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A review by caidyn
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
After reading a good portion of her books, I decided to retry this one since I remember not liking it. While it's not my favorite book by her, it's still a solid read. I more enjoyed the revision of how Victor usually is seen. I never liked him in the original Frankenstein, so I enjoyed how this one definitely twisted his character and made him very different. I do wish there had been more with the monster up until the end, and I also felt that there were some elements that could have been left out or modified a little, but it was still a good and fast read!
Original review
This review can also be found on my blog!
DNF at 61%
I’m not listing any content warnings because I didn’t catch any. Not that I’m doubting there are some, just that I was so. bored. that I didn’t make any mental note of them like I usually do.
And, I’m not joking when I say that I was SO. BORED.
I got 15 pages away from 200 and nothing had happened. There was stuff going on, but it was just a flat retelling of Frankenstein while I thought that it was going to maybe present more to the table, especially from this new perspective.
Alas.
I love Frankenstein. It’s a great gothic story, even if it drags. But, this book felt like it was so much following the same story and hinting at something with Victor — aka, the creator of the monster — without anything going on. I started spacing out who characters were, which got me lost since the story is mainly about the characters.
And the characters weren’t interesting. I found Elizabeth boring. Justine was just one dimensional. Victor was never on the page despite the story being focused around him. Henry who? And who were the little kids they were supposedly taking care of when they were at the house?
Comparing this to And I Darken, I think that this is just White’s style as an author. A lot of exposition leading up to no real payoff. I mean, I was nearly 100 pages from the end and there was nothing interesting going on.
I guess that White isn’t my kind of author and, from now on, I’ll likely be staying far away despite the hype. Two different books had the same problem for me. Safe to say I’m off this fan train.
Original review
This review can also be found on my blog!
DNF at 61%
I’m not listing any content warnings because I didn’t catch any. Not that I’m doubting there are some, just that I was so. bored. that I didn’t make any mental note of them like I usually do.
And, I’m not joking when I say that I was SO. BORED.
I got 15 pages away from 200 and nothing had happened. There was stuff going on, but it was just a flat retelling of Frankenstein while I thought that it was going to maybe present more to the table, especially from this new perspective.
Alas.
I love Frankenstein. It’s a great gothic story, even if it drags. But, this book felt like it was so much following the same story and hinting at something with Victor — aka, the creator of the monster — without anything going on. I started spacing out who characters were, which got me lost since the story is mainly about the characters.
And the characters weren’t interesting. I found Elizabeth boring. Justine was just one dimensional. Victor was never on the page despite the story being focused around him. Henry who? And who were the little kids they were supposedly taking care of when they were at the house?
Comparing this to And I Darken, I think that this is just White’s style as an author. A lot of exposition leading up to no real payoff. I mean, I was nearly 100 pages from the end and there was nothing interesting going on.
I guess that White isn’t my kind of author and, from now on, I’ll likely be staying far away despite the hype. Two different books had the same problem for me. Safe to say I’m off this fan train.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship