. See if you can figure out the secrets of the mayfair family before you even finish the series. Happy Reading.
Rating:
Summary: So good, you never want it to end
Review: This is one of the best books EVER. It is slow to start, and you actually have to give it about 100 pages... but then you can't put it down. It's the kind of story that you hope will keep going. At 500 pages, I wanted to stop reading because I didn't want to finish. How lucky that there are two more books in the series; you can stay with the Mayfair Witches for quite a while. Please, Ann Rice, add a fourth!
Rating:
Summary: Do you believe in witches?
Review: I ran across this book while searching for a new author to read, as I waited for Stephen King to write a new one. I am so glad I gave it a chance. It turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read. And Anne Rice turned out to be my 2nd favorite author. I would have to agree that it was a little slow at the beginning, but very soon you are unable to set it down. It will have you believing in witches too! I encourage everyone to get a copy.
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