Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Frankenstein

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Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

32 reviews

theuncannydani's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark mysterious sad 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: Yes

Content Warnings

le_mur's review against another edition

3.5

dark 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

Content Warnings

leonormsousa's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark reflective 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

TRIGGER WARNINGS

child death, death, death of parent, murder, xenophobia, abandonment, grief, medical content, self-harm, suicide, and violence

REPRESENTATION

maybe queer MC (?)

REVIEW

Like with most classics, I was pretty afraid of getting into Frankenstein. I knew how much this book means to Cláudia (from @hendrixsbookcorner) and that meant that I was putting extra pressure on myself to enjoy this book that is no less than one of the first science-fiction novels, written by a feminist bisexual women at the age of 18, who also happens to be the daughter of a renowned women’s rights activist (I mean, what a queen! How could I not already love her?!). So yeah… some expectation management had to be done and some courage had to be acquired but it was so freaking worth it!

Frankenstein is one of those books that you don’t love while you’re reading it but that completely takes you once you’ve had the time to process it. It’s pretty slow paced (and a bit confusing) in the beginning (I was fearing for the worse!) but once it picks up, it gets you quite glued to the page as you uncover the story of both Frankenstein and his creation.

It goes around the question of “who is the monster?”, playing with our empathy as we unravel the “creation”’s story. It’s a book on Man’s ambition and desire to “play god”, with no regard for the consequences of its actions nor courage to take responsibility for them. It’s also a book about loneliness and superficiality and obsession.

There’s not really much more that I can say (or at least nothing good enough compared to the book). It’s daunting and haunting and really the absolute perfect choice if you’re looking for a recommendation for this time of the year. Not only does the monster theme perfectly fits the Halloween vibes, you also have a bit of a Dark Academia vibe that matches the fall season.

Content Warnings

dannecingqueen's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I didn't think that I was going to enjoy this book, but after Frankensteins "Monster" began the story from his perspective, I just could not put the book down.

“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.”

“My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy.”

“Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather a fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall be virtuous.”

“The cup of life was poisoned forever, and although the sun shone upon me, as upon the happy and gay of heart, I saw around me nothing but a dense and frightful darkness, penetrated by no light but the glimmer of two eyes that glared upon me.”

Content Warnings

ran_sophia's review

2.0

challenging dark 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: N/A

After reading the book, I didn't know exactly what to think about it. There is a good style of writing and storytelling. But that's all. The characters have no development and the story is only half captivating. I didn't feel interested in the story or the characters at all. That it was supposed to be a Gothic novel, so I expected it to be scary in some way. But that was not the case at all. The story dragged on, the narration was slow, and at times it seemed to be stuck.

Content Warnings

jynx_reads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

sunny_not's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was an interesting read. Since it has influenced many other books and films that I love I admired it to some extent. However, the pacing felt a bit weird and also the racial stereotyping made this book a lot less enjoyable for me.

Content Warnings

mimina's review against another edition

4.25

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

Content Warnings

aconfundityofcrows's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The book includes the two "ghost" stories written at the same castle holiday, by Lord Byron and Dr. John Polidori. Both are vampiric in nature, with Byron's story actually influencing Polidori's story, which is more explicitly about vampires. So a surprising spooky two for one deal here, with the original Frankenstein story and some early vampires.

Content Warnings

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