yyooh17's review
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I really love this book. It’s genuinely a classic. I enjoyed picking out all the parts that are staples of vampire fiction today.
The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)
tw: blood
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.
The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.
I was NOT expecting a happy ending too. I really thought the consequences would be much more dire for the party. I understand why it needed to have one though
The part where Jonathan is in the castle is one of my favourite parts of the entire novel.
As a modern reader it wasn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read but I can see why it would have been terrifying for its time. I found myself laughing at the absurdity a few times. (oops)
Actually the blood transfusions were still very disturbing because they didn’t have knowledge about blood types at the time. I find old school medical practices unsettling anyway though.
The only complaint I have is that eventually the Mina compliments got pretty excessive and tiresome to read. However she does remain my favourite character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Sexism
nathanjhunt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
My 42nd book finished in 2023.
I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.
Uhh.. where to begin?
The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.
The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.
So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.
"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.
Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.
A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.
Lastly, the person who died at the end is the character I cared the least about - he was only introduced half way through and had literally no personality. Who cares?!
So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.
It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.
I picked it up in Chiang Mai, Thailand and read it in Vietnam and Indonesia. I left it at my hotel in Kuta.
Uhh.. where to begin?
The first 50 pages of this book were phenomenal. There was such an amazing dark atmosphere, with tension and dreamy words. I wish so badly that the rest of the book was like the first 50 pages. If that was a short story, it would have been incredible. I would have rated this a 4.5, so that is ultimately why I didn't rate the whole book lower than I have.
The rest of the book is filled with such slow boring drivel, I had to try very hard to pay attention. It had some great, creepy ideas, but the narrative was just so dry and full of characters I didn't really care about. The exciting well-written action moments were so few and far between, I found myself far too bored to care about them in the last third of the book. I honestly ended up skimming over the last third. Just so slow and dull.
So, criticisms...
I hated the framing in the book, switching between people, newspapers and diary/journal entries etc. It meant we got repeated explanations of events and descriptions of people. It just added to the slowness and monotony of the book.
"God" and religion is laid on so thick in the last third of the book. My brain absolutely shut down every time Van Helsing spoke - constantly repeating such boring monologues. Along those lines, there is so much unnecessary sexism throughout the book! There are also hints of antisemitism, and late-Victorian psuedo sciences.
Next, the worst offender was the way that all the men are frothing at the mouth over the two women characters. Constant "poor dear Madam Mina", pet names, kissing their hands and pining over the "beauty" of dead vampires. And the women are always talking of "how amazing and brave the men are to look after me, and tell me when to go to sleep". This book was written by a man using one hand! Gross.
A major annoyance of mine, is that for a book called "Dracula", there's a disappointing lack of Dracula within. It's far, far too long a book.
So what actually happens in the book? Not a lot.
A man goes to Transylvania to meet Dracula, and gets trapped in the castle. His fiancée rescues him. Dracula comes to England and bites a woman. The woman turns into a vampire, and a group of men kill her.
Dracula bites another woman and escapes back to Transylvania when confronted. The group follows him, and kills him.
It sounds somewhat exciting, but it really isn't. I wouldn't recommend this book, I really had to force myself to get through it, especially the last third.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Antisemitism
anni_o's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
I listened to this as an audioplay and I gotta say, it greatly elevated the experience! Very interesting where the whole vampire lore comes from in modern media, I found it especially interesting that when you kill the vampire that sired someone the ones he sired that had not fully turned are cured of the "curse". Also personal highlight is van Hellsing taking the doors out of their hinges in the castle so they can't slam shut behind him fhsksj. Also I found interesting that literally no adaptation has gotten the plot of this book even remotely right XD also none seem to really get Jonathan? V interesting. Anyway I enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Medical trauma, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, and Ableism
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.0
It was a ton of fun having my first Dracula read spread out throughout the year with emails from Dracula Daily. It was a treat reading “in real time.” I struggle with reading classic books, so this also helped keep me focused and get through the story. I can see why this book was/is popular. Now it has super problematic sexism and ableism (see Renfield, excluding Mina from the action because she’s a delicate female, and all of the talk about how sexy Lucy was while dying or dead), but the style, pacing, and presence of a strong female character made this book stand out in its time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Sexism
Death of friendchris_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Blood
Minor: Xenophobia, Violence, and Antisemitism
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
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
loveisabird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
this is no doubt a very good book and a classic for a reason but it also gave me such a deep and bone-chilling panic attack over the inevitability of death and nothingness that i was unable to finish the last chapter and a half for over five months and have been fixated on my fear of death everyday ever since. so thank you bram stoker for that i guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Misogyny
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
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.
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.
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
crunchylettuce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Sexism, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism and Kidnapping