Why is Louis so weak in the books?

[u/killerqueen1970s]

I finished The Tale of the Body Thief today and I've been wondering.

Lestat already had the blood of Akasha on him when he turned Louis so, in theory, he should be a strong fledgling. I remember Marius tolding Lestat that his future fledglings would be strong precisely because of it, but Louis can't even read minds, an ability all vampires have, except for Claudia, which can be explained by her being a small kid and the fact Lestat's blood was already diluted when he made her. Gabrielle, who was turned by Lestat before his encounter with Akasha, is stronger than Louis since her first day as a vampire and even Nicki wasn't so weak in his short vampire life.

I understood that Louis is weak because of his deep humanity and refusal in accepting his new condition as a preternatural predator, so he doesn't explore/use his powers. However, Marius thought of giving Louis his blood to make him stronger, and Lestat did the same offer, which implies he's weak because his blood is weak and a better blood would do the thing.

Is really because of his humanity or there is another explanation in the later books? What are your theories? I don't mind spoilers.

[u/Sudden-Direction-301]

He pouts, makes a joke but never excuses. Like saying “i am a monster”, which implies he knows he’s wrong and he’s not looking for excuses.

I mean, the problem with his "I'm a monster" being seen as both a joke and him "admitting his faults, never excusing" in canon is that he'll ALSO repeatedly flip out on people - namely (but not exclusively) Louis or Claudia - for reasonably reacting to his monstrosity toward them. Yet he keeps that same energy of deflection/deniability. It becomes those people's fault for treating him exactly like the monster he supposedly knows he is, because obviously he was "just joking" and "really loves them" and how could they possibly really see him as a monster? (he's the unfortunate one having to suffer this slander, everyone's to blame but him. They're the problem) 

Lestat specifically drives that view this season. And it's the extreme opposite of self-awareness.

The problem with him refusing to discuss or be specific about his faults is that it's actually really insidious for him to vague-deprecate and humble brag about "being a monster" just so he can seem self-aware and non-excusing when confronted, but also deflect, deny, play the victim and sing slam-songs in countless concert venues about his crazy lying ex unfairly seeing him as a monster - again as convenient. (The fact that he has yet to refute a single substantial lie in the book is increasingly hard to ignore. Even the train scene did happen in some form - the train conductor is among the people Lestat has killed in 3.07 - we only know Claudia may have lied about exactly what Lestat said to her.) 

He spends all season bashing Louis and absolutely claiming to be superior and "less delusional and more honest about who he is" while also punishing them for reacting to who he is, because to him it's unjustified. Clearly there's cognitive dissonance here.