Reviews - Frankenstein | The StoryGraph

32k reviews for:

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

3.86 AVERAGE

staryoons's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad medium-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

boogskeez's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

maheenenen's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark 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

alanakramer's review against another edition

3.0

challenging reflective 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

For as iconic of a story as this is, I thought this was incredibly mid. Victor Frankenstein is an insufferable character, which made this a real slog to get through. The middle third of the book was leaps and bounds better than the first and last, and it’s that piece that makes this book a 3 star read for me.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t read anything this old in like a decade so I have nothing to compare it to, but I didn’t think the prose was anything special either. I will say it was interesting to learn how different the OG story is from its contemporary retellings. And I do think the forthcoming movie, which is supposedly staying close to this source material, has the potential to better than the book if its just the straight up plot and not the story-within-a-story structure that this is. I just really can’t stand Victor.

I can appreciate the impact it’s had on literature and horror, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend unless you genuinely enjoy reading classics. It’s back to works from the 20th and 21st centuries for me!

brigittedupe's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark reflective slow-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

andremthefoozle's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 22%

Picked up to reread at the same time as my students, couldn't keep the pace while also balancing new reads and revising materials. Continued to dip in and out of chapters, but no more "every page, every word" beyond this point.