Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

132 reviews

gossamer_lens's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

5.0

Just absolutely loved this book. I have tried picking it up several times and gotten stuck on the first 10 pages where we get this letter written by a main character that starts with essentially, "everything will be detailed and thoroughly mundane but here we are". Of course, give it a minute and this turns into "oh shit, oh oh shit... what am I to do!" 

There are several POVs that are delightfully conveyed via missives and have various "newspaper clippings" and other information interspersed. It is a fun story with some delightful characters. I became thoroughly invested once I made it about 10% of the way into the book and I only put the book down when I had to read other things for book club and the like. 

I 100% enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone! 

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rehtaehwashere's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 
  • What I liked: The DRAMA, the characterization of Dracula, how hell-bent they were on catching him after he corrupted Lucy,
    that Lucy's mother fucked her over by not just leaving her and her flowers the hell alone and opening windows.
      The wolves and the bats. The suspicions of Dracula's neighbors and that everyone knew and just said LITERALLY NOTHING.
    Dracula throwing the mirror out the window lmao
     
  • What I disliked: that they equated soft feminine virginal girls with morality and goodness implying that Lucy deserved what happened because she wasn't 'pure' enough. That women were written as such weak little things and that they only got praise when they 'thought like men'. That the story was basically men saving 'women in distress'. That the language was so flowery and annoying to parse through.
  • Overall thoughts: I think I'll stick to modern adaptations because the flowery language was so annoying to get through and I loved how dramatic Dracula was but the characterization of women left a lot to be desired. It was definitely a product of its time and a good story none-the-less if you can overlook the 1 dimensional female characters but it's hard for me to do. The men are well written, rounded out characters that show emotion which is a bright spot in this.  
  • Recommend to a friend? Y 


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hexxchen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

Deutsches Audible Hörbuch.

Die Sprache ist gewöhnungsbedürftig, weil "haben" nicht als Hilfswerb in der Vergangenheitsform genutzt wird und einige Begriffe in ihrer Bedeutung veraltet sind. Aber für Muttersprachler stellt es kein Problem dar. Auch die Sitten und wie Charaktere übereinander sprechen, gerde im Sinn von Geschlechterrollen und Vorurteilen. Das Buch ist nun einmal über 100 Jahre alt.

Ich finde die Stimme von Mina klingt recht gelangweilt, oder soll naiv und tüchtig klingen? Sonst mag ich aber, dass die Erzählstruktur von Briefen und Tagebüchern durch mehrere Leser herausgesrbeitet wird.

Die Geschichte entwickelt sich anfangs mit Schrecken, dann aber sehr langsam und eher rätzelhaft. (Heutige Leser sind zusätzlich gespoilert und hier könnte es langweilig werden.) Zum Ende habe ich persönlich jedoch etwas Interesse verloren, vielleicht wegen einem 2023 Blick auf Van Helsings Psychologiewissen, aber eig. zieht das Tempo hier wieder ein bisschen an, da die Protagonisten nun aktiv werden. Das Ende kommt dann aber sehr abrupt und war für mich etwas unbefriedigend.

Alles in Allem ist Drakula aber eine sehr interessante Geschichte, eine der frühen Vampirerzählungen, welche unsere Popkultur für immer geprägt haben. Für Freunde von Horror und Fantasy daher eine Empfehlung.

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utopiaandmelancholy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I picked this up mainly as foundational text of most vampire media. There was a great deal more religious content than I was expecting, weirdly, but equally more slightly ridiculous shenanigans. Overall, it was a decent story, and I'm glad to have read it.   

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cooldudenick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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jonwood's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is really good, I was surprised, but 'Dracula' reads surprisingly modern and I really enjoy the prose of the journal entries. I'll say the book does fall flat a bit when characters, especially Van Helsing, deliver dialogue in a rather purple-ly prose sort of way that is hard to take seriously at times, does undercut serious moments. Most of the suspense is undercut by popular knowledge that Dracula  is a vampire, but despite back, this enjoyable like any well-crafted story, and as Dracula is more of a tertiary character, that doesn't impact the experience too much (at least for me) as the book is more about these characters reacting to his presence than Dracula himself. Highly recommend, and if you aren't one for horror, I still think this is rather readable and enjoyable, it's not that scary, more a supernatural adventure.
 

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emma6544's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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teslis's review against another edition

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

4.0

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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