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Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

17 reviews

adventurous dark emotional tense
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

While the theme and subject are timeless, insightful and powerful, the style struck me as a bit dated compared to other works of the same period. 
That makes the book slightly less entertaining than I thought; despite that, I was moved by many a line and the read was certainly interesting. Do read this classic! 

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

really enjoyed, truly terrifying, Gothic, and great use of Romantic themes. Love the Frankenstein and Prometheus parallels. 

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challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

My favorite book for sure

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Obviously this book is an achievement and ahead of its time and presents some really interesting ideas, but when it comes down to how much I liked it… 3 stars. It just seems a little too long, and like many Romantic books from this period there are a lot of philosophical monologues that make me feel like the author has taken a break from their fictional novel to present an essay. I don’t object to a book having a moral argument, but I’d rather be shown that argument instead of being told (at great length). 

My other main problem with the book is that so much of it is told from Victor’s perspective and spends time with him while he’s being boring and unlikeable (again, I think the book is a little too long). He never really owns up to his actions, but everyone he encounters still likes him, which is infuriating. It’s probably realistic, but it didn’t make for a very enjoyable read to spend so much time with a self-centered idiot. 

I liked the context that this edition’s introduction provided. It’s interesting to see this book through the lens of an author feeling rejected and abandoned by her parents. I’m interested to read Mary’s diaries, where I can get her ideas unfiltered through unlikeable protagonists. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

The first time I read this book, I was a sophomore in high school, and this was one of the few assigned readings that I actually completed. This is my first reread of the novel—fifteen years later—and I can now say that it still ranks highly among my favorite classic novels! I enjoyed following the incredible/unbelievable journeys of the three narrators, and I can now much better appreciate the Romantic, Gothic, and Transcendentalist elements that Shelley uses to weave her narratives. I think I’ll always be blown away by what Shelley accomplished as a woman of her time and how much of herself she puts into her work. I don’t believe I have anything new under the sun to say about Frankenstein. All I can say is that it truly does live up to the bar against which it is set.

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dark mysterious tense

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riverofhorton's profile picture

riverofhorton's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 19%

I decided to DNF this particular version simply because I discovered this to be the heavily edited 1831 version, and I would rather read the original 1818 version.

That said, I was enjoying it up to that discovery and as such will be purchasing and reading a copy of the 1818 text at some point in the future.

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adventurous emotional 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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