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euhfubeuh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racial slurs
atlantisblauw's review against another edition
- 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
One of the more interesting parts of the novel was that one of the main characters is a more traditional woman and the other calls herself a New Woman. She's said to have the mind of a man, so it's still pretty sexist, but she does take an active, even pivotal, role in the battle against evil.
What I didn't like as much is how all men fall in love with the traditional woman, who gets three proposals in one day, then later on keep kissing the New Woman's hand and telling her they wouldn't mind dying for her, etc. It's just too much.
I had some difficulty understanding one of the main characters, doctor Van Helsing. He's Dutch and I think that's why his grammar is bad, but as a Dutch person I can say he didn't make the mistakes Dutch people usually make. He clearly loves philosophical discussions, so that combined made it quite hard to understand him sometimes.
All in all, would recommend if you like classics, vampires, mysteries, epistolary novels, Christian fiction, or feminist literature (because Mina Harker is pretty cool).
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Blood
mothstrand's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Ableism and Antisemitism
toksoplazmozy's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, and Medical content
Minor: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent
riverofhorton's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Eating disorder and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexism and Death of parent
michad's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Sexism
missmoth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Animal death and Forced institutionalization
stitchwilliam's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Story was slow a lot of the time, but it was relatively suspenseful and mysterious for a classic (note: the novel is more mystery than it is horror). Implemented the idea of “not much happening” in order to create that suspense, which worked well when the novel first started, but not too well at the end (I don’t really enjoy reading multiple POV on people just traveling).
Overall messages were concerning—E.g. xenophobia and stereotyping (this, unfortunately, probably reflected the thinking of some communities at that time…).
The characters were kind of dry, except for Mina and Renfield. There isn’t a lot of character development overall.
I also feel like the author also left out necessary details at times. I still don’t understand why some of the characters did certain things? E.g.
In Short - Outdated messages and plot drags a lot, but interesting to consider the story that popularized the vampire myths.
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death