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misuki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Sexism, Blood, Misogyny, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, War, Antisemitism, and Sexual harassment
jelliestars's review against another edition
- 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
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
phantompansy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Antisemitism, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Racism
spookfish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
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.
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
stalfos's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol
madelinequinne's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, and Misogyny
tifftastic87's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Sexism
Moderate: Ableism, Cannibalism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Gun violence
mdugas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
emmaward55's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Okay now that that's out of my system, I have to confess, I read this book is a rather unorthodox fashion, as part of the Dracula Daily emails, whereby the letters in the book are emailed out to readers on the corresponding dates. It's a fun idea for an epistolary novel and I found that it suited the format well. However, did I manage to keep up with those emails? Heck no! In fact, I only managed to finish it now, a month after the book has ended, because I started copying the emails into a text-to-speech bot and listening to months at a time.
The above being said, I really enjoyed my first experience with Dracula! I especially loved the characters of Mina and Van Helsing, and Jonathan "wifeguy" Harker gets a mention too. Although the book some times suffered for it's period typical Christianity and sexism, it was refreshing how Stoker broke free of that at times and allowed Mina to be more than just the wife in jeopardy. Like every man in this book, I too would give my life for Mina Harker at the drop of a hat.
In term of the ending, it did feel somewhat anti-climatic. I understand that an outright fight between Dracula and the party would have ended in Dracula's survival, but I was expecting more than just a quick brawl with a group of unnamed (and unimportant) men and them stabbing the Count as he slept.
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Racial slurs, Murder, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol and Cursing
divine529's review against another edition
- 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
I read along with the Dracula Daily crew this time around and had an absolute blast reading it this way.
From the characters to the plot and overall story it's just a fantastic book on all fronts (as well as an excellent Gothic novel).
Definitely a book I'll revisit many times again.
Graphic: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, and Animal death
Minor: Child death