Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Dracula

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.

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jelliestars's review against another edition

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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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peppypenguin's review against another edition

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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.

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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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.

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yyooh17's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I really love this book. It’s genuinely a classic. I enjoyed picking out all the parts that are staples of vampire fiction today.

The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
1000/10 even if you don’t finish the book at least read this part, it’s worth it, promise.

As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)

tw: blood
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.

The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.

I was NOT expecting a happy ending too. I really thought the consequences would be much more dire for the party. I understand why it needed to have one though

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rynaissanceenby's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.0

This book definitely reads as a product of the time it was written, but if you can look past those things, it's a good story. It's really interesting to reflect on what is the same and different between it and the current cultural perception of what a stereotypical vampire is like. I was also really happy that Mina was such a strong character throughout the whole story instead of being completely relegated to a damsel in distress.

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nathanjhunt's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

1.75

My 42nd book finished in 2023.

I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.

Uhh.. where to begin?

The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.

The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.

So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.

"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.

Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.

A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.

Lastly, the person who died at the end is the character I cared the least about - he was only introduced half way through and had literally no personality. Who cares?!

So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.

It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.

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