Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

11 reviews

jomarie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This book did not deliver on the promises of the back cover blurb. I wanted to see what growing up was like for Elizabeth, wanted the tension that came with Victor being sent away for school and coming back amid tragedy that he helped cause. The flashbacks were as close as we got, but they came in only when Elizabeth was reminiscing on a specific memory.

While Elizabeth was positioned as being a master manipulator, it had a desperate edge to it that didn’t strike the right cord for me. In the beginning, I couldn’t tell if Elizabeth truly wanted to be with Victor or if she just was compelled due to her station - and I don’t think I was supposed to question that. Victor retained his dramatic pick-me tendencies from the original story, but with a more sinister, psychotic edge which was the best combination of original text and innovation by White in the whole novel.

In fact, the one plus this reimagining has over the original text is that it had much more of the gothic, creepy vibes I expected from a story about reanimating the dead. Although, if I hadn’t read Frankenstein right before, then I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this book since everyone’s travel across Europe would have seemed overly random.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the ending. There was promise when the author changed Elizabeth’s end from the original text, even if I didn’t love the implication that Victor wrote a fictitious version of events that became The Modern Prometheus (put some respect on Mary Shelley’s name). Still, it was a chance for the author to get creative. Elizabeth’s final confrontation, however, felt a bit rushed and out of the blue, and then the literal last page went back on her characterization for the back half of the book. My opinion of the book plummeted from ‘fine’ to ‘annoying’.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is just one of those stories where the premise is better than the actual plot.

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murielreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

La trama? Fabulosa. La ambientación? Sublime. La narración? Impecable. Los personajes? Exquisitos. Mí amor por Kiersten White? Infinito.

At this point simplemente denme la lista de compras del súper de Kiersten que yo la leo a encantada

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white_dragon_tea's review

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dark funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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booksofautumn's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mythian's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

saeruh's review against another edition

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3.5

This was an enjoyable retelling of Frankenstein where Victor is clearly a deranged sociopath who wishes to be an all powerful god. I liked the flashbacks to Elizabeth’s childhood where you could really see how fucked up Victor was from the start. It was also written a very similar style to Shelley’s original writing which I quite liked.
There was just some things I think this book really lacked. Firstly for being a book trying to tell Elizabeth’s story/life rather than the original story’s main character, Victor, I still found that much of the book revolved around him which makes sense since he’s the villain of this one (and also the original Frankenstein but that’s a whole other point). I really wanted to get to know Elizabeth much more in-depthly. I also did not like the ending, I felt like leaving how Elizabeth survives Victor up to the reader’s imagination was lazy. I also felt like much more of the horror aspects could have been featured in this.
However somethings I did like were how funny Mary was in the few chapters (it was a nice dissolving of tensions) and the family/companionship bond formed between Elizabeth, Mary, and Adam by the story’s end. I did really like Elizabeth and her tenacity, I just wish we maybe saw more of her not thinking of Victor and his family.

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