Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

137 reviews

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Cursing

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

bloupibloupreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

4.5 - The story was great, maybe a tad bit too long? I’m not gonna lie, I kinda got bored in the middle of the book but it was still very interesting. I was just disappointed by the lack of “vampire lore” and just Dracula himself throughout the story (this mf is never here wtf). I think Twilight mention vampires more in a single chapter than this book in 500 pages which is crazy because it’s DRACULA?

I think my vision of what this book was going to be about got blinded by the modernized version of vampires I have in my head, does that even make sense??? I was just expecting this story to be very scary, full of blood and murder and hot vampires biting necks in a haunted castle but it was more “me and my friends that I love so so much are going to defeat this evil creature with the power of God, love and friendship” but it was good nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Animal death

eyebrightt's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.25

very proud of myself for finishing this!!! very quintessentially victorian in its treatment of death and religion. the first act with jonathan is genuinely some fantastic horror (there's a lot of weird things that happen and go totally unexplained, and it's really creepy imo. bersicker's whole ordeal, for example), and i didn't mind the second part with lucy's illness either. the third act slows down a *lot* and is probably the weakest part of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Xenophobia

adiloretto's review against another edition

dark medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder

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

ashsparrow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent

stalfos's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

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

annaae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Blood