Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

158 reviews

jennybach's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It’s very much a product of its time: massive sexism and colonial attitudes, and convoluted Victorian prose. Van Helsing’s lengthy and absolutely tortured dialogue were mostly hilarious though, and there were genuine moments of tension. Bram Stoker could be very good at creating a feeling of looming menace and creepiness, though he undercut it at times for no apparent reason. All that said, I really enjoyed it! It’s a classic of its genre for a reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Racism

riverofhorton's review against another edition

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

4.0

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, and Classism

olia_k21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Eating disorder and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexism and Death of parent

witchintherain's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

michad's review against another edition

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

3.25

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Sexism, Trafficking, and Stalking

agw622's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I genuinely enjoyed reading this. It is a very exciting tale. My only critiques are that it can be a bit wordy and the charecters prone to hysteria sometimes. This does make reading so parts a little tedious, but it does chug along. For a classic book the treatment of the female charecters were very well done. I do wish the ending paid off more.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement and Sexism

misuki's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

avaa1000's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The first four chapters is my favorite part of the book. Five stars for that, but 4 overall.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood

Minor: Animal death

makiba's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

carly_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 I enjoyed this wayyyyy more than I thought I would. The themes of good vs evil, salvation, fear of desire (especially women’s desire), and masculinity were very interesting to explore. The book is a giant metaphor as you might imagine. It’s slow paced, but it still held my interest the whole way through. The characterization of the two female characters was of particular interest to me (considering the fact that the men were not able to save them, at least without Mina’s extensive help). All in all a fascinating reflection of the time in which it was written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood