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.
A Curse of Ash and Embers follows Elodie, who is sent away from her stepfather, mother and siblings to work at Black Oak Cottage. But as Elodie journeys there, she will discover that she is working for a mistress named Aleida, who is left to care for the house after the passing of Gyssha Blackbone, …
Stalking Jack the Ripper is a gripping, fast-paced novel written by first-time author Kerri Maniscalco. The novel follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a young woman apprenticing with her Uncle in a mortuary deep within the alleyways and public houses in 1800s London. Wadsworth is soon caught up in a dangerous set of mass murderers as a …
Take Three Girls is the collaborative effort of YA writers Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simone Howell. It follows the lives of three boarding school girls as they find themselves under attack from a cyber bullying presence and form an unlikely friendship. `The novel covers all the intricacies of female friendships in a way that [...]
Released to the public on September 3rd of 2018, Violet Grace’s novel The Girl Who Fell tells the tale of Francesca ‘Chess’ Raven, an adolescent girl living with a woman named Gladys after the death of her parents. Chess Raven is a hacker, and becomes swept away in a grand and interesting adventure after the …
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 …
The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, is a work of Neil Gaiman’s that instantly appeals to readers of the macabre and strange. The novel follows Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens through his experiences of living with a cohort of ghouls and ghosts within a cemetery. The Graveyard Book chronicles his life throughout the graveyard and the places …
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 – A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier
A Curse of Ash and Embers follows Elodie, who is sent away from her stepfather, mother and siblings to work at Black Oak Cottage. But as Elodie journeys there, she will discover that she is working for a mistress named Aleida, who is left to care for the house after the passing of Gyssha Blackbone, …
Book Review – Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerry Maniscalco
Stalking Jack the Ripper is a gripping, fast-paced novel written by first-time author Kerri Maniscalco. The novel follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a young woman apprenticing with her Uncle in a mortuary deep within the alleyways and public houses in 1800s London. Wadsworth is soon caught up in a dangerous set of mass murderers as a …
Take Three Girls – by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood
Book Review – The Girl Who Fell by Violet Grace
Released to the public on September 3rd of 2018, Violet Grace’s novel The Girl Who Fell tells the tale of Francesca ‘Chess’ Raven, an adolescent girl living with a woman named Gladys after the death of her parents. Chess Raven is a hacker, and becomes swept away in a grand and interesting adventure after the …
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 – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, is a work of Neil Gaiman’s that instantly appeals to readers of the macabre and strange. The novel follows Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens through his experiences of living with a cohort of ghouls and ghosts within a cemetery. The Graveyard Book chronicles his life throughout the graveyard and the places …