Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

129 reviews

foxclcves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

emmaward55's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

average person eats 3 flies a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 flies per year. Flies Renfield, who lives in an asylum & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

Dracula's horror has a kind of slow burn that makes it very hard to capture in movie form. This also makes it, for those of us who are used to more thriller-like horror, or for those who are already aware of vampires as a concept, a bit of a slow read. There are times when the book drags on, most notably the newspaper sections and legal proceedings. It is rife with that classic British brand of racism, which while expected, is no more pleasant than it would be now. It also has a good bit of that 19th century sexism which is annoying, if only because of how repetitive it becomes, and how much of a hindrance to the plot it is.
All in all, an interesting read, but a good bit of the charm and suspense is lost to the changing principals of time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Colonisation

persephonefoxx's review

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Racial slurs

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

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

2.5

I read this book via DraculaDaily, a mailing service that emails every entry of the book on the day that that entry was written, so that you read about the story as if it's unfolding in real time. Honestly this took a really long time and because the book itself is so slow paced and heavy, it was definitely a slog to get through at times. I think it would be nice to maybe reread it sometime in it's actual proper format over a shorter period but overall this was okay. It was definitely a bit too slow paced for me, plus I felt no connection to any of the characters, and the parts of the book where the plot really unfolded were all too short for me. That said, I get why it was such an influential book and I appreciate it as a piece of literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Sexism

appurusakura's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

babyleo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

spacerkip's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

Dracula is and probably will always be one of my favorite books. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death

meganpbennett's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read Dracula many many years ago, and thought it was interesting. Didn't give it much thought except for a few school assignments, or considering a reread along with some other classics. Then, in 2022, people started sharing a link to a substack, where someone was emailing the novel to readers, in real time. I signed up. 

All of the characters keep a journal of some form, and it's all dated. In the standard printing of the novel, all of Johnathon's several months at Castle Dracula would have been first, then followed up by Mina and Lucy's correspondence. In this case, it's in real time, so you only see what happens on any given day. There are long gaps between Harker's entries, as he starts to realize what is really going on and how he is trapped in the castle. Lucy's death scene, a chapter or so in the book, is stretched over the almost a month Dracula fed on her until she became a vampire, making it all the more emotional when they have kill her. Or when the group heads to Castle Dracula, and it takes the same number of days for us as it did for them. Very interesting way of reading a novel, and one that several other people are putting together. 

Edit: 2023-11-07: After forgetting to unsubscribe from Dracula Daily before the novel reset, I decided to reread it. Still a fascinating way to read a novel, in chronological order. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism