Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which has been deemed by both critics and the general public as a staple in both horror and gothic literature, readers are introduced to Jonathan Harker, who travels to the region of Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula in order to assist him in his real estate affairs. It is not long, however, until Harker realises that he is being held captive in the castle, and also learns that Count Dracula is a vampire. After narrowingly escaping the castle, Harker begins to discover that Dracula has stowed away fifty boxes of earth on a ship that is wrecked at sea in order to ensure that he has a place to rest. Along the way, Harker, his wife and his friends all face several different tasks and trials in order to bring down Count Dracula and prevent him from using his bloodlust against innocent people, as well as avenge the deaths of all of whom he has killed.
I had numerous issues with this novel, one of the most prominent being the writing. Honestly, this novel was too full of long and arbitrary monologues on topics with which had seemingly no correlation to the novel itself. Not only did this annoy me, but it also seemed to add considerably to the length of the novel as a whole. One of the major issues that I often have with novels is how the story seems to let itself down in the middle, thus eradicating what would usually be a solid beginning and end. Stoker definitely fell flat in this regard–I truly felt as though none of the novel’s middle portion seemed to have any concrete meaning for me, which was very disappointing.
One of the other more major issues that I had with this novel was the characters. When you use a character as the title of your novel, it is probably a good idea to focus mainly on that character itself, rather than that character in relation to others. Throughout the novel, the titular character is barely even properly included in the story–he has no lines after the first few chapters, we never really get a look into his life and history, and we never learn the origins of his vampiric affliction. Going into the novel, I assumed that Dracula would be given more of the spotlight in this novel, but all readers were really given was Dracula being discussed by others. This novel set the tone for a generation of vampire films, books and television shows, but I have to say that this novel would easily be overshadowed by other iterations of the vampire story than their original source material.
Another issue I have with this novel is all of the characters, mainly that NONE of them were in any way interesting, and instead were tasteless and one-dimensional. If you had asked me to distinguish between Van Helsing, Doctor Seward and Harker, I honestly would struggle to disambiguate them from one another, because they all felt as though they blended together too easily, which did not allow the characters to fully reach their potential.
Altogether, this novel was a let down; I wanted action, horror and gothic stories, but all I got was a washed-out and verbose combination of bland writing and–for the most part–boring plot.
The Wishing Spell follows twin siblings Alex and Conner Bailey, who grew up with fairy tales read to them by their grandmother. But when Alex and Conner are magically transported inside their grandmother’s fairy tale treasury, they will be thrust into a world where all their fairy tale characters are extremely real. The two will …
With the arrival of the new Netflix series, now is a perfect time to sink your teeth into Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. This series is unique and one of my favourites; Snicket’s narration is satirical, morbid and hilarious all at once, and although he will warn you many times that the books …
Cally Black’s In The Dark Spaces is an immersive sci-fi thriller that features some incredible aliens and insightful thoughts on human nature. While it’s full of action and danger, the heart of the story revolves around family, morality, communication, and love in all its forms. Exposition is scarce, but this works in the book’s favour. [...]
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny. For Deka, reaching a certain …
In ‘Again, but Better’, a college student and creatively-driven Shane enrols in a university in the United Kingdom to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer. Previously a medical student at a university in America, she makes the move unbeknownst to her parents, who have insisted she pursue a career in medicine for vicarious reasons. …
The Bronze Key is the third instalment in the Magisterium series. Picking up a year after book three (The Copper Gauntlet), Callum and his best friends are now entering the third year of their magical training. Callum has now revealed the truth about his soul to his close friends, as well as his frenemy Jasper …
Book Review – Dracula by Bram Stoker
I had numerous issues with this novel, one of the most prominent being the writing. Honestly, this novel was too full of long and arbitrary monologues on topics with which had seemingly no correlation to the novel itself. Not only did this annoy me, but it also seemed to add considerably to the length of the novel as a whole. One of the major issues that I often have with novels is how the story seems to let itself down in the middle, thus eradicating what would usually be a solid beginning and end. Stoker definitely fell flat in this regard–I truly felt as though none of the novel’s middle portion seemed to have any concrete meaning for me, which was very disappointing.
One of the other more major issues that I had with this novel was the characters. When you use a character as the title of your novel, it is probably a good idea to focus mainly on that character itself, rather than that character in relation to others. Throughout the novel, the titular character is barely even properly included in the story–he has no lines after the first few chapters, we never really get a look into his life and history, and we never learn the origins of his vampiric affliction. Going into the novel, I assumed that Dracula would be given more of the spotlight in this novel, but all readers were really given was Dracula being discussed by others. This novel set the tone for a generation of vampire films, books and television shows, but I have to say that this novel would easily be overshadowed by other iterations of the vampire story than their original source material.
Another issue I have with this novel is all of the characters, mainly that NONE of them were in any way interesting, and instead were tasteless and one-dimensional. If you had asked me to distinguish between Van Helsing, Doctor Seward and Harker, I honestly would struggle to disambiguate them from one another, because they all felt as though they blended together too easily, which did not allow the characters to fully reach their potential.
Altogether, this novel was a let down; I wanted action, horror and gothic stories, but all I got was a washed-out and verbose combination of bland writing and–for the most part–boring plot.
RATINGS:
Plot: 7/10
Writing: 4/10
Characters: 4/10
OVERALL: 4/10
Related Posts
Book Review – The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
The Wishing Spell follows twin siblings Alex and Conner Bailey, who grew up with fairy tales read to them by their grandmother. But when Alex and Conner are magically transported inside their grandmother’s fairy tale treasury, they will be thrust into a world where all their fairy tale characters are extremely real. The two will …
Book Review – A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
With the arrival of the new Netflix series, now is a perfect time to sink your teeth into Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. This series is unique and one of my favourites; Snicket’s narration is satirical, morbid and hilarious all at once, and although he will warn you many times that the books …
Book Review – In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black
Book Review – The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny. For Deka, reaching a certain …
Book Review – Again, but Better by Christine Riccio
In ‘Again, but Better’, a college student and creatively-driven Shane enrols in a university in the United Kingdom to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer. Previously a medical student at a university in America, she makes the move unbeknownst to her parents, who have insisted she pursue a career in medicine for vicarious reasons. …
Book Review – The Bronze Key
The Bronze Key is the third instalment in the Magisterium series. Picking up a year after book three (The Copper Gauntlet), Callum and his best friends are now entering the third year of their magical training. Callum has now revealed the truth about his soul to his close friends, as well as his frenemy Jasper …