Reviews with content warning for Child death - Frankenstein

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Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

423 reviews

zoe_271's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Frankenstein was the epitome of horror. Psychologically challenging, the novel calls to mind questions of the morality of creation, the meaning of self, and human selfishness.

While familiar with the idea of their Monster, I was relatively limited in exposure to Frankenstein, so when he started talking that was a shock! But the Monster being able to elaborate his position made him a realised character, the empathy we feel for him fleshing out the message further.

Frankenstein himself was an intriguing character to see this world through. He seemed permanently melancholic to me, no doubt the effect being multiplied in my case by the narration of Dan Stevens. He feels entirely real - certainly no hero. As our primary example of humanity to contrast with the Monster he serves an important role in the story. His close relationships with his family, friends, and certainly Elizabeth, which he enjoys and profits from while the Monster has nothing, display this wonderfully.

I would sprint to recommend this book, so much more than the tropes that have survived through pop culture. I listened to the 1831 version, not having known about the original, and definitely will be checking 1818 out in the near future.

Content Warnings

whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I've had Frankenstein on my TBR forever and I figured it was high time to give the first science-fiction novel ever written a go!
Here are my thoughts:

THE STORY --
- Haunting (obviously)
- Lots of twists + turns
- Clever, with growing tension underlaid by an impending sense of doom
- It's obvious that so much of modern science-fiction and horror find their roots in this work of fiction (it's a classic for a reason, that's for sure)

THE CHARACTERS --
- The story primarily follows the relationship (if you can call it that) between Frankenstein and his Creation/Monster
- While there are secondary characters, they serve primarily as sources of grief for Frankenstein and instruments of torment for the Monster to use against his creator

THE WRITING --
- This was a bit of a struggle for me: most of the story is conveyed through long discourses (internal monologues as well as multi-chaptered monologues), which wasn't my favorite thing at times

Overall, this is an engaging book and it's obvious to me why this story has captivated audiences and inspired retellings since its publication!

Content Warnings

stratospheric's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

for a book with such a place in the cultural zeitgeist….. this was mid NDKMDKFKG

like especially considering a lot of ppl regard this as one of their favourite classics, i was expecting something…. more.

one major let down of the book for me i think was the book’s focus on viktor and neglect of the monster. yeah that could be a metacommentary on viktor’s neglect of his creation but.. im sorry i didn’t care for viktor. bro was having pity parties because he created something ugly, abandoned it, and then was shocked his creation was pissed! bro why are you getting on the bad side of a mf who essentially can’t be killed? bro can survive siberia and guns and you’re deciding to get on your high horse and then be upset ur monster said what he was gonna do (kill ur family). viktor isn’t unlikeable in a way you’re rooting for his failure so the book is interesting; he’s unlikeable because he’s a dumb bitch who whines for 280 pages yet there is supposed to be ambiguity whether the monster or viktor is in the right…. there was no ambiguity for me #Team Monster.

what else is there to say…. i found the chapters with the monster’s perspective the most interesting by far. i would’ve loved if he was the protagonist instead.

also this book pisses me off because all of this anguish could’ve been avoided if viktor wasn’t a cunt to his creation. bro YOU MADE HIM BE THAT UGLY. WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED HES GROSS? and then he straight up abandons the monster and pretends he doesn’t exist. yeah i’d kill viktor and his entire family if i was the monster too.

the plot most of the time was incredibly boring, but i did enjoy the prologue about mary shelley, as without it i fear i would’ve given this a lower rating. the allegory for childbirth and the maternal relationships coming through viktor, as well as the general themes of children and motherhood relating to mary’s life made this book somewhat enjoyable, as it gave the story some depth. without those explanations into mary’s life and how it relates to plot points, this would’ve been a major flop.

um anyways i think this book is extremely overhyped but hey at least i know the true story of frankenstein and i can be insufferable and go “erm actually the monster isn’t called frankenstein its the dude who creates the monster whose name is frankenstein 👆🤓”

Content Warnings