Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

421 reviews

hamesunderscore's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

sashajwolf's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It's difficult for me to review this fairly, since Gothic horror is generally not to my taste. I read this for a challenge and would have dnf'd it otherwise. I recognise the role it played in the development of the horror and SF genres. However, I found the story unconvincing. It's a teenage work, and it shows. Characters make impulsive and implausible decisions, and the general atmosphere is overwrought. There are odd time jumps, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief at the creature's ability to educate himself. There are three narrators, but their voices are indistinguishable. Frankenstein's travels seem to be motivated by an authorial  desire to cram in as many picturesque landscapes as possible rather than any real contribution to the plot. The parallels between parenthood and creation are to me the most interesting aspect of the story, but are not adequately explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol

i_hate_grrr's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

millreads's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder

nickil01's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Forced institutionalization

lexcellent's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment

lawphenix's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia

cryptid_des's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Beautifully illustrates the struggle of what makes someone human and what makes someone a monster

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Racism, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder

vi_violetrose's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A classic that was far ahead of its time. It’s honestly incredible how true to life the ideas presented here are, despite being incredibly subversive for the time it was written. 

One of the more interesting stories that use an unreliable narrator, given the multiple layers of narration within each other.

I loved that we didn’t hear from the creature directly (since his story was told from Victor’s recollection, who is obviously biased) until the very end (and even then not directly because Walton, who has been influenced by Victor, is telling it).

   

Though sometimes I felt like Victor would reiterate the same points a bit too much in his narration, and some parts were a bit slow, I don’t  have any major issues with the novel. Even then, I felt like there was a point to Victor constantly rehashing how miserable he was. 

The prose is beautiful, and the dialogue, especially from the Creature, is striking. This is a book that 100% deserves its status as a classic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Islamophobia

jakweez's review against another edition

2.25

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Murder

Minor: Animal death