A review by justiceforplutoo
Frankenstein - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley [Penguin Popular Classics] by Mary Shelley

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Main character was insufferable. (He's just like me)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury

Depending on which edition of the book you have, there may or may not be incest. Mary Shelley edited the 1831 edition to work around the incest, but two characters still call each other "cousin" as a friendly term. I picked "medical trama" because there wasn't a tag for "I created a monster and now I can't use the medical instruments without feeling immense guilt." I also chose "panic attacks" because I think that's what was going on with Victor for most of the book; they just didn't have that terminology in the 1800s. Period-Typical Misogyny; if you read classics often, I don't think it'll affect you much.

Towards the end of the book, Victor begins having serious suicidal thoughts, and his sickness leads to his death. At the end of the book, the creature actually does vow to kill himself with fire out of guilt of how his actions affected Victor.