Reviews with content warning for Murder - Dracula

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

150 reviews

wextra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

An underrated classic that modern audiences unfortunately will likely not give the time of day because of its pacing, Dracula is the pinnacle of tension building. While there are many slow and repetitive parts of the novel, they exist to build towards the key sequences of the novel and the pay off never ceases to exceed expectations. There are few novels in the English language that reward a reader's patience quite like Dracula and if you are willing to give it its due, you will come away with a great appreciation for the work.

The cast of characters is somewhat underdeveloped compared to modern standards but the novel is in service to its plot primarily and this criticism extends most to the handful of major characters who unfortunately do not get the chance to write from the first person. The method of storytelling that Stoker employs, the use of journal entries, letters and newspaper clippings, to drive the narrative, favors several characters over others, giving the reader more familiarity with Jonathan Harker, Doctor John Seward, Mina Harker and Professor Abraham Van Helsing than any of the rest of the cast. But I feel the criticism is overstated as it's clear that each of these characters have well-defined goals and values. Lucy Westerna, despite being a narrator at several points, is unfortunately left underdeveloped but her role is more plot device than character and her particular traits likely appealed more to the audience of Stoker’s day than to modern audiences.

But the setting and mood shore up the weak characters. Every scene is truly vivid and detailed and while characters may often be lost in melodramatic prayer for paragraphs at a time, it does bring with it the sense of dread that Stoker sought to evoke, although again, it's a writing tactic that likely appealed more in its time than to modern secular audiences removed from such constant conversation with the holy.

Unfortunately, there is the elephant of the room of eugenics, racism and xenophobia which will absolutely turn off many modern audiences. While not the crux of the novel, phrenology and it's relationship to criminology and psychology is mentioned numerous times throughout the novel and clearly was influential in the development of the story. Likewise, the novel portrays the Romani as cult-like devoted followers of the Count at several points and the appearance of the Count himself is orientalist in design, meant to evoke a fear of men of the near east. This is absolutely much to the novel worth reading anyway but these are ideas dropped from many adaptations even in the early 20th century for very clear reasons as they quickly dated themselves. Modern readers unaccustomed to the sheer racism of Victorian literature would do well to steel themselves against the portrayals to find the good qualities within if they remain curious about the novel.

And I think it's worth revisiting for the curious and definitely for anyone seeking to study the gothic horror genre, perhaps for their own writing. There is so much to learn and experience in Dracula if you have the patience for it. And I hope you will.

Content Warnings

martyrbat'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

2.75

Content Warnings

dawntin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

This book had really interesting themes regarding gender, colonization, and even energy for the time period. Mina was a Victorian girlboss. However, the text was a slog to get through at times with the descriptions and changing POVs. Van Helsing’s sections were especially repetitive. The ending itself seemed like it happened very quickly, even though there was so much buildup to it.

Content Warnings

euhfubeuh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

In my opinion, the format of Dracula as being told in letters and journal entries from different perspectives makes the story confusing post Harker’s entries in the beginning. Despite that, the entire exposition— for both Dracula’s and VanHellsing’s introduction— is well written and creates a good atmosphere for the story. From my understanding, the themes of Dracula set love and lust against each other in a debate over which is more dangerous. Idk I’m talking out of my butt; I don’t like the book that much, but I wish I did.

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a_random_fangirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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kira_elfling's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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micaelacccc's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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b0udica's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of my fave books of all time, reread every couple of years and enjoy it just as much every time.

Content Warnings

celina246's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

a masterclass in classic horror, I could not put this down. The atmosphere was great. I just wish the actual climax was stretched out more and was less anticlimactic and also that we learned more about Renfield.

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macliffe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense slow-paced

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

5.0

One of my favorite books of all time. It’s technically horror I suppose but I see it more as a hopeful story about good winning over evil.

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