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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
This atmospheric melodrama introduces us to the teenage Victor Frankenstein, who lives with his well-to-do family in the old Frankenstein chateau outside of Geneva. Exploring the house one day, Victor and his twin brother Konrad and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth accidentally stumble on a secret passage from the library, which leads down to an ancient room full of old books devoted to alchemy. Their father warns them to stay away from the Dark Library, but when Konrad falls ill and the doctors can't help him, Victor is determined to seek a cure for his brother himself. He and Elizabeth and a neighbor Henry return to the forbidden library, and there find a book that promises the Elixer of Life. They begin a dangerous quest with the assistance of the reclusive Polidori who had practiced alchemy in the past and nearly been hanged for it, and it quickly becomes a race not only for Konrad's life but for their own. An imaginative and thought-provoking look into how the seeds might have been sown in the teen Frankenstein who would become the adult in Mary Shelley's classic.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a super quick read with some rather interesting discussion and depsite my better intentions I did end up liking Victor as a character. He had a lot of faults, mainly pride, but he was trying to overcome them.
When I saw this in the bookstore, I was exicted because it was s novel about Victor Frankenstein as a 16 year old. Very intiguing I thought to myself. As an adult who loves YA and juvenile literature, this book was ok. I read it in about two hours and there really wasn't much substance to it. Of course there is also an annoying love triangle, which I could have done without. So as an adult, I would give it three stars.
Now if I was still a teenager, I would have loved this book. I would have been ecstatic to read about alchemy, the discussions about science and God would have been fascinating, and the love triangle not so exhausting. I believe the teenager me would have given it five stars.
So since this book is meant for teenagers and not adults, I'll average out the rating to four stars.
I would like to read the rest of the trilogy, so that is something.
When I saw this in the bookstore, I was exicted because it was s novel about Victor Frankenstein as a 16 year old. Very intiguing I thought to myself. As an adult who loves YA and juvenile literature, this book was ok. I read it in about two hours and there really wasn't much substance to it. Of course there is also an annoying love triangle, which I could have done without. So as an adult, I would give it three stars.
Now if I was still a teenager, I would have loved this book. I would have been ecstatic to read about alchemy, the discussions about science and God would have been fascinating, and the love triangle not so exhausting. I believe the teenager me would have given it five stars.
So since this book is meant for teenagers and not adults, I'll average out the rating to four stars.
I would like to read the rest of the trilogy, so that is something.
I have been intrigued with this book since I went to a conference and the lady book talked it. Most of the book was really interesting and even though I have never read Frankenstein but had seen the original black and white movie I think both guys and girls will like this.
One thing I can say is that I wasn't really a fan of Victor. I found him kind of whiney and not as strong of a character as his brother. I liked Elizabeth but found it creepy that they were fighting over her.
I was kind of lost at times because there was a lot of action and then the love triangle but other than that, fans of fantasy and mysteries will enjoy this.
One thing I can say is that I wasn't really a fan of Victor. I found him kind of whiney and not as strong of a character as his brother. I liked Elizabeth but found it creepy that they were fighting over her.
I was kind of lost at times because there was a lot of action and then the love triangle but other than that, fans of fantasy and mysteries will enjoy this.
I wavered between three and four stars for this story, but landed on three as I thought the middle parts dragged it down considerably. The opening was strong, and I loved the complicated relationship Victor had with his brother and Elizabeth, but a few things held it back from being a great story instead of a good one. The quest to find the ingredients for the elixir of life was a little too paint-by-numbers for me and lacked the punch that it needed. Henry in particular was underdeveloped as a side character, and I had the sense that the book could've cut him out entirely without changing anything major. That being said, I enjoyed how conflicted Victor was as a character and how he struggled with metaphorically being in his brother's shadow. The build up to the ending was great, and as a retelling it felt appropriately dark. I will be checking out the sequel to this book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was part adventure, part drama, and even had a little romance and comedy sprinkled in. I love the whole concept of teenage Victor Frankenstein and his beginnings in wayward science. I look forward to reading the second book!
This book was ok, not really what I was expecting. It was very slow feeling and wasn't at all memorable. I was bored for over half the book. I'm glad I have yet to read Frankenstein or I'd probably be really really upset with this. I will possibly continue on with the second book, since I already have it, but it will probably be sometime before I pick it up.
I love Oppel's Airborn series, but I've never been a huge fan of Frankenstein, so it took me a while to decide to finally read this series. I should have had more faith in Oppel to turn this story upside down with his very fresh take on a young Victor Frankenstein. Victor shines from the beginning with the perfect blend of cockiness and cool. He is daring and exciting where his brother is level headed and patient. Konrad isn't boring, but he does tend to favor caution over adventure. They play off each other very well and it makes the inevitable love triangle between them and Elizabeth all the more compelling. To Victor, he doesn't understand why she would prefer Konrad over himself since they are so similar and Victor believes himself to be more of a catch. It is in his insistence for Elizabeth's affections where Victor shows his dark side.
The story moves along at a decent pace through most of the story, but where Oppel shines is in his action scenes. Many authors struggle to describe action in a way that gives enough detail to keep the reader on the edge of their seat without including so much detail that the reader is bogged down in language and no longer gets caught up in the moment. Oppel walks that razor thin line perfectly and it is no better illustrated than in the climax of this book where danger is piled upon danger and you can't catch your breathe or skip a word because life and death hinges on each one.
Very excited to find the second book!
The story moves along at a decent pace through most of the story, but where Oppel shines is in his action scenes. Many authors struggle to describe action in a way that gives enough detail to keep the reader on the edge of their seat without including so much detail that the reader is bogged down in language and no longer gets caught up in the moment. Oppel walks that razor thin line perfectly and it is no better illustrated than in the climax of this book where danger is piled upon danger and you can't catch your breathe or skip a word because life and death hinges on each one.
Very excited to find the second book!
Okay. So this book was a pretty good horror read but there were a lot of little things I didn't like. I'll start with what I did like. I liked Victor surprisingly. Even though he got darker and slightly twisted I was rooting for his endeavor to succeed (selfish as it was). However, there wasn't much else that hit me. Victor's love triangle seemed strange as Elizabeth was Konrad's cousin and his too. Both of them falling in love with her and fighting over her seemed like overkill especially as she didn't want anyone fighting over her (that said, I rather liked Elizabeth). It seemed unlikely that Victor would ever get to marry her in the original book because she was deeply in love with Konrad! It pains me to say this because I love love love Kenneth Opple's Airborn series but I just didn't like this one as much.