woweewhoa's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: War, Misogyny, Ableism, Body horror, Animal death, Police brutality, Violence, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
hoppskotch's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Honestly, one of the finest adaptations of classic literature into modern sociopolitical contexts. I highly recommend this to anyone who either enjoys the creature feature genre or just in general is looking to expand their adult fiction and horror bookshelf. So many of the characters are complex that equally measures that they are written with deep respect to each person's humanity. That being said there are quite a handful of characters who I could have lived without but were essential for the plot and overall were enriching. An incredible dive into the moral and philosophical nature of death, murder, criminality, and victimhood within the context of war and loss. This has become one of my favorite books nearly overnight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, War, Death, Violence, Vomit, Torture, Murder, Grief, Gore, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Misogyny
laurenbookwitchbitch's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’ve been on a big reinterpretation of Frankenstein kick so I had to read “Frankenstein in Baghdad,” translated from Arabic. In the midst of the Iraq War a junk dealer begins to sow human body parts together from people killed in bombings. What follows is a gut wrenching tale of chase and pursuit, grief and saints, war and friendship, death and destruction. A powerful story about what it takes to create and maintain life in the worst of war zones.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, War, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Islamophobia, Murder, and Physical abuse
saint_eleanor's review
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
I loved this book very terry pratchett esque. A little hard to follow at times but thats partially because i can’t keep track of more than like 3 characters in a book. The time skips were a little confusing, but ultimately this is like a lovable folktale urban legend with heavy philosophical undertones.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Child death, and Gore
almalotus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Blood, War, Death, and Body horror
addyruth17's review
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The application of the ideas surrounding Frankenstein were intriguing here: vengeance, guilt and innocence, humanity's collective anger and grief. The rest of the book didn't really live up to the promise of this premise: I'd say there were too many plot lines and I wasn't very invested in any of them. The clunky translation also brought the reading experience down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
Minor: War, Cursing, Grief, and Sexual content
toffishay's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of my favorite books of all time and I am so intrigued by how stories that we know can be reimagined and adapted to analyze different fears and different times with different actors. In the case of Frankenstein in Baghdad, the tale of a Frankenstein monster is not used to expose fears of science and paternalism, but of exploring violence and the impacts of war, religion and spirituality, and identity and purpose. All that I didn't like was that I would have liked more exploration of the female characters who have interesting stories, but not as much time on the page and some characters get a lot of time, but little payoff. I think that if you are interested in horror and a reimagined classic, this is certainly worth your time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, War, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, and Stalking
Minor: Excrement and Religious bigotry
tessieferro's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
“They all dreamed something about Hasib. Parts of one dream made up for parts missing in another. A little dream filled a gap in a big one, and the threads stitched together to recreate a dream body for Hasib, to go with his soul, which was still hovering over all their heads and seeking the rest it could not find.”
Beautiful, somewhat comical in a twisted way, an unexpected twist on an overused concept. Some parts fell short, but the concept made up for all of it.
Beautiful, somewhat comical in a twisted way, an unexpected twist on an overused concept. Some parts fell short, but the concept made up for all of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, and Body horror
roenfoe's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wanted to love Frankenstein in Baghdad so, so badly. The blurb was witty, darkly tantalizing, and hinted at an upsetting, modern take on a familiar Western classic. Unfortunately, the actual novel fell very short of my expectations and said summary.
First off, the prose was staccato and largely devoid of flavor. It was difficult to imagine the titular Baghdad, as the luscious descriptions of decaying architecture and its unsettling inhabitants were largely absent. There was a mystery element, but very little intrigue generated. The supernatural elements were not frightening or dark- rather they were discussed in a dry, matter-of-fact way. I read several reviews and papers that classify Frankenstein in Baghdad as a modern Gothic novel, but in my opinion it is severely lacking the crucial Gothic elements to classify it as such. However, after consulting a friend with some expertise, it seems this may have been due to a poor English translation. Over 100 pages were cut from the original text, which likely included some of the meat I felt it lacked.
The characters were one-dimensional and each felt the same as the next. Beyond their initial descriptions, their unique characteristics or personalities were never expounded upon, resulting in a cast of virtually identical men (and a handful of women). The most memorable character was Elishva, and I still had to google her name just now because I couldn't remember. The list of names and roles at the beginning of the book is a necessary tool to understand the story at all. Because these characters all felt the same, I was not invested in any of them and struggled to care about the problems they faced. Even the monster (called Whatsitsname) had the same character voice as the rest of the crew.
It may seem that this book was terrible, but the themes were fascinating: the banality of violence, creation (and the morality of creation), survival in the face of collapse, ritual, religion, and belief, the decay of norms under occupation... I just wish that the author had done something more interesting with them within the story.
I can't remember the ending other than it was underwhelming and gave us no answers. A book doesn't need to do the latter, but after such a drag of a read I was hoping for something good at the end. Part of me thinks I should have DNFed this one, but it was extremely short and I wanted to love it so badly.
First off, the prose was staccato and largely devoid of flavor. It was difficult to imagine the titular Baghdad, as the luscious descriptions of decaying architecture and its unsettling inhabitants were largely absent. There was a mystery element, but very little intrigue generated. The supernatural elements were not frightening or dark- rather they were discussed in a dry, matter-of-fact way. I read several reviews and papers that classify Frankenstein in Baghdad as a modern Gothic novel, but in my opinion it is severely lacking the crucial Gothic elements to classify it as such. However, after consulting a friend with some expertise, it seems this may have been due to a poor English translation. Over 100 pages were cut from the original text, which likely included some of the meat I felt it lacked.
The characters were one-dimensional and each felt the same as the next. Beyond their initial descriptions, their unique characteristics or personalities were never expounded upon, resulting in a cast of virtually identical men (and a handful of women). The most memorable character was Elishva, and I still had to google her name just now because I couldn't remember. The list of names and roles at the beginning of the book is a necessary tool to understand the story at all. Because these characters all felt the same, I was not invested in any of them and struggled to care about the problems they faced. Even the monster (called Whatsitsname) had the same character voice as the rest of the crew.
It may seem that this book was terrible, but the themes were fascinating: the banality of violence, creation (and the morality of creation), survival in the face of collapse, ritual, religion, and belief, the decay of norms under occupation... I just wish that the author had done something more interesting with them within the story.
I can't remember the ending other than it was underwhelming and gave us no answers. A book doesn't need to do the latter, but after such a drag of a read I was hoping for something good at the end. Part of me thinks I should have DNFed this one, but it was extremely short and I wanted to love it so badly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore
lizlikesfrogs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Death
Moderate: Police brutality and Alcohol