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.
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.
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
kaziaroo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
My thoughts on the book: I can see why it was so impactful at the time and has inspired so many works in literature, but from a modern lens it was often quite... Dull. There is a lot of paperwork and planning and emotional monologuing, and Dracula himself appears very little (although that makes it more impactful when he does). There is a lot more religious emphasis than I was expecting; the characters are all doing God's work first and foremost, but there was a hint of white saviourism in the plot – it's only when Dracula dares to attack an Englishwoman that anyone cares enough to hunt him down and end his evil.
The book is a fascinating depiction of attitudes towards women and purity, and how these attitudes were changing – Mina is praised for her quick thinking and logic, but also her innocence and loveliness which must be protected at all costs. It was as if no one was quite sure what to make of her, but so long as the men did all the dangerous work no one minded. I couldn't tell if I actually liked Mina or if I was just swayed by how much the others praised her. She and Van Helsing were definitely the most memorable characters as the others often blurred together.
The ending came very suddenly, with lots of buildup and then the climax came and went within a couple of paragraphs. But if you consider when it was written, and how reading and storytelling styles have changed (and in fact how this story influenced them), the book's flaws become more forgivable.
My thoughts on the Dracula Daily format: The real-time format was a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, it made some parts more tense and exciting; when Jonathan was trapped in Castle Dracula and we didn't hear from him for a day or two, I would wonder if he was all right and why he wasn't writing. But slower, less action-packed sections which one would normally breeze through in on sitting (such as Mina's holiday diary in Whitby) were dragged out as we were drip fed the passages. Minor, mundane scenes were given undue weight because it was all we could read that day. On the whole, it was an interesting way to experience the book and feel the timeline of events in real time, but it's clear that it's not how the author intended it to be read and so it doesn't always work. From a practical standpoint, it would be good if the emails came with some kind of calendar or heads up of when the next section was coming and how long it would be, so that readers can plan ahead for the longer sections or not be disappointed when all they get is a telegram.
The book is a fascinating depiction of attitudes towards women and purity, and how these attitudes were changing – Mina is praised for her quick thinking and logic, but also her innocence and loveliness which must be protected at all costs. It was as if no one was quite sure what to make of her, but so long as the men did all the dangerous work no one minded. I couldn't tell if I actually liked Mina or if I was just swayed by how much the others praised her. She and Van Helsing were definitely the most memorable characters as the others often blurred together.
The ending came very suddenly, with lots of buildup and then the climax came and went within a couple of paragraphs. But if you consider when it was written, and how reading and storytelling styles have changed (and in fact how this story influenced them), the book's flaws become more forgivable.
My thoughts on the Dracula Daily format: The real-time format was a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, it made some parts more tense and exciting; when Jonathan was trapped in Castle Dracula and we didn't hear from him for a day or two, I would wonder if he was all right and why he wasn't writing. But slower, less action-packed sections which one would normally breeze through in on sitting (such as Mina's holiday diary in Whitby) were dragged out as we were drip fed the passages. Minor, mundane scenes were given undue weight because it was all we could read that day. On the whole, it was an interesting way to experience the book and feel the timeline of events in real time, but it's clear that it's not how the author intended it to be read and so it doesn't always work. From a practical standpoint, it would be good if the emails came with some kind of calendar or heads up of when the next section was coming and how long it would be, so that readers can plan ahead for the longer sections or not be disappointed when all they get is a telegram.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Suicide and Sexual assault
carina_dreamer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
• Primeiro livro desde que andava na escola que eu sublinhei e ainda coloquei post-its com a timeline (desliza o carrossel).
Pois, isto foi assim de confuso para mim em termos cronológicos. Eu queria perceber a história e os planos do Drácula, por isso, precisava de me organizar e ficava difícil com todos os saltos temporais e geográficos.
• O que é de criativo e inovador neste livro em comparação com outros clássicos que li foi também o que me incomodou e me impediu um pouco de me conectar com ele.
Toda a história é contada por meio de: diários, cartas e telegramas. Todas as personagens humanas têm direito a expressar-se um pouco.
Se juntarmos saltos cronológicos + cartas como meio de narração + vários narradores = muitas características grandiosas para eu gostar do mix.
Só ficou melhor quando todos se juntaram no mesmo espaço.
• Em termos de facilidade de leitura, pareceu-me ser um clássico com um passing rápido com ação constante e o vocabulário acessível.
• "Drácula" não é a história original de vampiros, aliás, conseguimos ver as semelhanças e diferenças entre este e "Carmilla". Eu queria muito ler ambos por causa do lore vampírico e comparar com o que conheço de séries modernas.
No meu Buddy Read com a bestie estava sempre a dar comparações entre o livro e as séries. Diverti-me com isso!
Ótimo manual para criar vampiros e exterminadores. O que não gostei? Os vampiros eram uns fracotes - queria luta!
• É um livro do séc. XIX e escrito por um homem branco, claro que tem aqueles elementos de: mulheres desejosas de casar; elas têm de ser protegidas e salvas; temos uma mulher inteligente, mas comparam-na a um homem, etc.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Pois, isto foi assim de confuso para mim em termos cronológicos. Eu queria perceber a história e os planos do Drácula, por isso, precisava de me organizar e ficava difícil com todos os saltos temporais e geográficos.
• O que é de criativo e inovador neste livro em comparação com outros clássicos que li foi também o que me incomodou e me impediu um pouco de me conectar com ele.
Toda a história é contada por meio de: diários, cartas e telegramas. Todas as personagens humanas têm direito a expressar-se um pouco.
Se juntarmos saltos cronológicos + cartas como meio de narração + vários narradores = muitas características grandiosas para eu gostar do mix.
Só ficou melhor quando todos se juntaram no mesmo espaço.
• Em termos de facilidade de leitura, pareceu-me ser um clássico com um passing rápido com ação constante e o vocabulário acessível.
• "Drácula" não é a história original de vampiros, aliás, conseguimos ver as semelhanças e diferenças entre este e "Carmilla". Eu queria muito ler ambos por causa do lore vampírico e comparar com o que conheço de séries modernas.
No meu Buddy Read com a bestie estava sempre a dar comparações entre o livro e as séries. Diverti-me com isso!
Ótimo manual para criar vampiros e exterminadores. O que não gostei? Os vampiros eram uns fracotes - queria luta!
• É um livro do séc. XIX e escrito por um homem branco, claro que tem aqueles elementos de: mulheres desejosas de casar; elas têm de ser protegidas e salvas; temos uma mulher inteligente, mas comparam-na a um homem, etc.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, and Child death
Minor: Blood and Suicide
fjordpingvin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Xenophobia
Minor: Antisemitism, Gore, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Terminal illness
thomasdj's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Xenophobia, Torture, Blood, Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Gore, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide
linnylionheart's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Vomit, Antisemitism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence
mhhmm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization
rory_john14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Gun violence, and Torture
Minor: Racism, Alcohol, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
2.5 ⭐ CW: suicide, blood drinking (obviously)
Dracula by Bram Stoker was a buddy read with a friend. This was...not an enjoyable read. I understand it is a classic and written in a time where long winded descriptions were expected, but damn it made hard to get through.
Dracula is told in a series of letters and personal journal entries with news articles and telegrams interspersed between. We follow Jonathan Harker, a solicitor who has come to Castle Dracula to help Dracula in purchasing a property in London. Jonathon experiences some weird stuff that ends up making him ill.
We also follow Mina, fiancee of Jonathon, worrying over her friend Lucy, who has begun sleep walking and becoming pale and sickly for seemingly no reason. After Lucy's death, all of her suitors come together with Mina and Jonathan to figure out what is going on and to stop the Count.
Mina deserves way more credit than she gets in this book. Mina is clever and is solely responsible for rallying the men to her cause and is the one to put together all the information in order to come to the conclusion of vampires. Dracula's death (spoiler alert lol) was very anticlimactic. Stoker does a lot of telling instead of showing.
We see themes on superstition and how important it is to consider the grain of truth within as well as the ever present theme of humans being afraid of their souls becoming damned.
I skimmed most of this book, since most of the information could have been cut back. Glad to have read it, even more glad to be done with it.
Dracula by Bram Stoker was a buddy read with a friend. This was...not an enjoyable read. I understand it is a classic and written in a time where long winded descriptions were expected, but damn it made hard to get through.
Dracula is told in a series of letters and personal journal entries with news articles and telegrams interspersed between. We follow Jonathan Harker, a solicitor who has come to Castle Dracula to help Dracula in purchasing a property in London. Jonathon experiences some weird stuff that ends up making him ill.
We also follow Mina, fiancee of Jonathon, worrying over her friend Lucy, who has begun sleep walking and becoming pale and sickly for seemingly no reason. After Lucy's death, all of her suitors come together with Mina and Jonathan to figure out what is going on and to stop the Count.
Mina deserves way more credit than she gets in this book. Mina is clever and is solely responsible for rallying the men to her cause and is the one to put together all the information in order to come to the conclusion of vampires. Dracula's death (spoiler alert lol) was very anticlimactic. Stoker does a lot of telling instead of showing.
We see themes on superstition and how important it is to consider the grain of truth within as well as the ever present theme of humans being afraid of their souls becoming damned.
I skimmed most of this book, since most of the information could have been cut back. Glad to have read it, even more glad to be done with it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Blood
annawndr's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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
This book has everything! A count with a funny accent who lives in an spooky old castle, a girl and her three suitors who coincidentally all have the same bloodtype (and one of them is a cowboy), a madman who regulary breaks out of the asylum, a woman who‘s not only smarter than every other character in this book, but also has the sweetest marriage ever and a dutch professor who‘s a part time vampire hunter. And as a bonus you get atmospheric descriptions of the scenery and various natural events.
It’s funny, only a little creepy and definitely worth a read!
It’s funny, only a little creepy and definitely worth a read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Child death and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death and Suicide