Reviews with content warning for Blood - Dracula

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!

Content Warnings

carly_reads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I enjoyed this wayyyyy more than I thought I would. The themes of good vs evil, salvation, fear of desire (especially women’s desire), and masculinity were very interesting to explore. The book is a giant metaphor as you might imagine. It’s slow paced, but it still held my interest the whole way through. The characterization of the two female characters was of particular interest to me (considering the fact that the men were not able to save them, at least without Mina’s extensive help). All in all a fascinating reflection of the time in which it was written.

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finn_vibing's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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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

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

swisner's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Content Warnings

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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