Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Dracula by Bram Stoker, Sparknotes

68 reviews

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

One of my fave books of all time, reread every couple of years and enjoy it just as much every time. 

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense slow-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

One of my favorite books of all time. It’s technically horror I suppose but I see it more as a hopeful story about good winning over evil.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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: No

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The world-building was incredible, and all but one of the main group were fully fleshed out characters. The only things that let it down were poo Quincey, the language of Van Helsing being a slog to get through, and the repetition of a lot of the bits of lore. Four times we're told that Dracula can't cross running water, three times that killing Dracula will stop the transformation of any vampires that are somewhere between human and vampire, three times we're told that communion wafers act as a talisman against the vampires, plus a few others that I could mention. I wonder how long this book would be without these instances of repetition. I particularly enjoyed reading the letters between Mina and Lucy, and their respective journal entries about the other: Mina is definitely gay for Lucy, and I can see no other explanation for the way she talks of and to Lucy. I would like to have seen some more expression of that love, but I get that wasn't really possible when this was published, sadly.

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adventurous dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Enjoyable but so wordy. The trope of stupid characters in horror seems to spring from this. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I picked this up mainly as foundational text of most vampire media. There was a great deal more religious content than I was expecting, weirdly, but equally more slightly ridiculous shenanigans. Overall, it was a decent story, and I'm glad to have read it.   

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

This is a classic for a reason. It's a wonderful story that's well developed and full of suspense. Strongly recommend.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I can recognise it as an important part of history in literature but it was not the most enjoyable read.
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.

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