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arcoirisdesign's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed it, even though it was written in an older writing style. It was really good. I love the way it was written in diary format from different perspectives. It’s also funny to think about how people used to treat women…god being a woman would have been so annoying.
clairechum's review against another edition
3.0
This was not my favorite of the books I read for English class because it felt like a lot of rising action just for the ending and resolution to be majorly rushed. It was the most stereotypical gothic portrayal of all the texts we read and embraced the folklore of the Vampire, which I liked because I enrolled in a Gothic-themed class for a reason. I also personally liked the use of the epistolary model for this novel because there are so many characters, so it is nice to read all of their perspectives of the events. Overall, I can see why it's a classic, but it wasn't my favorite of all time.
evedevlin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
4.25
finally i can rewatch the hotel transylvania series with an adequate understanding of the lore
mfeezell's review against another edition
2.0
On the one hand, choosing to read this book aloud like some sort of horrible amateur theater production with Jake was probably a terrible idea. It took an absurd amount of time and patience to finish, and you also realize how little Bram had to say throughout most of this, at least when he wasn’t saying something incredibly racist. But on the other hand, this book genuinely has some interesting and compelling parts to it that I felt I had more time to appreciate. The female characters were written far more thoughtfully than I expected, and the journal-style entries were really fun, especially when read aloud.
However, it’s fascinating to me that this is the book that established our modern idea of the vampire because so many gothic stories before and after this were far, FAR more compelling as horror stories. Part of it was that he did incredibly little to make anything scary outside of evoking the vague notion of foreign people moving into a house down the road from you, which I guess was the peak of terror for this man. But the other part of it is that most of this book is taken up by people talking broadly about the scary things that happened to them that day, which was a major flaw with the journal-style entries. The tension wasn’t ever built properly, so it was mostly just goofy the whole way through. Ultimately, I’m glad to live over 100 years later, where far better authors have written far better vampire stories in spite of what Bram Stoker could provide us.
However, it’s fascinating to me that this is the book that established our modern idea of the vampire because so many gothic stories before and after this were far, FAR more compelling as horror stories. Part of it was that he did incredibly little to make anything scary outside of evoking the vague notion of foreign people moving into a house down the road from you, which I guess was the peak of terror for this man. But the other part of it is that most of this book is taken up by people talking broadly about the scary things that happened to them that day, which was a major flaw with the journal-style entries. The tension wasn’t ever built properly, so it was mostly just goofy the whole way through. Ultimately, I’m glad to live over 100 years later, where far better authors have written far better vampire stories in spite of what Bram Stoker could provide us.
waxponds's review against another edition
4.0
a really fun read!! but strangely dracula wasn’t as present as i thought he’d be in the novel?
earthier's review against another edition
1.0
Dotes heavily on themes of purity and male versus female intellect, emotion, gender/sex roles, and overall capability. I was rooting for Dracula to be honest because the others were annoying with their redundant male superiority complexes. It was a draining read. I love vampires and this was anticlimactic.... The vampire element was lacking to say the least.
moth_mcgangis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
daniblue976's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
4.0
caseymaree's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
2.0
I don’t like scary/horror/thriller books and I was worried this might be, but nope, not at all. There were extensive pages of descriptions about minor things (someone’s appearance, catching a train, etc) but only a paragraph or so when it came to an actual interaction with Dracula. Also very anticlimax ending imo.