A review by neni
Dracul by J.D. Barker, Dacre Stoker

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The dark and gothic mystery vibes were on point, and the narrative and writing styles were quite similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula which helped put me in that headspace, which I believe was the point. The only thing I have to point out is that the story was way longer than necessary, pretty much the first half of the book could have been condensed in about 100 pages, I sometimes found myself struggling to get through it because there were chapters were nothing was happening. The second half, where things started happening and the mysteries started to get solved, was entertaining and gripping, and the ending surprised me in a good way. I think it was well executed overall, just a tad bit too long

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail