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A review by novelsbycaitlin
This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee
4.0
You don't need to be a giant Mary Shelley/Frankenstein fan to enjoy This Monstrous Thing. Although, you'll appreciate Lee's awesome dedication to Mary Shelley five times more. Still, doesn't take away from how flippin neat this book is.
First off, this isn't a soul adaptation of Frankenstein. This is a story about Mary Shelley as well--the author of good ol' Frankenstein. For those who aren't aware of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, well, here's a quick summary. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at the tender age of 17 (published by 18) and was the first book to delve into that which hadn't a name at the time, science fiction (later on in life she would continue to expand the science fiction genre by writing the first dystopian--because she's awesome). Frankenstein is THEE novel that represents Romanticism of England in the early 1800's. Mary also introduced the mad scientist as well as a monster that isn't actually evil or bad by nature--a creature born and turned into a monster by its creator and surroundings. To top it all off, the original reason why Mary began writing such a novel was Lord Byron--you know, the biggest celebrity in North America and Europe at that time also creator of the Byronic hero and bascially just one of the most famous poets of all time--was like "let's have a competition and write scary stories." The other two participants were Percy Shelley, another HUGE poet and celebrity of the turn of the century, and a little no name wannabe poet who ended up writing a The Vampyre, a novel about an aristocrat that is immortal and sucks people's blood and then kills them. The guy basically influenced Bram Stroker's Dracula and other upperclass vampire myths.
So Mary Shelley and Frankenstein is pretty flippin awesome. There are TONS of adaptations, but This Monstrous Things goes an extra step to include Mary into her own fiction. It's awesome.
This adaptation is an alternate, steampunk history. It's about two brothers--one a little two ambitious, the other a little too rageful--and how they lose themselves and their relationship. A girl they spent the summer with, takes the brother's story and writes a novel that sparks an uprising. I won't go much further, but to say how Lee is capable of writing a stand alone novel with so many moving parts, and actually functions and works is pretty awesome.
My only complaint revolves around how slow and strange the ending felt. There was a resolve, but Lee spent maybe a bit too much time tying her ends into knots (and I wish there was one more scene between Alasdair and Oliver). I won't lie, I skimmed the last twenty pages.
Besides that, this is one of my favorite books of the year! Totally a sleeper hit.
First off, this isn't a soul adaptation of Frankenstein. This is a story about Mary Shelley as well--the author of good ol' Frankenstein. For those who aren't aware of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, well, here's a quick summary. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at the tender age of 17 (published by 18) and was the first book to delve into that which hadn't a name at the time, science fiction (later on in life she would continue to expand the science fiction genre by writing the first dystopian--because she's awesome). Frankenstein is THEE novel that represents Romanticism of England in the early 1800's. Mary also introduced the mad scientist as well as a monster that isn't actually evil or bad by nature--a creature born and turned into a monster by its creator and surroundings. To top it all off, the original reason why Mary began writing such a novel was Lord Byron--you know, the biggest celebrity in North America and Europe at that time also creator of the Byronic hero and bascially just one of the most famous poets of all time--was like "let's have a competition and write scary stories." The other two participants were Percy Shelley, another HUGE poet and celebrity of the turn of the century, and a little no name wannabe poet who ended up writing a The Vampyre, a novel about an aristocrat that is immortal and sucks people's blood and then kills them. The guy basically influenced Bram Stroker's Dracula and other upperclass vampire myths.
So Mary Shelley and Frankenstein is pretty flippin awesome. There are TONS of adaptations, but This Monstrous Things goes an extra step to include Mary into her own fiction. It's awesome.
This adaptation is an alternate, steampunk history. It's about two brothers--one a little two ambitious, the other a little too rageful--and how they lose themselves and their relationship. A girl they spent the summer with, takes the brother's story and writes a novel that sparks an uprising. I won't go much further, but to say how Lee is capable of writing a stand alone novel with so many moving parts, and actually functions and works is pretty awesome.
My only complaint revolves around how slow and strange the ending felt. There was a resolve, but Lee spent maybe a bit too much time tying her ends into knots (and I wish there was one more scene between Alasdair and Oliver). I won't lie, I skimmed the last twenty pages.
Besides that, this is one of my favorite books of the year! Totally a sleeper hit.