Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

238 reviews

lucyelizzxo_'s review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

clarker84's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder

aceofcryptids's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Honestly I liked this version a lot better than the various abridged versions I’ve read in the past. I have a lot more thoughts but they are hard to put into words.

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Content Warnings

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

asen123's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

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I didn’t really like the book. It felt like that second of pain when you drop a glass and you can’t catch it and are helplessly watching it shatter. Also almost all of the problems would be solved if Frankenstein made the monster pretty or at least not horrifying. I can’t really decide who is the villain of the story, which I think is the point. I dislike Victor, but it isn’t the point to absolute hatred, like I feel sympathy for him. I also feel sympathy for the monster too.

It weirded me out that he married who he called his cousin throughout the whole book. I get that she wasn’t really his cousin, but they just kept calling each other cousin even when they were engaged.

I appreciated the elements that looked at how wonderful the world and human connection is. Also if you are wanting a more detailed thing on how frankienstien made the monster, then you aren’t gonna get it here. It was glossed over quickly to get to the main point/moral of the story. It’s more of a cautionary tale than it is a story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Xenophobia, Islamophobia

kayskates's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional sad 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Classism

Minor: Body horror, Suicide attempt

sashajwolf's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional 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: Yes

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It's difficult for me to review this fairly, since Gothic horror is generally not to my taste. I read this for a challenge and would have dnf'd it otherwise. I recognise the role it played in the development of the horror and SF genres. However, I found the story unconvincing. It's a teenage work, and it shows. Characters make impulsive and implausible decisions, and the general atmosphere is overwrought. There are odd time jumps, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief at the creature's ability to educate himself. There are three narrators, but their voices are indistinguishable. Frankenstein's travels seem to be motivated by an authorial  desire to cram in as many picturesque landscapes as possible rather than any real contribution to the plot. The parallels between parenthood and creation are to me the most interesting aspect of the story, but are not adequately explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol

i_hate_grrr's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

lawphenix's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia

vi_violetrose's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A classic that was far ahead of its time. It’s honestly incredible how true to life the ideas presented here are, despite being incredibly subversive for the time it was written. 

One of the more interesting stories that use an unreliable narrator, given the multiple layers of narration within each other.

I loved that we didn’t hear from the creature directly (since his story was told from Victor’s recollection, who is obviously biased) until the very end (and even then not directly because Walton, who has been influenced by Victor, is telling it).

   

Though sometimes I felt like Victor would reiterate the same points a bit too much in his narration, and some parts were a bit slow, I don’t  have any major issues with the novel. Even then, I felt like there was a point to Victor constantly rehashing how miserable he was. 

The prose is beautiful, and the dialogue, especially from the Creature, is striking. This is a book that 100% deserves its status as a classic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Islamophobia

lucywestenra's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 43%

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Okay so the boredom and sadness this book is making me feel are OVERWHELMING. I was gonna pause it but now I think I will just put it away forever. The pressure that I felt to read this because it was a gothic classic was pretty large. It is just not interesting to me though. I got to the mark where the monster is beginning to tell his story and I am SO BORED. I’m even listening to the audiobook while looking at the physical book and highlighting parts that interest me. I think Mary Shelley’s writing style is fine but the content is too death filled, sadness inspiring, and honestly, uninspiring to me personally. Bye Frankenstein. 😵‍💫🤧

I saw a review that said that Hell Has One Book and it’s Frankenstein. That aligns with how I’m feeling right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment

Minor: Body horror