basil_touche's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Mary Shelley segments were the best parts of the book. It felt like a lot of research went into Shelley's history and the prose felt of the period. The Bedlam parts I didn't quite get though.
However, the modern parts, while they could be philosophical at times, treated the trans protaganist, Ry, abysmally. The was gratuitous and did nothing to the narrative. It's just there to tell you how "miserable" being trans is. Having a trans protaganist in a reimagining of Frankenstein should be a match made in heaven, touching on themes of what humans can change of themselves, seeing ourselves in the creature in how he is viewed in ways that he's not, but here it just feels tacked on and not respectfully explored. Ry doesn't feel likely a fully realised character (the rest of the cast doesn't fare too well either) and is deadnamed and fetishised constantly. Doesn't help that it didn't keep my attention well either.
I can appreciate the novel's exploration of AI and what makes us human, but I feel like I can find a better book that covers the topic without the transphobia.
However, the modern parts, while they could be philosophical at times, treated the trans protaganist, Ry, abysmally. The
Spoiler
sexual assultI can appreciate the novel's exploration of AI and what makes us human, but I feel like I can find a better book that covers the topic without the transphobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
Moderate: Child death and Death
the_tridentarii's review
reflective
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? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
waterbear0821's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
It’s an interesting thought exercise, overlaying Frankenstein on modern culture, medicine, and technology. I get why this book is good. It gave me the brain-tingling feelings of good literature, where I can feel myself thinking about things in a new way. I enjoyed the shifting, melding perspectives, the recurring, regenerative, reimagined themes. The general science fiction horror structure and style. But also why are the characters in literature so blank and deplorable? Bah. Also, big CW vibes. Having a trans main character doesn’t mean you have to include hate crimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Rape, and Hate crime
Moderate: Sexual violence, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Misogyny
gaygothiccowboy's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Pains me to give a Jeanette winterson novel this low of a rating but god I hated so many things about the “present” timeline in this. Victor you are my number one enemy, I’m coming for you bitch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Rape, and Misogyny
brechtian's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
The lows of this book are quite low (poor depiction of trans identity, borderline trauma porn, sections of quite spotty prose), but the highs are, admittedly, very high. This book at its best is a masterful postmodern examination of Frankenstein as biography, text, legacy, and cultural object. It explores multiplicity and our creation of monsters within ourselves as well as others beautifully, all while providing fascinating parallels to conversations surrounding transhumanism, AI, and the future of technological advancement. Honestly, the more you know about the critical conversations/academic discourse surrounding Frankenstein, the more you will likely enjoy this novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Ableism
There are quite a few graphic sex scenes.marissab's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Mental illness, Antisemitism, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Minor: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, and Pedophilia
thereadingscorpios's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Transphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Antisemitism
schnanko's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Medical content, Transphobia, Hate crime, Outing, and Sexual violence
kshertz's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I think that this title for this book is pretty misleading because it really feels like the title is trying to lend it self to like a romantic comedy. However, this is a very deep intense book looking at artificial intelligence, Frankenstein, and what it means to be a human. I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that they had a trans person in the book and they were comparing that with artificial intelligence and built humans that are brought back to life. It made it feel like a trans person is comparable to different pieces of life that were not necessarily human and I did not like that aspect. I don’t think that was the author’s intention at all. It just made me feel like maybe they were biting off more than needed to be in the novel and in doing that kind of equated trans with not normal so I was not liking that. But there was a lot of interesting themes and connections in the book that really made me think.
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
hannahbailey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is an interesting exploration of what our future could look like: bionic humans, AI sex robots and eternal life (the brain as data). I loved how Winterson connects these ideas to Mary Shelley's ideas of human life and reanimation after death. This connection between the past and present shows how prevalent this idea of eternal life and making the impossible possible has always been. Shelley's perspective was engaging to read and reminded me how much I love her novel Frankenstein (perhaps more praise should be given to Shelley here than Winterson lol). The modern POV follows a non-binary trans person (Ry) and their relationship with Victor Stein, a scientist (of sorts) trying to bring his mate's beheaded head back to life. This was (perhaps purposefully) less engaging, as Ry often lacks agency amongst the people around them who shove their opinions of gender and identity down their throat.
I've read several reviews of this novel in which people describe Winterson as transphobic. In this novel specifically, I don't see the ignorant views of the characters as a reflection of her own views. However, there is very crude language used throughout which focuses on the anatomy of the characters. I don't feel that this narrative focus on bodily features has aged well (I know this book is only 3 years old but even then) in response to present ideas of gender, sex and identity. The characters around Ry are consistently transphobic, denying their identity, misgendering them and deadnaming them. This is a book to read if you're interested in the future of AI and human relationships, but not if you're looking for a story with good trans rep. Had this book not featured Frankenstein but a different cautionary tale, such as Brave New World, I probably would've hated it.
Alternative reads with trans rep/trans authors:
https://bookriot.com/best-trans-fantasy-books/
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/126482.Novels_by_Trans_Authors_with_Trans_Protagonists
Jeanette Winterson//transphobia:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-books/no-rush-to-change-gender-uk-writer-joins-trans-debate-idUSKCN1T028R
Non-exhaustive list of TW: sexual assault, transphobia, homophobia, child death, miscarriage, misogyny, body horror/gore
I've read several reviews of this novel in which people describe Winterson as transphobic. In this novel specifically, I don't see the ignorant views of the characters as a reflection of her own views. However, there is very crude language used throughout which focuses on the anatomy of the characters. I don't feel that this narrative focus on bodily features has aged well (I know this book is only 3 years old but even then) in response to present ideas of gender, sex and identity. The characters around Ry are consistently transphobic, denying their identity, misgendering them and deadnaming them. This is a book to read if you're interested in the future of AI and human relationships, but not if you're looking for a story with good trans rep. Had this book not featured Frankenstein but a different cautionary tale, such as Brave New World, I probably would've hated it.
Alternative reads with trans rep/trans authors:
https://bookriot.com/best-trans-fantasy-books/
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/126482.Novels_by_Trans_Authors_with_Trans_Protagonists
Jeanette Winterson//transphobia:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-books/no-rush-to-change-gender-uk-writer-joins-trans-debate-idUSKCN1T028R
Non-exhaustive list of TW: sexual assault, transphobia, homophobia, child death, miscarriage, misogyny, body horror/gore
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Medical content, Death, Child death, and Transphobia
Moderate: Miscarriage