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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
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
asipofcozy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Finally after years of wanting to pick up and read Dracula I have finally accomplished it. And here are my takeaways from the book
- Stoker has a severe fear of feminism and women straying from the ideal pure Victorian woman. Throughout Dracula we are given many examples, by the author, as to what happens to women that strays outside of purity and why men should fear it. Lucy being a prime example, when she makes the comment that if she could, she would marry all 3 of her suitors and thus because of such "evil thoughts" she was easily wooed by Dracula.
- Stoker also has a fear of modernism and science and what it was doing to religion (wonder what he would think of 2023). Stoker throws in many examples as to what happens if England continues on its path of putting science first and morals/religion second. We see throughout Dracula that many of the characters cannot conceptualize something like vampires. One character, although having all the evidence, didn't believe until he was face to face with one. This is a problem, per Stoker, that if we can't believe in the unbelievable then we are opening ourselves to evil.
This was a phenomenal read and I could reread it at some point in the future. However, if you are getting into it for a "fast-pace" read it is anything but. While only 400 pages, it took me a few days to get through it. This due to the slow-pacing at times and the over-explaining. We are "told" rather than "showed" most of the plot as the entire book is told through journals, telegrams, sonographs, and news clippings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Classism, Blood, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Death, and Violence
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.
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
bmoviealien's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Easy to follow for someone who's nervous about reading older literature because of the disconnect in language. Still conveys the mood and atmosphere well!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Violence
veeloucagraph'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? Yes
3.75
It is with grave disappointment that I arrive at the conclusion that the second half of the book was tiring, repetitive and not thrilling. The first half was clouded in mystery and horror, which I much preferred and enjoyed. Nevertheless, an important read, that I feel pleasant about finishing, especially during October, at the spookiest season of all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
emilywemily6's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.75
I can definitely see why this is a classic and how it has shaped literature and pop culture from its time period and onward. While more approachable than other books of the era, it still sometimes lost me in its phrasings and meanings. Some parts were utterly horrific and eerie while large portions of the book were very slow and repetitive. I enjoyed this cast of characters and feel that if this book was written in 2023 I would adore them even more; their faults were mostly in the gender stereotypes of the era. I liked the various perspectives of the characters and enjoyed the audiobook narration a lot! Often the perspectives felt redundant though. The ending happened way too quick after so much build up (the last 15 minutes of listening to a 15 hour audiobook) and I wish this climax was drawn out. Overall, I’m glad I’ve read it and feel educated in both vampires and classic horror, and I look forward to seeing how this book has influenced later horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism
Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Stalking, and Grief
Minor: Cursing
alex_blackveil's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
3.75
It was a heavy read for me. I mostly read one chapter per day (≈20–30 pages/day).
It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.
It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism.
Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.
My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…
Masterpiece for its time.
Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one.
It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.
It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism.
Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.
My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…
Masterpiece for its time.
Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Violence, Stalking, Child abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Child death
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
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
its_madi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
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Maybe I’m just biased because I love spooky stuff, but Dracula has been my favorite read this year.
If you’re looking for a classic book, and you’re just getting into classics, I recommend this one. It’s pretty easy to understand (besides the handful of times he writes characters with accents, those can be a little hard to get through lol). But besides that I found it easy to follow, and very captivating.
Dracula is told from the POV of diary entries and newspaper clippings and stuff like that, which is really cool. One note about this book though, it is so so so so so s l o w. Personally I didn’t mind this, because I like my gothic horror on the slower side to build up anticipation. And it wasn’t badly paced or anything, it was just slowly paced. However, if you’re someone who likes to have a fast read, this might not be the book for you. It starts off at 100 with a character in Dracula’s castle, but then immediately goes back down to 0 and it takes a while for it to build up again. I didn’t have a problem with this though, and I loved the book
The relationships between all the characters is also so good. They all love each other so much and honestly it’s really funny because I wasn’t expecting Dracula to be as “The power of friendship” that it is.
Overall, Dracula is a fun but slow spooky read. 5/5
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Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Grief
miakoda's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Interesting way of presenting the story through a series of letters and diary entries
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Grief