Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

69 reviews

rynaissanceenby's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

This book definitely reads as a product of the time it was written, but if you can look past those things, it's a good story. It's really interesting to reflect on what is the same and different between it and the current cultural perception of what a stereotypical vampire is like. I was also really happy that Mina was such a strong character throughout the whole story instead of being completely relegated to a damsel in distress.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Racial slurs

phantompansy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Antisemitism, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Racism

warlockdorian's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Murder, Antisemitism, Medical content, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Misogyny, Stalking, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, and Racial slurs

mellifer's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was surprised how much I loved this book. It’s probably one of my all time favorite reads, which I definitely did not expect. 

I don’t love it so much for the horror, although there is plenty of that. Dracula is a really great monster and there are plenty of spine chilling moments. But I think the reason I love it so much is the good characters, and the relationships between those characters. Without giving too much away, these characters and their bonds to each other bring light and hope to what could otherwise have been a very dark and depressing read. 

I finished this via the podcast “Re: Dracula”, an unabridged, full cast audio version of the book, with some parts slightly rearranged to be in chronological order. I highly recommend this. The voice acting is perfect, the soundscaping is excellent, and overall it really breathes life into this book. I will most definitely be re-reading and re-listening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Ableism, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Ableism, and Death

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Confinement

anna_m_k's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

A classic novel, one I technically read as a mix of Dracula Daily emails and the Re:Dracula podcast/full cast audiobook, that deserves its designation as a classic. Fascinating as one of the early pieces of horror fiction and for its historical details, Dracula is gripping and enthralling.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Racial slurs, Ableism, Death, and Racism

There are also mentions of phrenology and eugenic thinking.

esztertth's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Started with Dracula Daily and then halfway through switched to Re:Dracula.

Loved the production of the podcast and the book became a new favourite of mine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I had never read dracula prior to doing dracula daily! The first year I tried it, it was difficult to keep up the motivation. Once you get far enough into it, though, it really takes off, and the pauses and pacing accentuate the experience by drawing out some of the tension, as well as really highlighting when the book gets action-packed.
All in all, this book has changed who I am as a person and how I will consume all subsequent vampire media. I fully recommend to anyone who wants to check it out, but I also acknowledge that this is not everyone's cup of tea. While some characters were really easy to understand

like Mina

, others

Van Helsing

can get difficult if you struggle with older english. There's also a really vibrant online community, as well as several related works and interpretations (like the re:Dracula podcast).
I'm already looking forward to rereading (and crying my eyes out again) next year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Animal death, and Torture

Minor: Child death and Alcohol

blewballoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

I read this via Dracula Daily. I highly recommend it! Dracula is an epistolary novel where everything has a date, and Dracula Daily is an email subscription that sends you the entries on the date they happen. So, the story is spread out across the months that it takes place and you get to experience it in chronological order. What I didn't expect was that Dracula is actually quite funny, I wonder if it at the time it was like the horror comedy movies we have today. I think part of the humor came from my modern sensibilities clashing with the language of the past, but I also think there were many aspects purposefully meant to be humorous when they were written. As with many older works, there are some dated aspects, like the use of slurs and other stereotypes/sexist views. I also found the "sailor speak" portions where the writing is written phonetically to convey a lower class accent a bit difficult to read and translate. Other than that though, I had a blast following along with this story, and I'm a little sad it's over for the year. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Racism, Violence, and Blood

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

I read this as part of the Dracula Daily emails from May to November in 2023. This is an annual event and will likely continue to be available in the future. 

Dracula is a book which has been around for over a century, and it's a story that has known problems of racism and antisemitism baked into its premise and its execution. What I primarily want to rate here is my experience of reading the book through Dracula Daily, where everything is emailed in order based on the date of the piece of writing, rather than being in the order Bram Stoker envisioned. I, as a person, got kind of stressed out by knowing that this book was going to take months to read. On the other hand, since I don't have a strong sense of the passage of time, it was very cool to get more of a idea of how long the characters were waiting for news or how very long all of this travel took. When the characters were waiting for word or would put in their diaries that they were still waiting on a letter or didn't have information they needed, that resonated more because I also had been waiting. Or, occasionally, I was able to read a letter that was written but had not yet reached the intended recipient.

Overall, I enjoyed it as an experience, but if you looking for a vampire story to read there are ones with fewer old-timey bigotries. The emails definitely are an easy way to get the epistolary feel, if that's what you want.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Medical content, and Animal death

Minor: Child death, Suicide, Sexual content, and Pregnancy