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ishouldbereading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The good: Fairly good plot, fantastic characters, strong faith in God, vast knowledge of nations living in Hungary at that time, absolutely amazing use of language, probably the best book in english (language-wise) I have ever read
The bad: Slower pace, plot was repetetive, at times too much information (which we didn't really need), THE END
Now let me divide this piece of literature into parts that I totally made up. We started off fairly strong, with what I like to call "Part I: Castle Dracula". I liked this part, it could have been a bit shorter but I appreciated that we got to know Dracula as a person (if I can call him that).
After that comes "Part II: Boring info dumping". As you can guess from the title, I did not enjoy this part at all. Again, I understand its importance to the story, but still too long.
Coming in strong is "Part III: Lucy". I almost devoured this part. Easily the best part of the book. Characters peaked here.
"Part IV: Plans and debates" did not take us on a wild ride, because it was the same plan repeated over and over again.
Now the last part, "Part V: The conclusion". I imagined a lot of different endings. I did not imagine that after a few failed attempts which were supposed to set a tense atmosphere and make us more excited for the grand finale (what I personally found very annoying), one would expect a big finale. But one would be disappointed. This was easily one of the most disappointing endings of a book I have ever read.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death
Minor: Misogyny
jelliestars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
peppypenguin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death, Sexism, and Classism
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Very slow and long, a bit repetitive at times even. The characters were a bit dumb, they would come to the obvious conclusions too late and act like it was the smartest thing ever and not right in front of them the whole time. Although I can accept that it is representative of its time, my feminist side could not sit super well with the book. Similarly, there were sections of the book that felt prejudiced and bothered me a bit, although one could say it was once again representative of the mindset of high class people of the time.
As usual with classics though, I am nonetheless happy to have read it and looking forward to reading articles about the significance of this book and to better understanding its motives.
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
yyooh17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
1000/10 even if you don’t finish the book at least read this part, it’s worth it, promise.
As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.
The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Sexism
nathanjhunt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.
Uhh.. where to begin?
The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.
The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.
So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.
"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.
Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.
A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.
So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.
It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Antisemitism
phantompansy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism
loveisabird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Misogyny
doriandelioncourt's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
mellifer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I don’t love it so much for the horror, although there is plenty of that. Dracula is a really great monster and there are plenty of spine chilling moments. But I think the reason I love it so much is the good characters, and the relationships between those characters. Without giving too much away, these characters and their bonds to each other bring light and hope to what could otherwise have been a very dark and depressing read.
I finished this via the podcast “Re: Dracula”, an unabridged, full cast audio version of the book, with some parts slightly rearranged to be in chronological order. I highly recommend this. The voice acting is perfect, the soundscaping is excellent, and overall it really breathes life into this book. I will most definitely be re-reading and re-listening.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent