Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

33 reviews

justiceforplutoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Main character was insufferable. (He's just like me)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury

Depending on which edition of the book you have, there may or may not be incest. Mary Shelley edited the 1831 edition to work around the incest, but two characters still call each other "cousin" as a friendly term. I picked "medical trama" because there wasn't a tag for "I created a monster and now I can't use the medical instruments without feeling immense guilt." I also chose "panic attacks" because I think that's what was going on with Victor for most of the book; they just didn't have that terminology in the 1800s. Period-Typical Misogyny; if you read classics often, I don't think it'll affect you much.

Towards the end of the book, Victor begins having serious suicidal thoughts, and his sickness leads to his death. At the end of the book, the creature actually does vow to kill himself with fire out of guilt of how his actions affected Victor.

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The first time I read this book, I was a sophomore in high school, and this was one of the few assigned readings that I actually completed. This is my first reread of the novel—fifteen years later—and I can now say that it still ranks highly among my favorite classic novels! I enjoyed following the incredible/unbelievable journeys of the three narrators, and I can now much better appreciate the Romantic, Gothic, and Transcendentalist elements that Shelley uses to weave her narratives. I think I’ll always be blown away by what Shelley accomplished as a woman of her time and how much of herself she puts into her work. I don’t believe I have anything new under the sun to say about Frankenstein. All I can say is that it truly does live up to the bar against which it is set.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ekgranstro's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

seforaflorian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

palmkd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

4.0

This is an exceptionally interesting tale, especially when you consider it was written so many years ago and is still fascinating today. So many stories have spawned from Frankenstein and it's really nice to get to know the source material better.

Frankenstein is a spoiled man-child who has never been held accountable for his actions. Full of hubris, he manages to create life which he unleashes on the world without considering the repercussions.

It's an epistolary story, meaning the story is told via letters. It's a clever way of sharing information which is essentially told in 3 main parts or books. Whether you're a big fan of classics or just curious how this tale of the monster was really written, it's definitely worth the read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I've had Frankenstein on my TBR forever and I figured it was high time to give the first science-fiction novel ever written a go! 
Here are my thoughts:

THE STORY -- 
- Haunting (obviously)
- Lots of twists + turns
- Clever, with growing tension underlaid by an impending sense of doom
- It's obvious that so much of modern science-fiction and horror find their roots in this work of fiction (it's a classic for a reason, that's for sure)

THE CHARACTERS -- 
- The story primarily follows the relationship (if you can call it that) between Frankenstein and his Creation/Monster
- While there are secondary characters, they serve primarily as sources of grief for Frankenstein and instruments of torment for the Monster to use against his creator

THE WRITING -- 
- This was a bit of a struggle for me: most of the story is conveyed through long discourses (internal monologues as well as multi-chaptered monologues), which wasn't my favorite thing at times

Overall, this is an engaging book and it's obvious to me why this story has captivated audiences and inspired retellings since its publication! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

rileyyy02's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Mary Shelley is my ancestor! I read this book when I was younger so it felt slow at the time but it’s a good story about humanity

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mitsyleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

jessi_lou95's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

rin_varga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

I enjoyed reading this classic immensely! I'm so glad that I decided to start it in the heart of winter just after the holidays since I discovered so much of the mood is wrapped up in desolate, frigid landscapes & frozen tundra.

If you've only ever watched the 1930s movie like me, then the original 1818 version will feel like a completely new story to you!

I appreciated how much heart, empathy, passion & flaws we see as both Victor & his creature explore the same feelings (believing that they're completely different from one another) such as hubris, the spectrum of morality, justice, & if wickedness is due to nature or nurture. The book even begins & ends through the lens of a third party, leaving us the reader free to sympathize a bit with both Victor & his creature who are at such odds with each other.

I didn't expect to get as emotionally invested in the characters as I did--it was a pleasant surprise to find myself hoping, grieving & crying on their behalf, especially the monster who so desperately & sincerely loves people & longs to be accepted for who he is on the inside💔

The middle of the novel could drag on at times, especially as Victor traveled and couldn't shake his fears, regrets & melancholy no matter who he was with or what he was doing for long. In the begin & by the end though, events picked up again in anticipation & drama leaving me at the edge of my seat!

There may be a little good & evil in everyone, & this novel explores in depth just how much enemies can be more similar than they'd like to believe. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little (or a lot) of gray area & want to try a classic where emotions are a strong motivation--both for the characters & us as readers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail