Reviews

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

wrenl's review against another edition

3.0

A mildly disappointing book. A Frankenstein retelling. With an interesting family dynamic and steampunk elements and clockwork men. A clever hero and quick heroine. A dull plot. A lost boy. A liar girl.

"Wow. 'This Monstrous Thing' should have been told in Oliver's point of view. The plot was a little dull. The family elements was a little interesting. I really liked the clockwork men, though. A very interesting humanity conversation!"

anikd's review

4.0

I really loved this book!
It's a great story about two bothers who can't live without eachothers and some complex decisions for Alasdair.

There's a lot of the story set in the past of the characters but that made me love them even more!

I'm so sad it's over :(

kiperoo's review

5.0

I was so lucky to get my hands on an ARC of this book! While I'm not a big horror reader or even a Frankenstein fan, the concept of this steampunk retelling intrigued me from when I first heard about the book, so I was kind of dying to read it. Once I started, the characters hooked me from page one. Such pain and love and agony! Ach, the agony! Most of all, I loved the combination of historical and fantastical details, and how this world came to life so vividly through Alasdair's eyes. Such an amazing twist on a classic, and such gorgeous writing!

annoellyn's review

5.0

This book blew me away from page one. I had no idea what to expect going in and as soon as i started reading I knew it was going to be good. The writing is so beautiful and the story makes you ask some pretty deep questions about what makes us truly human.

pastelbread's review

5.0

This book was totally worth waiting 5 months for. I heard about this book in May and I was anxiously waiting since. I love this book so much because it is a unique take on Frankenstein. I loved the characters and basically every aspect of it. :)

catbewks's review

4.0

4.5 stars

Criminally underrated.

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

alyram4's review against another edition

2.0

I mean I tried giving this another chance. I just gotta admit that this book just isn't for me. I thought it be be ok, but nothing in this calls to me. I just found it boring to read, and that's a problem I have sometimes with historical fantasies. I've read some really great ones lately, which led to me trying to pick this back up again. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to my expectations and I definitely won't be giving this a 3rd chance.

readingcat1832's review

4.0

two words: clemence lebrey.

godlizza's review against another edition

4.0

This book was great not just as a Frankenstein retelling but as it's own story. You throw me a morally dubious main character and some vibes of regret and yearning then I'm good to go. This book is pretty bleak, and if you've read Frankenstein then you know it gets that from its source material, so I was expecting it to play out much the same way. But not only does this book avoid being a play-by-play reboot of Frankenstein, it also made me care about the characters, particularly Alasdair, and want a happy ending for them. A lot of people rag on Victor Frankenstein and call him an asshole but I always find myself sympathetic to guilt-ridden characters so maybe that's just a me thing.

The only weird thing about this book is that Mary Shelley is a character in the story and she's not presented in the most flattering light? Which is? Kinda weird? I even read Mackenzi Lee's author note at the end and she seemed very intrigued by Mary and her story so I wonder what happened there.

Regardless, a good book whether or not you've read the OG.