Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Drácula by Bram Stoker

45 reviews

mme_carton's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence

yavin_iv's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence

Minor: Antisemitism

lizzieinmt's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark 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: Complicated

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Strong female characters were fun, also the multiple perspectives of the main cast made it interesting. While slow paced I really liked the story and details. Can't believe I haven't read this sooner as a fan of gothic novels. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Ableism

Minor use of words like "crazy" and there are a few scenes that take place in a mental hospital where the characters are assumed to be mentally unwell.

mars2k's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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If Dracula had ended after chapter four, I might have given it a full five stars. The first fifty-odd pages are undoubtedly the best part of the book. Jonathan Harker is trapped in Dracula’s castle, and slowly realising that he is trapped. The atmosphere is tense and eerie. Both Harker and Dracula are interesting and well-developed characters, and the interactions between them are great.

I want to talk for a moment about Count Dracula specifically. In the first four chapters he is depicted as (seemingly) kind, hospitable, careful, and emotionally intelligent, but there’s something sinister about him too. There’s also quite a bit of queer subtext. Dracula is a complicated and sympathetic character at this point, but later his characterisation changes drastically and he ends up being reduced to a cartoonish villain with very little depth. He also becomes a much less prominent part of the narrative – he’s not entirely absent, but he takes on more of a peripheral role. I wish we’d seen more of him. (Interestingly, this is the exact reverse of my view regarding Frankenstein’s monster)

Of course, I must address the elephant in the room – the bigotry. Dracula is a character crafted from several antisemitic tropes. His hooked nose is emphasised many times, and there are parallels between his vampirism (specifically his preying on children) and blood libel. Something else that stands out when viewing the character through this lens is the way he is presented as both an immensely powerful mastermind and a weakling with a “child-brain” – proto-fascist rhetoric, perhaps? The book as a whole is riddled with xenophobia, racism, ableism, and sexism. In many ways it’s a product of its time. Its age doesn’t excuse these problematic elements, but it does offer some context at least.

I was led to believe that Dracula is slow-paced but for a gothic horror story it’s actually very quick. It’s relatively well-written, and the epistolary format is executed well. Excellent build-up to an anticlimactic ending. There’s so much more I could say about the characters and the story (both praise and criticism) but I think I’ll wrap things up here.

Overall I did enjoy Dracula and I’m glad I finally sat down and read it. It’s certainly not without its flaws but I think it’s worth reading if you haven’t already.

“The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit

aegireads's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief