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sunseas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lazareads's review against another edition
5.0
It will be a cold day in July before Kenneth Oppel writes a book I don't like.
This Dark Endeavor, the first book in the series (trilogy? I don't know what this will become), was so good that I didn't know if the sequel could live up to it. I had a feeling it probably would (if you can't tell by the opening statement, I'm a HUGE Kenneth Oppel fan), but I wasn't completely sure.
Color me incredibly satisfied.
There are so many wonderful things about Such Wicked Intent that I don't even know where to begin. It picks up right where TDE left off: Konrad Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's twin brother, has hardly been dead a few weeks when Victor helps his father and the servants set fire to the Dark Library, sending up in flames all the alchemical tomes Victor used to try to heal his brother. Victor has sworn off alchemy forever. Victor can't leave that seductive mix of magic and science alone for long, though, because before he knows it, he's knee deep in trying to raise his brother from the dead. He finds a way into the spirit world, and suddenly Victor (along with his cousin Elizabeth and their good friend Henry) are traveling back and forth, using ancient knowledge to try to bring Konrad back to life.
The plot, of course, is fantastic. It's much darker than TDE (and TDE was pretty dark to begin with), but just as good. The characters are equally as wonderful and interesting the second time around (Victor is still as annoying and egocentric as always, but that's how he's supposed to be). And I know I've said this before, but dang, Kenneth Oppel is a master at writing a good old-fasioned action scene. Just like the end of TDE, the last 30 pages or so of SWI had my pulse pounding. I thought Oppel's interpretation of the spirit world and the afterlife was very interesting, too.
Now I want to talk about the ending, so I'll put this next part in spoilers for those that haven't read the book yet: Okay. That's all.
And I just looooooove the title. There's something about it - Such Wicked Intent. Creepy and sinister and captivating.
Anyhow, long review short, the book was amazing. Go read it.
This Dark Endeavor, the first book in the series (trilogy? I don't know what this will become), was so good that I didn't know if the sequel could live up to it. I had a feeling it probably would (if you can't tell by the opening statement, I'm a HUGE Kenneth Oppel fan), but I wasn't completely sure.
Color me incredibly satisfied.
There are so many wonderful things about Such Wicked Intent that I don't even know where to begin. It picks up right where TDE left off: Konrad Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's twin brother, has hardly been dead a few weeks when Victor helps his father and the servants set fire to the Dark Library, sending up in flames all the alchemical tomes Victor used to try to heal his brother. Victor has sworn off alchemy forever. Victor can't leave that seductive mix of magic and science alone for long, though, because before he knows it, he's knee deep in trying to raise his brother from the dead. He finds a way into the spirit world, and suddenly Victor (along with his cousin Elizabeth and their good friend Henry) are traveling back and forth, using ancient knowledge to try to bring Konrad back to life.
The plot, of course, is fantastic. It's much darker than TDE (and TDE was pretty dark to begin with), but just as good. The characters are equally as wonderful and interesting the second time around (Victor is still as annoying and egocentric as always, but that's how he's supposed to be). And I know I've said this before, but dang, Kenneth Oppel is a master at writing a good old-fasioned action scene. Just like the end of TDE, the last 30 pages or so of SWI had my pulse pounding. I thought Oppel's interpretation of the spirit world and the afterlife was very interesting, too.
Now I want to talk about the ending, so I'll put this next part in spoilers for those that haven't read the book yet:
Spoiler
AND THAT ENDING. The first time I read that last line from Victor, about the lightening, I was like "Meh, okay." Then I read it again and I was like "OPPPPELLLLLLLL." So. Brilliant. I'm interested to see if there will be a sequel to this book; I think he could do one, but if he decides to leave it as is, I think there was enough closure to do so. Maybe there will be a sequel because Victor had that dream about seeing Konrad on the ice? Or maybe that was just a clever reference to the original Frankenstein story. Speaking of that, here's one of my theories: The reference to the lightening and the reference to sledding on the ice means that Victor may try to build another body for Konrad (using different science/magic, of course), and that's how Frankenstein's monster (like Shelley's monster) will come to be. Maybe the mud babies will have something to do with it? Ahhhh, it's driving me crazy. I also loved the thing with the spirit butterflies - that was brilliant as well.And I just looooooove the title. There's something about it - Such Wicked Intent. Creepy and sinister and captivating.
Anyhow, long review short, the book was amazing. Go read it.
cyber_spines's review against another edition
4.0
No sooner had I finished This Dark Endeavour, that I jumped into the second book of this duology, hoping to carry on with the same creepy and tense horror atmosphere of the first one. Konrad is dead and Victor’s grief knows no bound. He considers himself as much as the alchemy he used partly responsible for his brother’s death. Deciding that he should have listened to his father from the get go, Victor takes it upon himself to empty the Dark Library and burn every book that occupied its shelves. Meanwhile, his father is having the passageway to the Dark Library filled so that the dark secrets may never been found again.
But nothing is so simple for the Frankenstein and two things threaten to change things for the family again: in the pile of ashes where books have been burned, Victor discovers a small red box containing tools that instructions told him could allow him to contact the dead. And how could Victor refuse such a chance, when he misses his brother so. And when his brother apparently responds with a demand to be raised from the dead, how is Victor not supposed to start looking into ways to bring the dead back to life.
As he delves into books and the secrets of their chateau, Victor is also drawn into the mystery of the dark tunnels discovered beneath the passage way to the Dark Library. There, old paintings of animals and darker things await him and the archaeologist his father has summoned to the estate to help unravel this new mystery.
When Victor finds a way to step out of his body and into the realm of the dead, he is convinced he can find a way to save his brother, who is there, safe and alone bar for one serving girl, both trapped within the chateau by dangerous white mist. There, Victor suddenly becomes able to learn in ways he has never managed to before and through the help of the dark butterflies that are the only other inhabitants of teh realm of the dead, read the carvings in the walls beneath of the castle.
And there Victor gains the knowledge he has been seeking: how to grow his brother a body so that his soul may be reattached to it.
This would have been absolutely fine, until Elizabeth, who is surprisingly insufferable in this book, decides that this growing mud baby (and yes, I mean this literally, a baby made of mud) needs not be left alone–as Victor insists it does–but instead needs all the mothering she can give. And worse of all? Henry is assisting her in this, grown more bold since the events of the first book, and desperate to catch her attention before she makes the final decision she is threatening with: to live for the nunnery.
Let me make one thing clear: I hate book babies. Babies are….well…kinda scary as far as I’m concerned and I really don’t like it when they certainly become such a central figure of a book I’m reading, let alone a YA book where Elizabeth seems to become a terrifying teenage mother with Henry at her side and Victor desperate to talk sense into her as he senses a darkness coming from the child.
I was fine with the concept of growing a body, if only had Elizabeth left it well alone and the book would have focused on something else than half creepy, half disturbing, ‘family’ moments with the child who is to become Konrad’s body. It took too much of the book, way too much and added nothing to the story, a lot of what the child serves (letting us know something is afoot with what Victor is attempting to do) could have been done in far chillier ways elsewhere in the book.
And the rest of the book does mainly nail the creepy, chilly atmosphere that works so well for this kind of story. Victor and his friends are being changed by a power that is beyond their understanding and Konrad is dreaming of escape from death, promised by his brother. And yes, some of Victor’s and Elisabeth’s bad sides and more visible than ever and even plot reasons cannot excuse every annoying incident, but overall, especially in Victor, the change brings something of urgency to the book.
Oppel nails the creepy and mystery until the end. And there, everything seems to unfold, much as I have seen happen so often in horror stories. It was a pity Oppel didn’t go all the way with his big monster at the end, if he wanted a monster. The descriptions of the fights, of the monster itself are messy and hard to imagine. All creepiness is lost, and to an extent, nothing seems as believable anymore. Characters are slow to realise the solution of teh problem, even though Victor has proven to have a quick mind since the beginning of the book. I was screaming at them what to do long before they actually thought of it and it was painful.
So yes, in between the book baby and the mess of an ending, Such Wicked Intent was nothing in comparison to This Dark Endeavour. Where it nailed the creepy, chilly atmosphere of the realm of the dead, it couldn’t handle a finale that ended up falling flat on its face and conveyed neither urgency nor the atmosphere that had made the rest of the book so good.
But nothing is so simple for the Frankenstein and two things threaten to change things for the family again: in the pile of ashes where books have been burned, Victor discovers a small red box containing tools that instructions told him could allow him to contact the dead. And how could Victor refuse such a chance, when he misses his brother so. And when his brother apparently responds with a demand to be raised from the dead, how is Victor not supposed to start looking into ways to bring the dead back to life.
As he delves into books and the secrets of their chateau, Victor is also drawn into the mystery of the dark tunnels discovered beneath the passage way to the Dark Library. There, old paintings of animals and darker things await him and the archaeologist his father has summoned to the estate to help unravel this new mystery.
When Victor finds a way to step out of his body and into the realm of the dead, he is convinced he can find a way to save his brother, who is there, safe and alone bar for one serving girl, both trapped within the chateau by dangerous white mist. There, Victor suddenly becomes able to learn in ways he has never managed to before and through the help of the dark butterflies that are the only other inhabitants of teh realm of the dead, read the carvings in the walls beneath of the castle.
And there Victor gains the knowledge he has been seeking: how to grow his brother a body so that his soul may be reattached to it.
This would have been absolutely fine, until Elizabeth, who is surprisingly insufferable in this book, decides that this growing mud baby (and yes, I mean this literally, a baby made of mud) needs not be left alone–as Victor insists it does–but instead needs all the mothering she can give. And worse of all? Henry is assisting her in this, grown more bold since the events of the first book, and desperate to catch her attention before she makes the final decision she is threatening with: to live for the nunnery.
Let me make one thing clear: I hate book babies. Babies are….well…kinda scary as far as I’m concerned and I really don’t like it when they certainly become such a central figure of a book I’m reading, let alone a YA book where Elizabeth seems to become a terrifying teenage mother with Henry at her side and Victor desperate to talk sense into her as he senses a darkness coming from the child.
I was fine with the concept of growing a body, if only had Elizabeth left it well alone and the book would have focused on something else than half creepy, half disturbing, ‘family’ moments with the child who is to become Konrad’s body. It took too much of the book, way too much and added nothing to the story, a lot of what the child serves (letting us know something is afoot with what Victor is attempting to do) could have been done in far chillier ways elsewhere in the book.
And the rest of the book does mainly nail the creepy, chilly atmosphere that works so well for this kind of story. Victor and his friends are being changed by a power that is beyond their understanding and Konrad is dreaming of escape from death, promised by his brother. And yes, some of Victor’s and Elisabeth’s bad sides and more visible than ever and even plot reasons cannot excuse every annoying incident, but overall, especially in Victor, the change brings something of urgency to the book.
Oppel nails the creepy and mystery until the end. And there, everything seems to unfold, much as I have seen happen so often in horror stories. It was a pity Oppel didn’t go all the way with his big monster at the end, if he wanted a monster. The descriptions of the fights, of the monster itself are messy and hard to imagine. All creepiness is lost, and to an extent, nothing seems as believable anymore. Characters are slow to realise the solution of teh problem, even though Victor has proven to have a quick mind since the beginning of the book. I was screaming at them what to do long before they actually thought of it and it was painful.
So yes, in between the book baby and the mess of an ending, Such Wicked Intent was nothing in comparison to This Dark Endeavour. Where it nailed the creepy, chilly atmosphere of the realm of the dead, it couldn’t handle a finale that ended up falling flat on its face and conveyed neither urgency nor the atmosphere that had made the rest of the book so good.
teaxmillions's review against another edition
3.0
REAL RATING: 2.5/5
This book was a little less good than the first one, unfortunately. I was hoping that they would continue to get better as they continued on, as some series do, but this was not one of those books. I won't get into the plot as this the second book in a series.
Again, like the first book, the love triangle and the characters were stupid and annoying, but somehow this was WORSE than the first one! All my complaints from the first book are carried onto this one as well, except almost worse in magnitude. In this book I also felt that everything was really easy for the characters as well, at least toward the end. I felt like it wrapped up too quickly, I guess.
I did like the concept and how Oppel dealt with the idea of moving on after death. It was very cool.
I don't recommend this book. Read the first one if you really want to. The second one isn't really worth it...
This book was a little less good than the first one, unfortunately. I was hoping that they would continue to get better as they continued on, as some series do, but this was not one of those books. I won't get into the plot as this the second book in a series.
Again, like the first book, the love triangle and the characters were stupid and annoying, but somehow this was WORSE than the first one! All my complaints from the first book are carried onto this one as well, except almost worse in magnitude. In this book I also felt that everything was really easy for the characters as well, at least toward the end. I felt like it wrapped up too quickly, I guess.
I did like the concept and how Oppel dealt with the idea of moving on after death. It was very cool.
I don't recommend this book. Read the first one if you really want to. The second one isn't really worth it...
libellus's review against another edition
3.0
The apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by #2 Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel
October 2015
3/5
*I read the French translation “L’apprentissage de Victor Frankenstein #2 Un vil dessein”*
Translations ruin everything. Do not read the translation of a book if you can read it in its original language, kids. The writing style will feel awkward and like something is off, and the reading experience will seriously be affected by it. Also I hate sentences like this ‘Victor thought what Elizabeth said was wrong but he couldn’t help but wonder if what she said was actually the truth.” You know what I’m talking about, a character that doesn’t really know anything about his feelings and can’t get their shit together. I guess I can’t say anything about the writing style because of that reason but I can say that the atmosphere was still really great. A+ for chills and mystery and suspense. It’s not scary but it’s thrilling, kind of like watching a Criminal Minds episode: you know you’re safe under your little blanket, but the adventure still makes your blood pump way faster than usual. For the characters I have very mixed feelings about them. Victor was interesting because of his anti-hero personality. He was so selfish, so greedy for power, so arrogant and sometimes it got on my nerves a lot. I do love a good anti-hero story but I feel like this was overdone. The other characters I feel like there was no real progression from the first book. They still stayed exactly the same except with more grief. Especially Elizabeth, I mean her fiancé died because of alchemy but she is convinced to do occultism without too much arguing to try to bring him back which totally defies her religion, she accuses Victor of trying to play God but she is doing the exact same thing. I found that just a bit hypocrite. Another big turn off for me was the whole love-square (?) thing. Like c’mon 3 guys crushing on one girl all trying to win her over. This jealousy created unrealistic moments all through the book and it was predictable and not that interesting. I think I liked the plot of the first one better, but it is still enjoyable. Maybe the mud baby was a bit too farfetched for me. There was a lot of foreshadowing just like in the first one which added to the thrill of it, always trying to guess what this or this could mean in the next chapters. Overall good series, but there are better ones in this genre.
October 2015
3/5
*I read the French translation “L’apprentissage de Victor Frankenstein #2 Un vil dessein”*
Translations ruin everything. Do not read the translation of a book if you can read it in its original language, kids. The writing style will feel awkward and like something is off, and the reading experience will seriously be affected by it. Also I hate sentences like this ‘Victor thought what Elizabeth said was wrong but he couldn’t help but wonder if what she said was actually the truth.” You know what I’m talking about, a character that doesn’t really know anything about his feelings and can’t get their shit together. I guess I can’t say anything about the writing style because of that reason but I can say that the atmosphere was still really great. A+ for chills and mystery and suspense. It’s not scary but it’s thrilling, kind of like watching a Criminal Minds episode: you know you’re safe under your little blanket, but the adventure still makes your blood pump way faster than usual. For the characters I have very mixed feelings about them. Victor was interesting because of his anti-hero personality. He was so selfish, so greedy for power, so arrogant and sometimes it got on my nerves a lot. I do love a good anti-hero story but I feel like this was overdone. The other characters I feel like there was no real progression from the first book. They still stayed exactly the same except with more grief. Especially Elizabeth, I mean her fiancé died because of alchemy but she is convinced to do occultism without too much arguing to try to bring him back which totally defies her religion, she accuses Victor of trying to play God but she is doing the exact same thing. I found that just a bit hypocrite. Another big turn off for me was the whole love-square (?) thing. Like c’mon 3 guys crushing on one girl all trying to win her over. This jealousy created unrealistic moments all through the book and it was predictable and not that interesting. I think I liked the plot of the first one better, but it is still enjoyable. Maybe the mud baby was a bit too farfetched for me. There was a lot of foreshadowing just like in the first one which added to the thrill of it, always trying to guess what this or this could mean in the next chapters. Overall good series, but there are better ones in this genre.
emslovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
I've decided that I'm a fan of gothic horror novels. Really, no time period does horror better than gothic. It's dark, twisted, terrifying...while being free from all the gore and disgusting stuff that turn me off in modern horror.
This series is no exception. When I read the first book, I was a little put off in the beginning by the slower pacing. By the time I finished, however, I realized that it was perfect. The story NEEDED it. It didn't need to speed by at a pace I couldn't keep up with.
The sequel is no exception. Slow moving, but perfectly paced. It's just exactly what makes a gothic horror story so fabulous. You never really know where it's going or how things will be resolved. There isn't a lot of 'Oh, I can guess what's going to happen next because this is YA." Sure, we know that things are going to work out in the end. But they rarely work out in the way one expects, and the characters never come out of it unscathed. They are figuratively torn apart and have to put themselves back together in some cobbled fashion. This is, for me, a metaphor for the larger Frankenstein story. We all know that one.
Oppel is a brilliant story crafter. The way he weaves the tale leaves me breathless - not because it's all happening so fast, but because I can't figure out where we're going next. The world building is fabulous and so realistic. There were times when I felt like I could smell the same things that the characters were, see the same sights, experience the same feelings. It was great.
As far as characters go, WOW. After reading this, and having read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I can totally see how Victor got to be the way he did. The two authors should really go hand-in-hand. Read the books together.
Victor is power hungry and always wanting what he knows he can't have. It never stops him from trying though, which carries through to Shelley's masterpiece. I really liked getting a glimpse of teenage Victor. The way Oppel writes him leads perfectly into Victor as an older student. He isn't a bad person; he's just consumed with the need to KNOW and the need for power.
The supporting characters are also strong. Elizabeth, Konrad, and Henry all serve as foils for Victor. Each one of them has a characteristic that he lacks. Elizabeth is staunch in her belief in God and refuses to back down from that when challenged. Konrad has a love for life and living things. Not that Victor doesn't, but Konrad is motivated more by love than power. Henry is loyalty and quiet strength defined. There is nothing loud or showy about any of them and it's the perfect contrast to Victor's bravado.
I'm guessing that there is another book coming in this series, based on the ending of Such Wicked Intent. I will definitely be on the lookout to continue this story.
4.5 Eiffel Towers
This series is no exception. When I read the first book, I was a little put off in the beginning by the slower pacing. By the time I finished, however, I realized that it was perfect. The story NEEDED it. It didn't need to speed by at a pace I couldn't keep up with.
The sequel is no exception. Slow moving, but perfectly paced. It's just exactly what makes a gothic horror story so fabulous. You never really know where it's going or how things will be resolved. There isn't a lot of 'Oh, I can guess what's going to happen next because this is YA." Sure, we know that things are going to work out in the end. But they rarely work out in the way one expects, and the characters never come out of it unscathed. They are figuratively torn apart and have to put themselves back together in some cobbled fashion. This is, for me, a metaphor for the larger Frankenstein story. We all know that one.
Oppel is a brilliant story crafter. The way he weaves the tale leaves me breathless - not because it's all happening so fast, but because I can't figure out where we're going next. The world building is fabulous and so realistic. There were times when I felt like I could smell the same things that the characters were, see the same sights, experience the same feelings. It was great.
As far as characters go, WOW. After reading this, and having read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I can totally see how Victor got to be the way he did. The two authors should really go hand-in-hand. Read the books together.
Victor is power hungry and always wanting what he knows he can't have. It never stops him from trying though, which carries through to Shelley's masterpiece. I really liked getting a glimpse of teenage Victor. The way Oppel writes him leads perfectly into Victor as an older student. He isn't a bad person; he's just consumed with the need to KNOW and the need for power.
The supporting characters are also strong. Elizabeth, Konrad, and Henry all serve as foils for Victor. Each one of them has a characteristic that he lacks. Elizabeth is staunch in her belief in God and refuses to back down from that when challenged. Konrad has a love for life and living things. Not that Victor doesn't, but Konrad is motivated more by love than power. Henry is loyalty and quiet strength defined. There is nothing loud or showy about any of them and it's the perfect contrast to Victor's bravado.
I'm guessing that there is another book coming in this series, based on the ending of Such Wicked Intent. I will definitely be on the lookout to continue this story.
4.5 Eiffel Towers
rlynnparsons's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a great book that had me creeped out by the end of the very first chapter. I found myself zooming theough the book, because of how fast the action was going and because the suspense was driving me mad! It treads in the realm of the ancient and otherworldly, adding to the strangeness and danger of the first book. I loved it.
tmaluck's review against another edition
3.0
Cross "Goosebumps" with "Frankenstein" and this is the result. I enjoyed this YA fetch quest for its classy Victorian setting and ever-shifting love rectangle, but had a hard time swallowing the entire "portal to the afterlife" plot device. The first book dealt more with alchemy and using rare ingredients to yield supernatural results, but superpowers granted by magical butterflies in a time-slowed limbo version of reality... come on. Although I disliked the plot devices, the characters -especially the increasingly mad young Frankenstein- carry the story well.