Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

21 reviews

cati's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

I don't think this Dracula guy is up to any good.

Um, anyways. That was an OK book. I'm sure if I read this back in the 1890s I would've been on the edge of my seat, but everyone knows what and who Dracula is. The beginning of this book was good, before

Lucy died

, but afterwards when they're trying to track down and hunt him was so boring; it was a lot of waiting around. Van Helsing carried this cast of characters because he was the only one that I actually liked, other than the Harkers. The rest felt like they didn't really have to be there other than for their money and connections. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol and Ableism

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The world-building was incredible, and all but one of the main group were fully fleshed out characters. The only things that let it down were poo Quincey, the language of Van Helsing being a slog to get through, and the repetition of a lot of the bits of lore. Four times we're told that Dracula can't cross running water, three times that killing Dracula will stop the transformation of any vampires that are somewhere between human and vampire, three times we're told that communion wafers act as a talisman against the vampires, plus a few others that I could mention. I wonder how long this book would be without these instances of repetition. I particularly enjoyed reading the letters between Mina and Lucy, and their respective journal entries about the other: Mina is definitely gay for Lucy, and I can see no other explanation for the way she talks of and to Lucy. I would like to have seen some more expression of that love, but I get that wasn't really possible when this was published, sadly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, War, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

misuki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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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

phantompansy's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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.

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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

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: 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

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

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, and Misogyny

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: 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

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

The storytelling through different perspectives is quite good. I enjoyed the detailed explanations of the places and how the setting was established as well. I would have liked to hear some of the perspective of the Vampire himself, but it was only the perspectives of the affected humans.

The ending was rather anticlimactic, but it wasn’t badly written, I was just expecting it to be a little more exciting.

Overall it was well worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Child death and Violence

Minor: Alcohol