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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
The later timeline felt very undeveloped; Mary did not seem to change or grow or have anything in particular happen to her, she just suddenly wrote a book. This entire book felt like it was building up to something only to abruptly end, did Mary just leave Isabella and never think of her again? This seems very mismatched with what we know to be her character. In general, the later timeline never referred to the earlier one, something which made the book feel all the more disjointed. Also, her relationship with Percy seemed forced- Mary talks about how she loves him but is unable to give any reason why she does so, and just as often talks about how she resents him.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child death
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is 1816 and Mary Shelley is in Geneva with her lover Percy and the notorious Lord Byron, as well as her stepsister Claire. Mary and Percy’s firstborn daughter has died, and they are both still grappling with the loss, even with their living child William. Byron proposes a writing competition between all of them.
It was 1812 and young Mary Godwin was sent to live with the Baxter family to improve her health condition. There, she meets Isabella Baxter, and develops a deep friendship with her, which then becomes something more.
There is a monster that keeps appearing—is it real, or a figment of Mary’s imagination? Is it a manifestation of the turmoil she experiences, in reaction to Percy’s infidelity, to Isabella’s changes in mood and behaviour, to the unexplainable Mr David Booth?
MARY; OR THE BIRTH OF FRANKENSTEIN is a gothic and sapphic reimagining of Mary Shelley’s teenage years, and how she came to conceive of the story of Frankenstein and his monster, the monster that will stay in the human imagination for ages to come. This novel proposes that the monster has its origins in trauma, turmoil, grief—an exorcise of sorts, and outlet for all these things. The “birth” is the writing process. The horrors in Mary’s life manifesting into the horror of her most famous novel. It’s atmospheric, perhaps a little disorienting, and incredibly beautiful.
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
a bit too slow for me, and a little too muddled as well. there was something intriguing about the interlocking of time periods and mary’s struggle for action and agency within them, but not quite clear enough for me