Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Dracula by Bram Stoker, Sparknotes

34 reviews

s3ag0at's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

angelo_vossen's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

What month could be better to read this book in than October? Bram Stoker’s „Dracula“, published in 1897, is a classic piece of literature that has had a lasting impact on how vampires are portrayed, but it has both strengths and weaknesses.

The novel’s greatest strength is its ability to mix modern life with old superstitions. Dracula, a creature from ancient folklore, invades the logical and scientific world of Victorian England. Stoker cleverly builds suspense using different narrative forms — diaries, letters, and newspaper articles — making the reader slowly uncover the threat Dracula poses. This structure creates a sense of growing dread that keeps the reader engaged.

However, the book struggles with pacing. The first part, set in Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, is full of tension and mystery, but once the story moves to England, it slows down. The middle sections, where the main characters try to defeat Dracula, can feel repetitive and drawn out, losing some of the initial suspense.

The characters also feel uneven. Dracula himself is a fascinating villain — mysterious and terrifying — but his human opponents are less memorable. Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray, for example, are presented as good, moral people, but they lack depth. Mina, in particular, represents the ideal Victorian woman — pure and nurturing — while Lucy Westenra’s tragic fate as the victim of Dracula reflects the era’s fears around female sexuality.

Additionally, the novel reflects 19th-century fears of foreign invasion. Dracula’s move to England can be seen as a metaphor for anxieties about foreign influences corrupting Western society. This idea, along with the novel’s conservative views on gender roles, has led to debate over whether „Dracula“ supports or critiques Victorian values.

In the end, „Dracula“ is a groundbreaking work that created an iconic figure of horror, though it’s not without its flaws. Its slow pacing, underdeveloped characters, and outdated moral views hold it back, but the novel’s dark atmosphere and exploration of deep societal fears still make it an important piece of literature. I have not read to many classic books yet, but „Dracula“ is definitely one of the better ones so far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder

Minor: Alcohol

cati's review against another edition

3.0

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: No

---

I don't think this Dracula guy is up to any good.

Um, anyways. That was an OK book. I'm sure if I read this back in the 1890s I would've been on the edge of my seat, but everyone knows what and who Dracula is. The beginning of this book was good, before

Lucy died

, but afterwards when they're trying to track down and hunt him was so boring; it was a lot of waiting around. Van Helsing carried this cast of characters because he was the only one that I actually liked, other than the Harkers. The rest felt like they didn't really have to be there other than for their money and connections. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol

riverofhorton's review against another edition

4.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

misuki's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War

jelliestars's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Alcohol

phantompansy's review against another edition

4.5

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism

herelieshenry's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Torture, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Alcohol

spookfish's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

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While reading along with the dates had some downsides (pacing, forgetting some of the story from earlier), I really think it helped to build up the atmosphere and anticipation for me. From May~November I've had little passages to read, and each day that I had in my calendar was an absolute joy.
Despite its sexism by today's standards, our main two, Mina and Jonathan, are decidedly queer characters. Mina in particular fascinates me.
Time to watch many video essays haha.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War