Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

68 reviews

kibbles15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I have to admit I have been putting off reading this book because horror is not my favorite genre.  I wasn't at all sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised in that I actually enjoyed the book.  It did take a little while to get used to the epistolary format of the story, but once done, the story moved along fairly well.  With the exception of a few "academic" rants, I was engaged in the story all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Death of parent

bmoviealien's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Easy to follow for someone who's nervous about reading older literature because of the disconnect in language. Still conveys the mood and atmosphere well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I can definitely see why this is a classic and how it has shaped literature and pop culture from its time period and onward. While more approachable than other books of the era, it still sometimes lost me in its phrasings and meanings. Some parts were utterly horrific and eerie while large portions of the book were very slow and repetitive. I enjoyed this cast of characters and feel that if this book was written in 2023 I would adore them even more; their faults were mostly in the gender stereotypes of the era. I liked the various perspectives of the characters and enjoyed the audiobook narration a lot! Often the perspectives felt redundant though. The ending happened way too quick after so much build up (the last 15 minutes of listening to a 15 hour audiobook) and I wish this climax was drawn out. Overall, I’m glad I’ve read it and feel educated in both vampires and classic horror, and I look forward to seeing how this book has influenced later horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Cursing

alex_blackveil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It was a heavy read for me. I mostly read one chapter per day (≈20–30 pages/day).

It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.

It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism. 

Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.

My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…

Masterpiece for its time.

Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

heatherb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

stalfos's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Writing: 4⭐️/5 

While Stoker is a fantastic writer (the book is a classic for a reason), so much attention was given to the smallest details that the book dragged in portions where it didn’t need to. I thoroughly believe this is a situation in which the prominent style has changed so much over the years that it’s hard to appreciate the detail without feeling it’s too much and unnecessary. That being said when the writing hit, it hit strong and fast, making it an overall well-written read. 

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I did enjoy the development of the characters. While the women, though interesting, were reduced in many ways to trope-like behaviours, the characters did feel alive and vibrant during the tale. In many moments, I appreciated the attention to detail for each character, as well as the uniqueness provided by their own voice, which always came through in the writing.

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

**SPOILERS HERE**

It’s the tale of Dracula – the original vampire. And yet, during the climax of the story, I felt disappointed in how little attention was given to his death. I felt the story dragged so much in sections that the plot suffered, the events pulled too far apart to keep enough tension present – or as much tension as I wanted. That being said, the story was still entertaining and intriguing, just long-winded and slow-paced.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of classic fiction and gothic literature
• Those looking to appreciate a slow read

Content Warnings? 

• Misogyny, sexism, classism, death of a parent, death, illness, toxic relationships, blood, gore, death of a child, murder

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I felt let down by the ending, personally, even if it did wrap things up relatively nicely.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

peggy_racham's review against another edition

3.0

I expected more fighting and gore in this book. Dracula sort of vanishes from the book half way through. It has great parts, I loved Van Helsing, Mina, Lucy. Loved watching them figure out what's going on. But the ending falls flat for me

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

madelinequinne's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Grief, and Alcohol

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Obviously a classic, but very hard to get through. The writing in journal style is intriguing and adds to the mystery. Its very much a product of it's time and that made it hard to get immersed. 

The characters however, have much more depth than I expected and it has made me question the later interpretation of some characters. If you are a horror fan and haven't read this one, I recommend putting it on your list just to understand some of the beginnings of our supernatural tales. 

I do want to add that for the times Mina seems to be a particularly strong female character. The way she is described by the men is annoying "fair but having the brain of a man" but I understand that for the time that was likely a huge praise. It is her and Van Helsing that put it all together, find all the pieces and track down Dracula. Without her the men would have been lost and that is proved in a major plot point when they try to lock her away for her safety. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Alcohol, and Colonisation