Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Dracula

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Dracula by Bram Stoker, Sparknotes

108 reviews

anni_o's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous 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: No

I listened to this as an audioplay and I gotta say, it greatly elevated the experience! Very interesting where the whole vampire lore comes from in modern media,

I found it especially interesting that when you kill the vampire that sired someone the ones he sired that had not fully turned are cured of the "curse". Also personal highlight is van Hellsing taking the doors out of their hinges in the castle so they can't slam shut behind him fhsksj.

Also I found interesting that literally no adaptation has gotten the plot of this book even remotely right XD also none seem to really get Jonathan? V interesting. Anyway I enjoyed it!

Content Warnings

sarahlizzie's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous 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

Content Warnings

chris_reads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

doriandelioncourt's review against another edition

4.5

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

Content Warnings

mellifer's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

I was surprised how much I loved this book. It’s probably one of my all time favorite reads, which I definitely did not expect.

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.

Content Warnings

decafdirtychai's review against another edition

4.0

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

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.

Content Warnings

redrobes's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A classic novel, one I technically read as a mix of Dracula Daily emails and the Re:Dracula podcast/full cast audiobook, that deserves its designation as a classic. Fascinating as one of the early pieces of horror fiction and for its historical details, Dracula is gripping and enthralling.

Content Warnings

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A great reread - this audiobook version had great voice actions that have a lot of life to the novel. It definitely surprised me how much I remember from reading this many years ago. It definitely deserves its classical literature status with how vibrant and unique each character is, how imaginative the world of Transylvania and the castle's unease

Content Warnings

esztertth's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Started with Dracula Daily and then halfway through switched to Re:Dracula.

Loved the production of the podcast and the book became a new favourite of mine.

Content Warnings

andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I had never read dracula prior to doing dracula daily! The first year I tried it, it was difficult to keep up the motivation. Once you get far enough into it, though, it really takes off, and the pauses and pacing accentuate the experience by drawing out some of the tension, as well as really highlighting when the book gets action-packed.
All in all, this book has changed who I am as a person and how I will consume all subsequent vampire media. I fully recommend to anyone who wants to check it out, but I also acknowledge that this is not everyone's cup of tea. While some characters were really easy to understand

like Mina

, others

Van Helsing

can get difficult if you struggle with older english. There's also a really vibrant online community, as well as several related works and interpretations (like the re:Dracula podcast).
I'm already looking forward to rereading (and crying my eyes out again) next year!

Content Warnings

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