Reviews tagging 'Death'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

304 reviews

mistystar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

celery's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.0

Could've been shorter

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

atelarico's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, reading one of the first vampire novels, and while it was interesting, so little of the book actually dealt with Dracula. Most of the book is spent theorizing or planning.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

ghford's review against another edition

2.5

Not any better on a second read. I don't think Stoker's intention was what I took away from this book...that the carelessness, arrogance, and ignorance of men very much enables violence against women to persist. Mina's "unclean" and then physical mark of her assault by Dracula was so disturbingly close to how some rape victims feel that reading that part was horrifying. Rampant sexism and antisemitism are also hard to take. I give it some points for atmosphere, and I have enjoyed many of the classics I have read. This one just isn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Blood, Antisemitism, and Stalking

nadia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

The book isn't without its flaws but I really got into it! I loved the storytelling format and there were certainly times where, despite its overall slow pace, the book felt like a page turner! Glad to have finally read this popular classic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexism

mokkekitty's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Child death

earth_to_dani's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

pbella3's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

akgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

keaganbailey's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The book's main fault is that it's a classic; as such you know the entire time what is going to happen, the majority of Dracula's powers, and are not surprised at any turn. The story also absolutely drags as the author discusses train schedules, characters' availability, and travel more than actual action that drives the plot forward. I could not finish this in text and needed to listen to it on audiobook to move forward. I enjoyed the story while actually reading it, but was not compelled to pick it up again the following day(s) to finish the book.

The acts of killing are also strangely sudden (being a few paragraphs at most) compared to the human deaths that take place over multiple chapters. Between that and the sections of nothing but planning travel - the pacing some of the worst I've ever read as the author focuses on mundane information of the world rather than plot. 

However, that all being said, I still enjoyed the main story beats. I would recommend an abridged version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Stalking

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, and Kidnapping