Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

27 reviews

ac_52's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

For having to read this as a school assignment, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Frankenstein truly is a classic read for those wanting to question what it really means to be human. This book also dove into various different themes that were somewhat radical for the time, including the criticizing of the justice system. 

For the time period it was written in, it was very hard to read at times. There were times that I had to take breaks in reading because I couldn't handle reading the old English any more. There are also times that the story just seems to drag on and on; I would feel like I read 5 pages when I'd really only read 2. It was definitley a huge mental olympic game trying to finish that book, especially because I primarily read it at night time. 

Beyond this, I did really enjoy most of the characters. I was surprised when I reached the point in which

the Creature began speaking. Popular movie adapations seem to skip this- I enjoyed how it added more perspective to the story and explored the humanity of the Creature even though he wasn't truly a human at all

. I thought that there was some good character development from some characters throughout the story.

However, both Victor and the Creature were lacking in development to me. It seemed like they both just got worse the more I read. I'm all for morally gray characters, but this seemed a little too over the top at some times. Especially when Victor dies... The Creature did not need to do all that. There was absolutely no sympathy from me in that moment

.

TLDR; it was a really great book that explored the complexities of humanity and there were some really great characters that were generally loveable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Incest, and Murder

Minor: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

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.

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

doriandelioncourt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Classism

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

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book made me get back into reading. Slay Mary Shelley 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

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

felofhe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

lesboracle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Incest, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

sareed's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Kidnapping, and Classism