It was an interesting twist on Stoker's tail. Overall not a bad read.

I think that this book would be most enjoyable if you read Dracula first. I like these sorts of books that take a different viewpoint on a known story. She is a good writer, and knows her stuff; it just moved a little too slowly for me.

Received this free from ReadingGroupChoices.com.

I just wish I remembered the original better. Was an interesting version.

A little too creepy for me right now...

I'm ambivalent about this book. I liked that Mina got to be more of a person and actually did some things in this version of the story. But it was also clear that the author was working really hard to make Dracula someone Mina would actually find appealing, and this made Mina seem pretty gullible. And yet, her being gullible makes some sense, given the times and her upbringing. Like I said - ambivalent. Still, I enjoyed it enough to finish it, so I went with 3 stars instead of 2.

There isn't much original about this book. It is a rehash of Stoker's 'Dracula' through Mina's eyes--expected. Then it turns into a 'Twilight' version of 'Dracula' where the vampire's bad habits are explained away and he eats only animals and doesn't kill anyone if he can help it.

The famous Dracula!

This is the story of Mina Murray, who came to love Dracula under the circumstances that most women do, under extreme visual and physical imagination.

Mina is an orphan, never knew her parents. She is engaged to be married, but her fiance' stops writing to her, and when he does right to her, he is very distant and has a tone of general disinterest.
Well, when things such as this happen, it leaves women feeling very .... unappreciated, unloved, un-thought-about.
Which opens the door for said women to be wooed by other men whom, under normal circumstances, the women wouldn't give a second thought to.

It's the same old Dracula story, without feeling like the same old Dracula story, as far as his women are concerned.

It is a love story, a romance story, but you won't find it in the romance section of the library. ... at least, not in mine. In my library, it was in the horror section. I am not sure why, as, although it has some scary pieces to it, it's definitely not 'horrific'

Anyways, I really liked it.
I thought it was well written, it flowed well, it's climax is good, and the ending is slightly surprising. All good things!

Pick it up!

- CJ

3.5 stars

It's October so I wanted a spooky read. I have read and loved some other books by Syrie James, especially Nocturne (a vampire romance), so I wanted to try this one. I think it would have been better if I had read Dracula but I have not (sorry Kaitlin). BUT reading this made me want to read Dracula. Mina is Dracula's lover and this book is her story from her point of view. I had no idea what I was getting into since I did not know who Mina was. It was a good story. Mina is engaged and then meets a handsome stranger. People are dying all around her and she doesn't understand what is going on. She meets Dr. Van Helsing and he tells her about vampires and that they have to kill Count Dracula. She is all for it until she realizes Count Dracula is her handsome stranger. I'm assuming if you have read Dracula you know how it all ends but I am curious if this is really how Dracula ends. I guess I will have to read it and find out.

Nice read...follows pretty closely to the 1992 movie but Dracula is portrayed less villainous and even more human in this version. I enjoyed it, even though some of Mina's journaling sounded very modern when she was writing in the 1890's. Still, no regrets; I'm glad I gave it a chance.