I had to read it for a university class, and didn't. now I finally picked it back up (because reading is only fun if you don't have to) and it wasn't as bad as I feared.

There were some lengths, as when Van Helsing and the others basically watched Lucy die and did nothing and when they kept going back and forth without getting anywhere, eventually. Overall it was quite interesting to see all the common vampire myths cumulate in this story.

I really liked the switch in point of view and the slightly different styles of narration that resulted. And I liked Mina being a bit more than random-interchangeable-female-character, actually having some actions to drive the story except for being the damsel in distress.