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challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria
Moderate: Gore, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Islamophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Islamophobia, Colonisation
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
I listened to the audiobook version and, even though I really liked the narrator's voice, I have to accept the fact that I do not get along with audiobooks, I struggle to focus and I end up missing a good chunk of the story. I say this because it negatively affected my fruition of the book and partially influenced my final rating.
However, I also wasn't that much blown away by the story itself. I struggled the most with the chapters narrated from Frankenstein's point of view, as the story progressed they became quite tiresome and I just did not care much for him as a character, I just wanted him to stop droning on and on.
I enjoyed a bit more the sections focused on the creature's perspective. The themes addressed are interesting but the characterization and the story development were rather unremarkable. The overall reading experience was a bit middle-of-the-road for me.
However, I also wasn't that much blown away by the story itself. I struggled the most with the chapters narrated from Frankenstein's point of view, as the story progressed they became quite tiresome and I just did not care much for him as a character, I just wanted him to stop droning on and on.
I enjoyed a bit more the sections focused on the creature's perspective. The themes addressed are interesting but the characterization and the story development were rather unremarkable. The overall reading experience was a bit middle-of-the-road for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Genocide, Racism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Islamophobia
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Abandonment, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Abandonment
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
It was an interesting read. Since it has influenced many other books and films that I love I admired it to some extent. However, the pacing felt a bit weird and also the racial stereotyping made this book a lot less enjoyable for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Xenophobia, Islamophobia
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've studied this book in about four or five classes at this point and I'm still learning from it. Shelley exposes the instability of the male ego so many times over it's actually insane. She tries and fails to spark discourse about issues that she, as an upper class white woman, doesn't have a lot of lived familiarity with (especially with the Safie storyline), but the little jabs at sexism and masculinity are done wonderfully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Homophobia
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DISCLAIMER – This is a review of the original 1818 text, not the heavily edited 1831 edition.
THOUGHTS
· Victor Frankenstein is a self-centered, whiny, man-boy. I despise him.
· There is kind of a reverse original sin theme going on – “the being” was born good, it was the way people treated him that turned him into a monster. And I don’t buy Shelley’s theory for one minute. Yes, people who are hurt usually hurt others, but the violence spree that the being goes on is completely out of proportion to the way he has been treated. It just feels like the author is making excuses for men who behave badly.
· Once I started reading, I realized this is not a text of Victorian literature (my mistake), but very firmly rooted in the Romanticism period. Between that and the fact that this book was written by an 18-year-old, I found it to be way too “emo” for my taste. The writing was full of angst and over-the top melodrama and it drove me bananas.
· The book is divided into three parts. The first two were obviously written by the same person. The third part, however, is obviously written by someone else. The level or writing and maturity is head and shoulders above the first two parts. My theory is that Mary’s husband, Percy Shelly, wrote that third section, or at least it was very heavily edited by him to the point that it feels like someone else wrote it.
· The original text was highly criticized. Mary Shelley caved and re-wrote many parts of the novel. And when I say Mary Shelley re-wrote, it most probably means that Percy Shelley highly edited the new text. So . . . if you have read the 1831 version chances are that what you like is really Percy’s heavy-handed editing, not Mary’s writing.
· These are all my personal theories, and I’m sticking to them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Islamophobia, Death of parent