jneverland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Torture, Confinement, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Medical content, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness
1quillb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
So, with full and complete offence meant to Abraham “Bram” Stoker: this book sucked. Horribly.
Spoiler
I’m not entirely sure what happened in it, to be honest. Jonathan goes to Dracula’s castle and gets trapped there. A man called Renfield eats spiders but really wants to eat a cat. Mina sits in a churchyard with her girlfriend Lucy. Lucy gets proposed to three times by men she’d literally spoken to one time… it was just random plot point after random plot point, none of which made sense in any sort of context.And the entire second-half of the book was devoted to… you guess it, absolutely nothing! They decide that vampires are indeed real (though it takes them some time to come to that conclusion even after they see one), and then they go to Dracula’s castle. Why? I don’t know. Dracula wasn’t even there.
Then, for about the last ten pages of the novel, they have a metaphorical snowball fight and start stabbing random Romanians. Obviously the Romanians lost, because they were exhausted from spending the last dozen hours carrying Dracula’s coffin up the mountainside because the Count was too lazy to walk. But luckily “he” dies!
Who is “he”, you may ask? Apparently, it’s Dracula, because later on the characters rejoice in the fact that they killed the vampire, but Bram literally didn’t even write that it was Dracula who died. Nor did he specify if it was Jonathan or Morris who was stabbed by a Romanian. Only in the epilogue is it made clear (a dead man can’t have children, I don’t think).
Overall, this was terrible. I’ve not read anything else by Stoker, so I don’t know if this hideous novel was just a one-off or if it’s actually how he writes, but it sucked regardless. Highly don’t recommend.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Stalking, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Self harm
roaze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
kstericker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual content
brnineworms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Overall I did enjoy Dracula and I’m glad I finally sat down and read it. It’s certainly not without its flaws but I think it’s worth reading if you haven’t already.
“The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.”
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
Minor: Body horror, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, and Vomit