Wow, that kinda sucked. I honestly like the TV show adaption better than the book, for a lot of reasons. The first of which is the book characters seem flat to me, they don't have as much character and their motivations are fuzzy at best. The show, in my opinion, does a better job at making them real, fully fledged characters with deep emotions that influence their behavior. The show is also more dramatic, and adds more detail to events.
One of the most notable changes between the show and the book is that in the book Claudia and Louis are both white, with Louis having been a plantation owner, in the show they are both black, and Louis does not own slaves. Honestly, book Louis being a blond white man made him utterly bland and uninteresting to me, even though his story remains roughly the same.
Claudia being a perpetual 5 year old is an interesting choice for Anne Rice to have made, but knowing the meaning behind it makes sense, even if it does make the story awkward and difficult. In the show she is at least 10, I think, which makes it easier to portray her as a wiser woman in her age, as an older actress will be more able to play that part than a 5 year old. That is another thing the show, again, in my opinion, does better than the book, portraying Claudia's aging mind while her body remains young, in the books she's mostly described as quiet and thoughtful, but not allowing us to know her.
I also vastly prefer how Claudia and Madeline's death was played out in the show vs the book. In the book it is probably the most important point for Louis, but we're not given access to how it affected him, only what he did about it, in the show its a display, the way they are killed is public and gut wrenching and, same as the book, Louis is not present for it, but, different from the book, we are. We are shown her tragic death, it weighs on us as much as it does on Louis, and we are privy to his rage, not just his actions. Also, in the show, the part Lestat plays in her death is much more direct, as well as Armand's.
Speaking of Armand, his characterization in the book is so flat to me, he met Louis once and decided he was in love, hes an incredibly powerful vampire, hes a manipulator, hes quiet, that's pretty much all we get. But in the show, oh in the show. I have a new appreciation for show Armand now. I honestly didn't like him much at all in the show, but after reading the book, hes a much better character, his motivations are clear, his character is clear.
Also, in the show, when it is revealed that Armand played such a role in Claudia's death we get an actual emotional response from Louis, while in the book he knows, and it seems to carry no weight for him. Another thing the show is more blatant about is the inherent queerness of Louis and Lestat's, and Louis and Armand's, and Claudia and Madeline's relationships, they not only acknowledge it, but it is a driving point in the story.
I swear I didn't intend for this to be me just ragging on the book and comparing it to the show, but I can't help myself. This is a rare instance, where a TV adaption is better than the source material, those show writers know what they're doing. I do still intend to read the whole series, and I'm hoping it gets better, though I'm kind of doubtful.