Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

41 reviews

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

silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Blood and Animal death

Minor: Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, and Stalking

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

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Stalking, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

kibbles15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have to admit I have been putting off reading this book because horror is not my favorite genre.  I wasn't at all sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised in that I actually enjoyed the book.  It did take a little while to get used to the epistolary format of the story, but once done, the story moved along fairly well.  With the exception of a few "academic" rants, I was engaged in the story all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Medical trauma, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

veeloucagraph's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

It is with grave disappointment that I arrive at the conclusion that the second half of the book was tiring, repetitive and not thrilling. The first half was clouded in mystery and horror, which I much preferred and enjoyed. Nevertheless, an important read, that I feel pleasant about finishing, especially during October, at the spookiest season of all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

emilywemily6's review

challenging 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

3.75

I can definitely see why this is a classic and how it has shaped literature and pop culture from its time period and onward. While more approachable than other books of the era, it still sometimes lost me in its phrasings and meanings. Some parts were utterly horrific and eerie while large portions of the book were very slow and repetitive. I enjoyed this cast of characters and feel that if this book was written in 2023 I would adore them even more; their faults were mostly in the gender stereotypes of the era. I liked the various perspectives of the characters and enjoyed the audiobook narration a lot! Often the perspectives felt redundant though. The ending happened way too quick after so much build up (the last 15 minutes of listening to a 15 hour audiobook) and I wish this climax was drawn out. Overall, I’m glad I’ve read it and feel educated in both vampires and classic horror, and I look forward to seeing how this book has influenced later horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Stalking, and Grief

Minor: Cursing

aquila_raven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

3.75

It was a heavy read for me. I mostly read one chapter per day (≈20–30 pages/day).

It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.

It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism. 

Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.

My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…

Masterpiece for its time.

Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Violence, Stalking, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Child death

stalfos's review

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• 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? No

3.0

Obviously a classic, but very hard to get through. The writing in journal style is intriguing and adds to the mystery. Its very much a product of it's time and that made it hard to get immersed. 

The characters however, have much more depth than I expected and it has made me question the later interpretation of some characters. If you are a horror fan and haven't read this one, I recommend putting it on your list just to understand some of the beginnings of our supernatural tales. 

I do want to add that for the times Mina seems to be a particularly strong female character. The way she is described by the men is annoying "fair but having the brain of a man" but I understand that for the time that was likely a huge praise. It is her and Van Helsing that put it all together, find all the pieces and track down Dracula. Without her the men would have been lost and that is proved in a major plot point when they try to lock her away for her safety. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Cannibalism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Gun violence