Reviews

Падение Элизабет Франкенштейн by Kiersten White

inkwellimps's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

I wouldn't recommend it to people who are fans of the original book. As a derivative work, I wasn't expecting to be so far astray from the original--Victor in particular I was very bothered by. To give one example early on in the novel,

there is a scene where Victor as a child comes to his senses after having hurt his younger brother and is wholly unconcerned that his brother is bleeding out

, which makes me wonder if Kiersten White and I read the same Frankenstein where Victor is filled with anxiety and dread over the thought of anything happening to his loved ones, where securing his family’s safety is his sole motivation after the creature’s creation. Like EVEN if we go with the "Victor is mad" theory, it is Victor's emotional investment in the wellbeing of his family that drives the tension and interest in Frankenstein. Additionally, in the original every death puts Victor in a deep despair where he stops engaging with the world and caring for himself until others intervene. In The Dark Descent, this is reduced to Victor being very sickly, and is entirely unrelated outside of giving Elizabeth a way to conveniently discover Victor's research.

I do genuinely believe there's a lot that could be said about Elizabeth, or anyone in her position, as someone taken in as a parentified only daughter (as Victor's parents seem to treat her in the original), but I don't think this book is the book to do it. I was eagerly anticipating how White would handle (spoilers for the original book)

Justine being accused of young William's murder and Elizabeth genuinely blaming her. In the original, this is a moment of real heartbreak for Elizabeth where she not only loses the child but believes momentarily her close friend is guilty of murder before Victor convinces her of Justine's innocence.

I was genuinely disappointed that the Elizabeth of The Dark Descent could not be--even momentarily--flawed and this Elizabeth for no moment doubted Justine's innocence, making the scene overall more boring.

For being billed as “The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein”, the majority of the novel portrays Elizabeth as a victim. The darkness in question is mainly Elizabeth trying to make herself appealing to Victor and ||convincing herself she is responsible for Victor’s murders via not knowing he was committing them||. She is rather hastily comforted by a side character, Mary,  that she is not at fault. Shortly before this, Mary straight up tells Elizabeth that she is a victim.

After taking charge, Elizabeth leads a more righteous life

—as much as the author’s note solidifies that this was written with the intent of being a feminist novel, it bothers me that all of the female protagonist’s choices cannot be caused by her own volition, but must instead be caused by the villainous male character. It’s just another caricature of femininity.

I did try to give this novel a chance as its own isolated narrative after getting over that initial surprise, but beyond what it borrows from Shelley, I found it to be mediocre. There was a small moment I was genuinely invested around the 3/4 mark where it is revealed that

Elizabeth still could inherent the Lavenza fortune and that this potential is the reason Judge Frankenstein kept her around,

but a couple scenes after that I found myself disengaged. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Medical content

A few of the "child abuse" instances involve religious abuse.

jpwilliams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

anaheeta's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

coffeeangel's review against another edition

Pass

snoopydoo77's review against another edition

5.0

4 ½ ★

This is a wonderful retelling of Frankenstein, but full disclosure before I start. It has been way to long since I read Frankenstein and only remember the basics and no details. So this review will only focus on the book read and not be compared to the original.

The first few chapters were a bit sow for me but it picked up fast and you get thrown right into the world of Elizabeth, Justine and Victor along with some others.

I loved the writing it was so nice and smooth to read even with sort if dual-timelines, which can be confusing sometimes but Kiersten White done an awesome job with it. It just fit and made sense.

It is about Victor Frankenstein and with that super dark, chilling and gory. It is not for people who have issues with gore, medical experimentation, use of corpses and child abuse. All that being said, it was super fun to read, it was dark, chilling but fun.

So if you looking for a chilling read, this is the one…… I enjoyed very much and had a hard time putting it down, in fact I stayed up super late to finish the book but it was so worth it.

Overall I rate this chillingly, fun book 4 ½ ★

 

tinky47's review against another edition

5.0

Elizabeth is an orphan, brought into the Frankensteins’ home as a ward to be a companion to their troubled oldest son, a young man whose fits of rage hold the family in terror. Elizabeth knows her situation is precarious; not wanting to return to her abusing caregiver, she becomes the friend that Victor needs, the only one who can soothe his terrible temper, and cover the traces of his terrible hobbies. As they grow older, the family as well the the household grows, and nothing is more terrible to Victor than Elizabeth’s attention being shared. Told in a series of events and flashbacks, this story is gothic and tells of terrible choices people make when they try to protect the ones they love.

justinkhchen's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

Thematically spot on, but the plot suffers, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein perfectly captures the hazy gothic atmosphere, and its first-person perspective makes sure the emotion is front and center, claustrophobic in an intense, hypnotic way. The pivotal theme of monster is well explored, as Kiersten White cleverly utilizes her cast of morally gray characters to dissect the varying type of monsters, and their relationship to the (sometimes involuntary) makers.

While I enjoy the heightened melodrama and the protagonist's psychological arc, the finer detail of its plot feels less refined, as if Kiersten White had the outline, but couldn't come up with anything intriguing to connect the dots. One of the novel's 'reveal' is so obvious, yet we have to wait until 2/3 into the book to have it out in the open. The last quarter of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is also where its YA root is the most obvious, suddenly becomes a jovial, adventurous story, in contrast to the earlier, more melancholic tone. Lastly, there are multiple places where the book should've ended, and every time it resumes, it becomes less provocative, and more cliché. I get it, there's a punchline the author really wants to hit, but the dragged-out closure definitely tarnish my overall impression.

Overall The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a very thorough 'remix' with a feminist bent, but its enthusiasm to flip the narrative is sometimes in the way to its own success: too many scattered thoughts packed in without a closer lens at telling its own story. It does remind me conceptually of A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson (another classic retold from a female perspective, in fist-person); if you're a fan of one of these titles, I would recommend checking out the other.

cody8801's review against another edition

3.0

This book was fucking amazing. At first I had some weird feelings but then I realised the feelings were purposeful? I don’t know if that makes sense but whatever yeehaw you should read this book

P.S i Love Mary and Elizabeth and Justine, we Love a Book Full of well developed women

elizabethmalousek's review against another edition

dark medium-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? No

2.5

peggy_brm's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.25