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emma6544's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence
teslis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is a book we read in my bookclub. We have read allot of horror this year, something I don't normally like. But this book I quite enjoyed. I listened to the audiobook with Jake Urry while reading it and I'm 100% happy with that decition.
It was a scary book, but I enjoyed it anyways. Its written a long time ago, but I still liked it and found it interesting. Really recommend reading it even if its not a 5 star.
It was a scary book, but I enjoyed it anyways. Its written a long time ago, but I still liked it and found it interesting. Really recommend reading it even if its not a 5 star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexism
Moderate: Violence and Mental illness
jelliestars's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Medical content, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Animal death, Blood, and Classism
Minor: Sexism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Grief, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Cursing
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
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
mellifer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was surprised how much I loved this book. It’s probably one of my all time favorite reads, which I definitely did not expect.
I don’t love it so much for the horror, although there is plenty of that. Dracula is a really great monster and there are plenty of spine chilling moments. But I think the reason I love it so much is the good characters, and the relationships between those characters. Without giving too much away, these characters and their bonds to each other bring light and hope to what could otherwise have been a very dark and depressing read.
I finished this via the podcast “Re: Dracula”, an unabridged, full cast audio version of the book, with some parts slightly rearranged to be in chronological order. I highly recommend this. The voice acting is perfect, the soundscaping is excellent, and overall it really breathes life into this book. I will most definitely be re-reading and re-listening.
I don’t love it so much for the horror, although there is plenty of that. Dracula is a really great monster and there are plenty of spine chilling moments. But I think the reason I love it so much is the good characters, and the relationships between those characters. Without giving too much away, these characters and their bonds to each other bring light and hope to what could otherwise have been a very dark and depressing read.
I finished this via the podcast “Re: Dracula”, an unabridged, full cast audio version of the book, with some parts slightly rearranged to be in chronological order. I highly recommend this. The voice acting is perfect, the soundscaping is excellent, and overall it really breathes life into this book. I will most definitely be re-reading and re-listening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Ableism, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent
decafdirtychai's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dracula is an incredible time capsule of thoughts and opinions of the day. Some of those opinions include homophobia, sexism, anti-semitism, and new sciences of mesmerism and blood transfusions. Anyone interested in the Gothic, or horror, ought to read this source material. Dracula is an amazing villain, his evilness is overwhelming; the innocence and rage of the humans makes sense. The earth is fertile here for literary criticism, especially regarding gender roles and religion.
I highly recommend Bloody FM's audio presentation, "Re: Dracula," which brings the story to life with voice actors, sound effects, content warnings, additional context provided, and a chronological timeline. I cried listening to things I had read before ("Oh, John, it was butcher work").
CONTENT WARNING that there is a graphic description of a terrifying and horrible assault about mid-way through the book. I don't often see this content warning given, and it came as a shock to me.
There is also SO MUCH medical malpractice that was standard at the time. The asylum is especially harrowing, but it is manageable.
Don't let the slow pace of the beginning of this book hold you back. The suspense builds and bursts in a wonderful bubble, it's so worth it, I promise.
I highly recommend Bloody FM's audio presentation, "Re: Dracula," which brings the story to life with voice actors, sound effects, content warnings, additional context provided, and a chronological timeline. I cried listening to things I had read before ("Oh, John, it was butcher work").
CONTENT WARNING that there is a graphic description of a terrifying and horrible assault about mid-way through the book. I don't often see this content warning given, and it came as a shock to me.
There is also SO MUCH medical malpractice that was standard at the time. The asylum is especially harrowing, but it is manageable.
Don't let the slow pace of the beginning of this book hold you back. The suspense builds and bursts in a wonderful bubble, it's so worth it, I promise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
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