Reviews with content warning for Racism - Dracula

It’s very much a product of its time: massive sexism and colonial attitudes, and convoluted Victorian prose. Van Helsing’s lengthy and absolutely tortured dialogue were mostly hilarious though, and there were genuine moments of tension. Bram Stoker could be very good at creating a feeling of looming menace and creepiness, though he undercut it at times for no apparent reason. All that said, I really enjoyed it! It’s a classic of its genre for a reason.

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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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boink's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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riverofhorton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

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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