1quillb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
So, with full and complete offence meant to Abraham “Bram” Stoker: this book sucked. Horribly.
Spoiler
I’m not entirely sure what happened in it, to be honest. Jonathan goes to Dracula’s castle and gets trapped there. A man called Renfield eats spiders but really wants to eat a cat. Mina sits in a churchyard with her girlfriend Lucy. Lucy gets proposed to three times by men she’d literally spoken to one time… it was just random plot point after random plot point, none of which made sense in any sort of context.And the entire second-half of the book was devoted to… you guess it, absolutely nothing! They decide that vampires are indeed real (though it takes them some time to come to that conclusion even after they see one), and then they go to Dracula’s castle. Why? I don’t know. Dracula wasn’t even there.
Then, for about the last ten pages of the novel, they have a metaphorical snowball fight and start stabbing random Romanians. Obviously the Romanians lost, because they were exhausted from spending the last dozen hours carrying Dracula’s coffin up the mountainside because the Count was too lazy to walk. But luckily “he” dies!
Who is “he”, you may ask? Apparently, it’s Dracula, because later on the characters rejoice in the fact that they killed the vampire, but Bram literally didn’t even write that it was Dracula who died. Nor did he specify if it was Jonathan or Morris who was stabbed by a Romanian. Only in the epilogue is it made clear (a dead man can’t have children, I don’t think).
Overall, this was terrible. I’ve not read anything else by Stoker, so I don’t know if this hideous novel was just a one-off or if it’s actually how he writes, but it sucked regardless. Highly don’t recommend.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Stalking, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Self harm
roaze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
emeh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Alcohol, and Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment and Drug use
mme_carton's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Xenophobia, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Ableism
Moderate: Cannibalism and Gaslighting
Minor: Gun violence
margztgz'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? It's complicated
4.0
Read this for my classic monsters class, this novel feels like an epic tale that is long and laborious yet with some beautiful writing. Mina pissed me off. Literally everything seems to go back to gender roles and sex, but it's brilliantly done.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Stalking, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
vivmorris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Blood and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death, and Body horror