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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
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:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I think this was all just a big misunderstanding. Dracula could’ve been chill
Engrossing from the start, though the initial suspense build in Mr. Harker's first chapters is never equaled. Lively characters and eerie events kept me engaged throughout, though I had little visual sense of the setting.
4.75 or 5 ⭐️. I need to think more about this before I post a review.
EDIT:
After some thought, I decided to give this 4.75 ⭐️, and not 5. While it definitely has made its way onto my all-time favorites list, I understand that this is by no means a perfect book. A book has to EARN the 5 ⭐️ with me.
I’ll preface my review with this: I don’t like vampires at all. I hate the sight of blood, which is why I avoid any media that deals with blood and/or vampires. But I decided to add this to my TBR because I was in the mood for some gothic literature that I hadn’t read before. And then one of my friends gifted me a beautiful copy for my birthday, so I figured why not? So I dove in without any context.
I was surprised to see that the story is told through a series of journal entries and letters from various characters. The story begins with Jonathan Harker’s point of view, a solicitor sent out to Transylvania to help Count Dracula. From the onset, we know something is amiss regarding the Count. After learning the purpose of Harker’s business, the innkeepers basically crossed themselves in fear, which made ME very uneasy. What did they know about Count Dracula? Personally, if I was there, I would’ve left the town completely and a story would’ve never been written. But Jonathan didn’t leave; in fact, he insisted on going to Dracula’s castle anyway. There were many red flags when he got there, but I don’t want to spoil anything. The plot overall was pretty good but there were some “reveals” that didn’t surprise me. I’m not sure if Stoker meant for them to be plot twists, or if they were supposed to demonstrate dramatic irony where the reader knows what’s going on, but the characters don’t. The end (I felt) was a bit rushed and not very satisfying. I would’ve preferred a much darker ending, but I get what Stoker was trying to achieve.
As for the characters—I have never been more STRESSED OUT. I say this with love, but they were all DUMB! Like I said on Instagram, all of the humans basically shared one brain cell and that brain cell was undergoing apoptosis!! They were basically the Avengers, except they didn’t have any superpowers (they thought they had some) or common sense. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t think the ending was very realistic. As far as the character Dracula, I think Stoker did a fantastic job of demonstrating his creepiness and eerie strength. One criticism that I have is that I would’ve loved to see Dracula wreak even more havoc on more people. Increase the stakes (no pun intended). This was one of the rare cases where I wanted the villain to just smite everyone and leave nothing behind. One of the criticisms for this book is that it is difficult to distinguish the characters’ separate voices. Essentially, all the characters sounded the same. And I agree, to an extent. The men generally sounded the same—too logical and removed at times—except for Jonathan towards the end, where he acted way too emotional. Both women (Lucy and Mina) sounded similar to one another as well.
And that brings me to another point: how the women are depicted. Lucy is supposed to be a young, sexy girl with three men sipping over her. That’s basically all she is. In her journal entries, we don’t get much from her—no thoughts, just vibes. It was difficult to emotionally connect with her. So when *it* happened, I was like, “So anyways…” Mina, Lucy’s friend and Harker’s wife, is Lucy’s complete opposite. She’s smart, resourceful, and perceptive. And yet, the male characters basically treat her like she’s some poor damsel in distress to be saved. Ironically, it’s them putting her in this category that almost puts her in harm’s way. I won’t spoil the ending, but essentially, she is punished despite being the hero.
As someone who is comfortable reading classics, I found the writing to be clunky and inaccessible at times. Objectively speaking, if I had jumped blindly into this without having read classics before, I would’ve DNF’d. I would have judged the plot by the writing, and claimed the book to be “boring” and “dry.” And in reality, the book is neither of those things if you read classics before this one. All in all, I highly recommend this. It’s moody, atmospheric, haunting, dark, and suspenseful. The opening chapters are creepy & scary, but the following chapters are unsettling more than anything. I just want to clear that up just in case someone goes into this book thinking there will be a bunch of jump scares.
It’s not perfect, but I loved every minute of it. I had so much fun. There are so many layers to this book—religion, the role of women, morality, what it means to be human, what separates man from beast. The book reminded me why I loved AP English and AP Literature in high school: analysis. I was one of those annoying kids who liked to psychoanalyze the assigned books in my English classes—themes, symbolism, etc. And this book reminded me that you can take a girl out of AP Lit, but you can’t take AP Lit out of a girl. So guess what I will be doing after this review? Analyzing the crap out of this book.
Something ~random~ I noticed was religion. I found it interesting how Renfield and Van Helsing referred to Dracula. Renfield always said “He” with Dracula. When Helsing first brought up Dracula with Seward, he said “he”—lower case ‘h.’ When Dracula’s power is demonstrated more and more, Van Helsing starts calling him “He”—capital ‘h.’ It’s almost as though he put Dracula and God in the same place, as though they were both equal. I don’t know, I just thought that was interesting! I’ll definitely have to look more into this.
I love making playlists, so if you're on Spotify and would love to hear some music inspired by the book, here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1DpZTFDL6Yrjr0LfxsXUL2?si=f84a35f1542b4ad3
EDIT:
After some thought, I decided to give this 4.75 ⭐️, and not 5. While it definitely has made its way onto my all-time favorites list, I understand that this is by no means a perfect book. A book has to EARN the 5 ⭐️ with me.
I’ll preface my review with this: I don’t like vampires at all. I hate the sight of blood, which is why I avoid any media that deals with blood and/or vampires. But I decided to add this to my TBR because I was in the mood for some gothic literature that I hadn’t read before. And then one of my friends gifted me a beautiful copy for my birthday, so I figured why not? So I dove in without any context.
I was surprised to see that the story is told through a series of journal entries and letters from various characters. The story begins with Jonathan Harker’s point of view, a solicitor sent out to Transylvania to help Count Dracula. From the onset, we know something is amiss regarding the Count. After learning the purpose of Harker’s business, the innkeepers basically crossed themselves in fear, which made ME very uneasy. What did they know about Count Dracula? Personally, if I was there, I would’ve left the town completely and a story would’ve never been written. But Jonathan didn’t leave; in fact, he insisted on going to Dracula’s castle anyway. There were many red flags when he got there, but I don’t want to spoil anything. The plot overall was pretty good but there were some “reveals” that didn’t surprise me. I’m not sure if Stoker meant for them to be plot twists, or if they were supposed to demonstrate dramatic irony where the reader knows what’s going on, but the characters don’t. The end (I felt) was a bit rushed and not very satisfying. I would’ve preferred a much darker ending, but I get what Stoker was trying to achieve.
As for the characters—I have never been more STRESSED OUT. I say this with love, but they were all DUMB! Like I said on Instagram, all of the humans basically shared one brain cell and that brain cell was undergoing apoptosis!! They were basically the Avengers, except they didn’t have any superpowers (they thought they had some) or common sense. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t think the ending was very realistic. As far as the character Dracula, I think Stoker did a fantastic job of demonstrating his creepiness and eerie strength. One criticism that I have is that I would’ve loved to see Dracula wreak even more havoc on more people. Increase the stakes (no pun intended). This was one of the rare cases where I wanted the villain to just smite everyone and leave nothing behind. One of the criticisms for this book is that it is difficult to distinguish the characters’ separate voices. Essentially, all the characters sounded the same. And I agree, to an extent. The men generally sounded the same—too logical and removed at times—except for Jonathan towards the end, where he acted way too emotional. Both women (Lucy and Mina) sounded similar to one another as well.
And that brings me to another point: how the women are depicted. Lucy is supposed to be a young, sexy girl with three men sipping over her. That’s basically all she is. In her journal entries, we don’t get much from her—no thoughts, just vibes. It was difficult to emotionally connect with her. So when *it* happened, I was like, “So anyways…” Mina, Lucy’s friend and Harker’s wife, is Lucy’s complete opposite. She’s smart, resourceful, and perceptive. And yet, the male characters basically treat her like she’s some poor damsel in distress to be saved. Ironically, it’s them putting her in this category that almost puts her in harm’s way. I won’t spoil the ending, but essentially, she is punished despite being the hero.
As someone who is comfortable reading classics, I found the writing to be clunky and inaccessible at times. Objectively speaking, if I had jumped blindly into this without having read classics before, I would’ve DNF’d. I would have judged the plot by the writing, and claimed the book to be “boring” and “dry.” And in reality, the book is neither of those things if you read classics before this one. All in all, I highly recommend this. It’s moody, atmospheric, haunting, dark, and suspenseful. The opening chapters are creepy & scary, but the following chapters are unsettling more than anything. I just want to clear that up just in case someone goes into this book thinking there will be a bunch of jump scares.
It’s not perfect, but I loved every minute of it. I had so much fun. There are so many layers to this book—religion, the role of women, morality, what it means to be human, what separates man from beast. The book reminded me why I loved AP English and AP Literature in high school: analysis. I was one of those annoying kids who liked to psychoanalyze the assigned books in my English classes—themes, symbolism, etc. And this book reminded me that you can take a girl out of AP Lit, but you can’t take AP Lit out of a girl. So guess what I will be doing after this review? Analyzing the crap out of this book.
Something ~random~ I noticed was religion. I found it interesting how Renfield and Van Helsing referred to Dracula. Renfield always said “He” with Dracula. When Helsing first brought up Dracula with Seward, he said “he”—lower case ‘h.’ When Dracula’s power is demonstrated more and more, Van Helsing starts calling him “He”—capital ‘h.’ It’s almost as though he put Dracula and God in the same place, as though they were both equal. I don’t know, I just thought that was interesting! I’ll definitely have to look more into this.
I love making playlists, so if you're on Spotify and would love to hear some music inspired by the book, here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1DpZTFDL6Yrjr0LfxsXUL2?si=f84a35f1542b4ad3
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed Dracula! Reading it as an episodic sort of thing with large or small amounts of time between entries was actually very fun. It gave me something to look forward to on certain days, and made reading the book very digestible, since it spans 6 months worth of time after all! The characters are surprisingly fun and lovable, and it's not too difficult a read. I really found myself rooting for them all, even though I knew some sort of snag was just around the corner every time. Plus, the printed version of Dracula Daily (not the emails) has additional art and comments from people online that pair nicely with the story.
had some pretty good and interesting moments but oh my god other than that this was just yap city (and not in a good way)
Not quite 4 stars but more than 3.
It took me quite a view tries to get into the story. I picked it up a total of 4 times before I got into the story, but then it was suspenseful. It dragged on quite a bit every now and then. The portrayal of women was quite ancient.
It took me quite a view tries to get into the story. I picked it up a total of 4 times before I got into the story, but then it was suspenseful. It dragged on quite a bit every now and then. The portrayal of women was quite ancient.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
J'ai pleuré...
La relation entre Mina, Jonathan, Van Helsing, Quincey, le docteur Seward et Lord Goldalming.... Incroyable j'ai adoré
Ils étaient si solidaires et les hommes étaient si dévoués à Mina. C'était adorable.
J'ai adoré la façon dont Mina était un pilier pour eux et la façon dont mutuellement ils se soutenaient.
Quelle bonheur.
J'ai adoré
La relation entre Mina, Jonathan, Van Helsing, Quincey, le docteur Seward et Lord Goldalming.... Incroyable j'ai adoré
Ils étaient si solidaires et les hommes étaient si dévoués à Mina. C'était adorable.
J'ai adoré la façon dont Mina était un pilier pour eux et la façon dont mutuellement ils se soutenaient.
Quelle bonheur.
J'ai adoré