Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

207 reviews

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

clovetra's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

for a book with such a place in the cultural zeitgeist….. this was mid NDKMDKFKG

like especially considering a lot of ppl regard this as one of their favourite classics, i was expecting something…. more.

one major let down of the book for me i think was the book’s focus on viktor and neglect of the monster. yeah that could be a metacommentary on viktor’s neglect of his creation but.. im sorry i didn’t care for viktor.  bro was having pity parties because he created something ugly, abandoned it, and then was shocked his creation was pissed! bro why are you getting on the bad side of a mf who essentially can’t be killed? bro can survive siberia and guns and you’re deciding to get on your high horse and then be upset ur monster said what he was gonna do (kill ur family). viktor isn’t unlikeable in a way you’re rooting for his failure so the book is interesting; he’s unlikeable because he’s a dumb bitch who whines for 280 pages yet there is supposed to be ambiguity whether the monster or viktor is in the right…. there was no ambiguity for me #Team Monster.

what else is there to say…. i found the chapters with the monster’s perspective the most interesting by far. i would’ve loved if he was the protagonist instead. 

also this book pisses me off because all of this anguish could’ve been avoided if viktor wasn’t a cunt to his creation. bro YOU MADE HIM BE THAT UGLY. WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED HES GROSS? and then he straight up abandons the monster and pretends he doesn’t exist. yeah i’d kill viktor and his entire family if i was the monster too.

the plot most of the time was incredibly boring, but i did enjoy the prologue about mary shelley, as without it i fear i would’ve given this a lower rating. the allegory for childbirth and the maternal relationships coming through viktor, as well as the general themes of children and motherhood relating to mary’s life made this book somewhat enjoyable, as it gave the story some depth. without those explanations into mary’s life and how it relates to plot points, this would’ve been a major flop.

um anyways i think this book is extremely overhyped but hey at least i know the true story of frankenstein and i can be insufferable and go “erm actually the monster isn’t called frankenstein its the dude who creates the monster whose name is frankenstein 👆🤓” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Feminicide

agn_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

capa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

luxxltyd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Incest

liline163's review against another edition

reflective medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-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

3.0

Read it for lit.
Depressing pre-analysis and depressing post-analysis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

arayo's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Confinement

euhfubeuh's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a tale of corruption, lonesomeness, and terror. Dr. Frankenstein learns how his own actions to satisfy his loneliness may come back to haunt him, and Frankenstein’s monster is born with a fresh moral slate but the disadvantage of ugliness and the victim of prejudice. This story exhibits the effects of a bigoted society on one’s moral values, and how one lonely scientist takes things too far.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Religious bigotry