Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

67 reviews

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

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Stalking, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

jennswan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Confinement

kibbles15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have to admit I have been putting off reading this book because horror is not my favorite genre.  I wasn't at all sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised in that I actually enjoyed the book.  It did take a little while to get used to the epistolary format of the story, but once done, the story moved along fairly well.  With the exception of a few "academic" rants, I was engaged in the story all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Medical trauma, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

midnightcomets's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.25

Reading this and listening to Re: Dracula has been a wonderful experience that I would recommend to people who find the writing of classics tedious. There were some points where the plot was a bit slower than I wanted it to be, and sometimes that could make me lose my spark a bit. However, I totally understand why it became such a phenomenon for the people of its era, and why it scared them so much. I will definitely reread this at some point!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

limatau's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

The beginning of this book was very suspenseful and intriguing! It kept me listening and hanging on every word. After part one the book tappers off and looses some of the suspense I really enjoyed. 

Definitely a good read!

The book was written at the end of the 1800’s, so there are some deficiencies as far as gender roles are concerned. Definitely not up to snuff by 2023’s standards. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Misogyny

kathrynok's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Forced institutionalization

avie_j's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

heatherb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Blood, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Classism, and Child death

peggy_racham's review against another edition

3.0

I expected more fighting and gore in this book. Dracula sort of vanishes from the book half way through. It has great parts, I loved Van Helsing, Mina, Lucy. Loved watching them figure out what's going on. But the ending falls flat for me

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, and Racial slurs