Reviews with content warning for Torture - Dracula

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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loveisabird's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

this is no doubt a very good book and a classic for a reason but it also gave me such a deep and bone-chilling panic attack over the inevitability of death and nothingness that i was unable to finish the last chapter and a half for over five months and have been fixated on my fear of death everyday ever since. so thank you bram stoker for that i guess.

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emmagreenwood's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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kibbles15's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have to admit I have been putting off reading this book because horror is not my favorite genre. I wasn't at all sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised in that I actually enjoyed the book. It did take a little while to get used to the epistolary format of the story, but once done, the story moved along fairly well. With the exception of a few "academic" rants, I was engaged in the story all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

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nomatophobia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

Going into this, I did not expect it to be so metaphorical. I truly appreciate how blood is representative of all things surrounding love and lust. It represents whatever the scene needs it to, leading into more intricate things like abuse, innocence, and infidelity. It is a heartbreaking study that many people can relate to in diverse ways.

That being said, THIS SHIT TOOK ME SIX MONTHS TO READ! IT'S BORING AS HELL. FUCK VAN HELSING. ALL HE DOES IS CAUSE PROBLEMS. THE BOOK WOULD BE 200 PAGES SHORTER WITHOUT HIM. SCREW THIS BOOK. I LOVED ALL IT REPRESENTS BUT I HATE IT IN ITSELF. Also, Lucy Westerna, will you marry me?

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