wombat_88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
david_agranoff's review against another edition
3.0
When I requested this book my editor at Monster Librarian pointed out “David you do know this is a YA novel.” Granted I don’t read a lot of YA stuff but have from time to time and I am not against such things. I tend to enjoy a harder, darker horror in general but I thought the concept I read online sounded interesting.
It is indeed an interesting book filled with fun ideas. Man Made Boy is the story of Boy, the son of the Frankestein monster and the Bride who lives in a NYC refuge for monsters. Hidden in plain sight from the public as a part of a freak show the monsters live in a labyrinth behind/under a theater in the city. I LOVED this concept. The set-up is beautifully done and creatures a wonderful environment that is both gothic and surreal.
Boy is a teenager and this for sure a road trip coming of age novel. Boy decides he wants to leave the show and live in the outside world. Which is not the easiest thing to do when you are made up of re-animated body parts, but he gets out there and gets a job. Once he travels he meets other monsters, falls in love and has adventures.
Where it gets muddied is a secondary plot about Boy’s love for hacking. He creates a villain named Vi. A sentient computer virus, which in effect makes Boy like Doctor Frankenstein.
The theme is not subtle, it is about responsibility. I thought the novel was fun overall and would be perfect for young teens. I should point out there is some strong language and suggestion of sexuality entirely off camera. The book says for 12 and up, that in my mind is fair but I was reading adult horror novels at that age so take that with a grain of salt.
I think YA collections should have this book, kids looking for a light hearted fantasy will enjoy it.
aneighborlysloth's review against another edition
3.0
DNF'D. Starting off, it was sort of cute and entertaining but then I put it down to read something else and had no desire to pick it back up again. Also, Boy kind of aggravated me.
pwbalto's review against another edition
5.0
The Munsters meets Tom Sawyer in this fast and funny picaresque about finding your own way while learning to accept responsibility. Boy has inherited his father's size and strength and his mom's technical skills - even without sharing any of either of their genetic material, created as he was out of parts stolen from the morgue. He and his folks live with a motley coven of other monsters (vampire, brownie, werewolf, a couple of ogres, troop of trolls etc) under a Broadway theater, never coming out in the light of day. But when Boy realizes he can pass for human- albeit a human horribly injured in a tragic thresher accident - he impetuously decides to take off.
His adventures, the creatures he meets, the unbalanced sentient computer virus he created pretty much just to see if he could, and his own observations of our world come together in a book that is original, tender, crass, and inventive.
His adventures, the creatures he meets, the unbalanced sentient computer virus he created pretty much just to see if he could, and his own observations of our world come together in a book that is original, tender, crass, and inventive.
krissyronan's review against another edition
3.0
Fun, unique read that I can see myself recommending a lot, even though it's not my new favorite book.
shogins's review against another edition
4.0
In his seventeen years of life, Boy has never left home. Sure, Boy has friends on the internet where he can be an anonymous computer genius, but it’s hard to make human friends when you’re the son of Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride. Instead, he lives in New York, under a theater that runs a show staffed with monster and creatures. When he decides to leave and try to live as a human, albeit an odd-looking one, he ends up on a trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde as he runs from mistakes and they both run from families. This was a fun look at familiar characters, and Boy was an engaging and likable narrator.
Magical coming of age is definitely a genre I dig.
Magical coming of age is definitely a genre I dig.
shanameydala's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun take on a teen drama. Frankenstein's son, Boy, has grown up among other monsters and wants to make is own life and trying to live among humans. He ends up taking a road trip of sorts and meeting up with other monsters. Boy is a character that I think everyone can relate to, because they are teenagers (or like me survived my teenage years). I really enjoyed spending time with Boys and friends and I'm looking for the second book in the series.
dairyqueen84's review against another edition
4.0
Joh Skovron's reading of his own book was brilliant. He had different voices for the characters that really fit each character. This is a very clever take on what has become of literary and mythical monsters like Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, and Medusa. Boy, the manmade son of Frankenstein's monster and Bride, is a very likeable young man trying to make his own way in life but having a difficult time when he runs away to the world of humans.
hsquared's review against another edition
4.0
The son of Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride (known simply as Boy) is tired of hiding from humans and having to fulfill his parents’ expectations, proving that even monsters suffer from teen angst. When he takes off on a cross-country road trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde, he learns some important lessons about friendship and being responsible for one’s actions. Give this to older fans of the Percy Jackson series, as they will appreciate the many references to mythical beasts and monsters. Math and science teachers may want to make use of the computer programming and AI references, as well as the ethical considerations facing any inventor or creator.
chwaters's review against another edition
3.0
Boy is the son of Frankenstein's Monster and The Bride. He's lived his entire life in a theater operated by magical beings who cannot pass for human in the outside world. These magical beings are the monsters we know from stories, fables, fairy tales and mythology. Boy, who already doesn't fit in with the outside world, also has problems fitting in with his own misfit community. He tends to be regarded as more "science" than "magic" is treated with derision from many of the monsters. His main comfort is the online community and Boy is a talented hacker. When the sentient computer program he created flops and relationships at the theater become tense, Boy heads out to try his hand at living among humans. It turns out to be harder than he thought. It turns out that humans require things like photo IDs and SSNs to gain employment, which is necessary for the rest of living on one's own. After an ill-fated first crush/breakup and the realization that the AI program Boy created worked entirely too well, Boy hits the road, this time with the granddaughters of Jeckyl and Hyde.
This wound up being quite a bit of fun. The details are clever, from the company at the theater to the nature of the program-gone-wrong that Boy creates. My only complaint is that the storyline involving the troll girlfriend feels unnecessary by the end of the book. Otherwise, a nice take on the classics-reinterpretation-genre.
This wound up being quite a bit of fun. The details are clever, from the company at the theater to the nature of the program-gone-wrong that Boy creates. My only complaint is that the storyline involving the troll girlfriend feels unnecessary by the end of the book. Otherwise, a nice take on the classics-reinterpretation-genre.