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peppypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
This is a classic for a reason. It's a wonderful story that's well developed and full of suspense. Strongly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Stalking, Forced institutionalization, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death, Sexism, and Classism
leonormsousa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I can recognise it as an important part of history in literature but it was not the most enjoyable read.
Very slow and long, a bit repetitive at times even. The characters were a bit dumb, they would come to the obvious conclusions too late and act like it was the smartest thing ever and not right in front of them the whole time. Although I can accept that it is representative of its time, my feminist side could not sit super well with the book. Similarly, there were sections of the book that felt prejudiced and bothered me a bit, although one could say it was once again representative of the mindset of high class people of the time.
As usual with classics though, I am nonetheless happy to have read it and looking forward to reading articles about the significance of this book and to better understanding its motives.
Very slow and long, a bit repetitive at times even. The characters were a bit dumb, they would come to the obvious conclusions too late and act like it was the smartest thing ever and not right in front of them the whole time. Although I can accept that it is representative of its time, my feminist side could not sit super well with the book. Similarly, there were sections of the book that felt prejudiced and bothered me a bit, although one could say it was once again representative of the mindset of high class people of the time.
As usual with classics though, I am nonetheless happy to have read it and looking forward to reading articles about the significance of this book and to better understanding its motives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Gun violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
yyooh17's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I really love this book. It’s genuinely a classic. I enjoyed picking out all the parts that are staples of vampire fiction today.
The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
1000/10 even if you don’t finish the book at least read this part, it’s worth it, promise.
As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)
tw: blood
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.
The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.
I was NOT expecting a happy ending too. I really thought the consequences would be much more dire for the party. I understand why it needed to have one though
The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
1000/10 even if you don’t finish the book at least read this part, it’s worth it, promise.
As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.
The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Sexism
rynaissanceenby's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.0
This book definitely reads as a product of the time it was written, but if you can look past those things, it's a good story. It's really interesting to reflect on what is the same and different between it and the current cultural perception of what a stereotypical vampire is like. I was also really happy that Mina was such a strong character throughout the whole story instead of being completely relegated to a damsel in distress.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Racial slurs
nathanjhunt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
My 42nd book finished in 2023.
I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.
Uhh.. where to begin?
The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.
The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.
So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.
"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.
Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.
A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.
Lastly, the person who died at the end is the character I cared the least about - he was only introduced half way through and had literally no personality. Who cares?!
So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.
It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.
I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.
Uhh.. where to begin?
The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.
The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.
So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.
"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.
Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.
A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.
So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.
It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Ableism, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Antisemitism
loveisabird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
this is no doubt a very good book and a classic for a reason but it also gave me such a deep and bone-chilling panic attack over the inevitability of death and nothingness that i was unable to finish the last chapter and a half for over five months and have been fixated on my fear of death everyday ever since. so thank you bram stoker for that i guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Misogyny
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
A great reread - this audiobook version had great voice actions that have a lot of life to the novel. It definitely surprised me how much I remember from reading this many years ago. It definitely deserves its classical literature status with how vibrant and unique each character is, how imaginative the world of Transylvania and the castle's unease
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Xenophobia
1890s era bias presentblewballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
I read this via Dracula Daily. I highly recommend it! Dracula is an epistolary novel where everything has a date, and Dracula Daily is an email subscription that sends you the entries on the date they happen. So, the story is spread out across the months that it takes place and you get to experience it in chronological order. What I didn't expect was that Dracula is actually quite funny, I wonder if it at the time it was like the horror comedy movies we have today. I think part of the humor came from my modern sensibilities clashing with the language of the past, but I also think there were many aspects purposefully meant to be humorous when they were written. As with many older works, there are some dated aspects, like the use of slurs and other stereotypes/sexist views. I also found the "sailor speak" portions where the writing is written phonetically to convey a lower class accent a bit difficult to read and translate. Other than that though, I had a blast following along with this story, and I'm a little sad it's over for the year.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Racism, Violence, and Blood
atuin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.0
I can see why Dracula is so iconic with this beginning. Stoker does a great job of setting tone with his moody descriptions and the characters inner fears. Dracula himself is a great villain, and I was pleasantly surprised how engaging I found the heroes, especially van Helsing and Mina, though I’ll admit I thought Quincy, the cowboy, was superfluous. There is some period typical attitudes that drag it down for me though, namely the pro colonial, sexist and anti Romani bigotry that, although common at the time, still diminishes this book. Even so, it was still a fun read for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Colonisation, and Religious bigotry
spookfish's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
While reading along with the dates had some downsides (pacing, forgetting some of the story from earlier), I really think it helped to build up the atmosphere and anticipation for me. From May~November I've had little passages to read, and each day that I had in my calendar was an absolute joy.
Despite its sexism by today's standards, our main two, Mina and Jonathan, are decidedly queer characters. Mina in particular fascinates me.
Time to watch many video essays haha.
Despite its sexism by today's standards, our main two, Mina and Jonathan, are decidedly queer characters. Mina in particular fascinates me.
Time to watch many video essays haha.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, Gore, Child death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs