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abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.0
I felt like I needed something a little easier to read in the early days of January, when my brain was mushy from work, so I turned to some fantasy/horror-esque fiction in the form of this queer biracial retelling of Frankenstein! It delved deeper into themes of identity & belonging than I expected, but at the same time, didn’t go quite deep enough to be satisfying. It was an enjoyable read in that it was entertaining, but it hasn’t stuck with me hugely.
The main part that does stick with me now, three weeks after finishing it, is the disbelief I felt at one of the main turning points of the novel. Dr Frank has perfected her embryo and is almost ready to implant into Hannah, when she realises her now-evil (again, a bit lacklustre in the development there) brother has fertilised it. Blinded by her ambition, she lies to Hannah and implants it anyway, putting a piece of Ezra into her partner without her consent?!?! Hello?? This seems so out of character. Like you just spent months creating this embryo, literally just do it again. The risk vs reward is not adding up here. I know that the ‘monster’ (Ash in this case, the nonbinary offspring created by Dr Frank) needed motive to become so, but lord it was hard to suspend my disbelief there.
I did really like the little peek into Indonesian culture, specifically with regard to Bugis society where there are five recognised genders. The gender identity aspects of the novel were the most compelling, along with the limits of scientific research, ethics, and how far people are willing to go in the name of ambition.
A little forgettable, sometimes questionable, not mad I read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Ableism, and Abandonment
Sexual violence here refers to
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