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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Schönes Buch, das sich gut weglesen lässt. Die beiden Handlungsstränge gefielen mir beide und gerade die Emotionen werden wirklich schön beschrieben, aber irgendwie war es mir im Feinschliff dann doch zu vage und schwammig.
As a Mary Shelley stan, I was excited to come across Mary: or the Birth of Frankenstein. Perhaps because I've read several other fantastic novel adaptations of her life and work this season, I found this book a bit underwhelming. I love an atmospheric gothic as much as the next Shelley devotee, but I struggled to complete the first hundred pages of this book. Despite the dual timelines toggling between the infamous summer at Villa Diodati (a story I could retell from memory) and Mary's summer in Scotland (a period I know far less about), the pacing is slow. The ominous undercurrents aren't quite strong enough to build the tension that hooks me into my favorite gothics.
However, I appreciated the attention paid to several elements of Mary's biography besides her work and her multiple (in)famous relationships. Mary's grief over the death of her infant daughter, particularly how it interacts with the haunting of her mother's death in childbirth, is one of the elements of her biography that I find the most compelling. Both are vividly drawn. I also appreciated that this book made bolder gestures to the possibility that Mary experienced sapphic attraction, in addition to her great love for Percy.
Readers who want a literary entry point to Shelley's life and work, who perhaps are less familiar than I am with the stories of the Villa Diodati Romantics, will enjoy this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
However, I appreciated the attention paid to several elements of Mary's biography besides her work and her multiple (in)famous relationships. Mary's grief over the death of her infant daughter, particularly how it interacts with the haunting of her mother's death in childbirth, is one of the elements of her biography that I find the most compelling. Both are vividly drawn. I also appreciated that this book made bolder gestures to the possibility that Mary experienced sapphic attraction, in addition to her great love for Percy.
Readers who want a literary entry point to Shelley's life and work, who perhaps are less familiar than I am with the stories of the Villa Diodati Romantics, will enjoy this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
medium-paced