Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

16 reviews

renorsomethin's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

for a book about vampires this is pretty boring and drags on quite a lot as well as being full of repetitive misogynistic rants and xenophobia (just read anne rice or something instead)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Xenophobia

Minor: Animal death

decepticons's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, War, Blood, Gore, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Classism

Vampirism used to excuse racism

“My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?” says enough about the book really

decafdirtychai's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Dracula is an incredible time capsule of thoughts and opinions of the day. Some of those opinions include homophobia, sexism, anti-semitism, and new sciences of mesmerism and blood transfusions. Anyone interested in the Gothic, or horror, ought to read this source material. Dracula is an amazing villain, his evilness is overwhelming; the innocence and rage of the humans makes sense. The earth is fertile here for literary criticism, especially regarding gender roles and religion. 

I highly recommend Bloody FM's audio presentation, "Re: Dracula," which brings the story to life with voice actors, sound effects, content warnings, additional context provided, and a chronological timeline. I cried listening to things I had read before ("Oh, John, it was butcher work").

CONTENT WARNING that there is a graphic description of a terrifying and horrible assault about mid-way through the book. I don't often see this content warning given, and it came as a shock to me. 
There is also SO MUCH medical malpractice that was standard at the time. The asylum is especially harrowing, but it is manageable.

Don't let the slow pace of the beginning of this book hold you back. The suspense builds and bursts in a wonderful bubble, it's so worth it, I promise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Dracula forces a woman to drink his blood, in a way very clearly reminiscent of rape. She mourns that she is "unclean," and is terrified. While no one victim blames her, they notably do not tell her that it isn't her fault...

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

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

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Writing: 4⭐️/5 

While Stoker is a fantastic writer (the book is a classic for a reason), so much attention was given to the smallest details that the book dragged in portions where it didn’t need to. I thoroughly believe this is a situation in which the prominent style has changed so much over the years that it’s hard to appreciate the detail without feeling it’s too much and unnecessary. That being said when the writing hit, it hit strong and fast, making it an overall well-written read. 

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I did enjoy the development of the characters. While the women, though interesting, were reduced in many ways to trope-like behaviours, the characters did feel alive and vibrant during the tale. In many moments, I appreciated the attention to detail for each character, as well as the uniqueness provided by their own voice, which always came through in the writing.

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

**SPOILERS HERE**

It’s the tale of Dracula – the original vampire. And yet, during the climax of the story, I felt disappointed in how little attention was given to his death. I felt the story dragged so much in sections that the plot suffered, the events pulled too far apart to keep enough tension present – or as much tension as I wanted. That being said, the story was still entertaining and intriguing, just long-winded and slow-paced.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of classic fiction and gothic literature
• Those looking to appreciate a slow read

Content Warnings? 

• Misogyny, sexism, classism, death of a parent, death, illness, toxic relationships, blood, gore, death of a child, murder

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I felt let down by the ending, personally, even if it did wrap things up relatively nicely.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Child death

plantdonut's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Minor: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Sexism

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

Dracula's horror has a kind of slow burn that makes it very hard to capture in movie form. This also makes it, for those of us who are used to more thriller-like horror, or for those who are already aware of vampires as a concept, a bit of a slow read. There are times when the book drags on, most notably the newspaper sections and legal proceedings. It is rife with that classic British brand of racism, which while expected, is no more pleasant than it would be now. It also has a good bit of that 19th century sexism which is annoying, if only because of how repetitive it becomes, and how much of a hindrance to the plot it is.
All in all, an interesting read, but a good bit of the charm and suspense is lost to the changing principals of time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Murder, Blood, Stalking, Violence, Ableism, Cannibalism, Death, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Drug use, Misogyny, Colonisation, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, and Child death

jneverland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Torture, Confinement, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Dracula is and probably will always be one of my favorite books. 

I read along with the Dracula Daily crew this time around and had an absolute blast reading it this way. 

From the characters to the plot and overall story it's just a fantastic book on all fronts (as well as an excellent Gothic novel). 

Definitely a book I'll revisit many times again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, and Animal death

Minor: Child death