A review by gabrielle_erin
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

3.0

This was an interesting companion to the original Frankenstein, however, I don't think the text had enough new and divergent material to stand alone as its own text without the merit of Shelley's work. White's Author's Note at the end of the book really helped to contextualise the motivations behind the reimagining of this story, exploring the glaring ommissions from Shelley's tale, however, I do think it ultimately ended up rehashing a majority of it. The story did not diverge from the original text until the last third of the book and this ultimately disengaged me. I will say, White does an excellent job of twisting Shelley's text to suit new agendas that were not previously considered and there is some value in that. Overall, I wasn't hugely entertained by the plot of the book as I really felt like I knew what was coming, but I am impressed by the literary merit of the text, albeit so inherently propped up by Shelley's original.