jomarie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a book that I’ve had for quite a while and was interested in reading as a lover of sci-fi stories. Having read it, I’m not sure I gained any more respect for it.
Caveat: I don’t have a great track record of liking classics, so definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt!
I only knew the bare bones of the story through pop culture references. I was expecting a gothic, atmospheric story of man’s hubris. The actual story didn’t quite hit that mark. Mostly, I was bored. The monster featured so little, most of the characters were flat, and framing it as a story being told to a man on a mission to the North Pole felt unnecessary. The most interesting part was what the monster did after running away from Victor, but that was told as a dry conversation rather than actually spending time in that space. It frankly made Felix out to be a more enticing character than anyone else in the book.
Luckily, I read through the info in the front of my copy that explained some of the historical context that Mary Shelley wrote it under. If I hadn’t, I’d feel even more disconnected from the point of it all than I already am. If you’re only looking at it as an example of historic literature, it’s a fascinating study. However, that’s not what I was doing.
Knowing the kind of reader I am, I should have done the audiobook to better comprehend and connect with the story, or just picked my favorite movie adaption and called it good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Child death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Medical content
Minor: Racism and Animal death
sunflowerhour's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Victor Frankenstein is that one annoying kid from english class that wont shut up, and if you were him in middle school—you'll love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Stalking
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
jillian_jar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Quite literally I dislike the way this book was written. Needless to say, Shelly wrote this beautifully, the language is so compact and she manages to describe so much within a single sentence. I found the plot engaging, Frankenstien hateful, and the monster a product of the greed of knowledge and power. We had a great climax and point of no return when you know who gets axed, but it is only until after that point did the story stop dragging. It felt like an uphill climb of 160 pages which took me 5 days to get through for this book to finally allow me to read with fervor and excitement. I wanted to know what happened but I must say it took way to long to get there. I would have DNF this book if it wasn’t for school.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child death
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Addiction
jrspitler1112's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Murder, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Child death, and Death
draven_deathcrush's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I had to read this for school, and I'm so glad I did. It was amazing, and I loved it so much. I'm a big fan of zombies, and I always wanted to read this book, but I never ended up doing it. Now I had to, and I'm very glad!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
agatha_hopkins's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, and Gun violence
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I remembered enjoying this in high school, but now I simply will never stop thinking about how much I love this story. My brain won't let it go, it's like I'm gnawing on a bone. It's about the loneliness of every kind of ostracization, it's about spurning God, it's about not learning your lesson even after facing every consequence, it's about hating your dad, it's about nature versus nurture, it's about being human yet inhuman. I can't wait to reread and do full annotations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, and Incest
lvrdy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this book could have a numerous amount of underlying meanings. I think Mary Shelley did an excellent job for an 18-year-old writing a horror story you almost route for both of the main characters at separate times you hate them and you love them simultaneously. You want Victor Frankenstein to be happy and you want the monster to be loved but you also want them both to be destroyed by one another. this book is one of those that you sit and chew on after you finish it the interpretation is up to the reader. It can be as literal as you would, like, or as metaphorical however, we was all ask ourselves with the man or the monster. Or is there not a difference between the two?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
iloponis's review against another edition
3.5
aside from victor’s occasional unintelligible emo ramblings this was pretty good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
laurenkgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief, Classism, Child death, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Blood, and Violence