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A review by mysteriesofmar
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
3.0
a fantastic retelling of mary shelley's frankenstein that unfortunately fell short of personal expectations
as the title would suggest, i was expecting the descent of elizabeth frankenstein. from the start, she is postured as the orphan girl who would pursue any means if that meant surviving, even covering up dastardly deeds of victor frankenstein. victor is much more terrifying, unhinged and outright bad in this retelling, and so i had expected elizabeth to descend into madness with him -- again, as the title suggests. as much as i hate the harley quinn & joker dependency/toxic relationship trope, i think it would've been interesting in this context (what with the time period, elizabeth's characterization of a morally f***ed-up teen, etc.) but was not at all pursued.
in fact, i would say that elizabeth's character changes halfway through the book, and she is no longer as motivated by how badly she wants to "survive", rather she is motivated by "love" and "friendship". which, i guess ended up being an interesting take, but i can't say this enough: it's really not what i expected nor wanted from a book entitled "the dark descent of elizabeth frankenstein"
so while this isn't a bad book by any means and i was entertained for most of it (there were some third act pacing and plot issues that i wasn't a big fan of), the execution did not live up to the promise of the title nor the synopsis alone
as the title would suggest, i was expecting the descent of elizabeth frankenstein. from the start, she is postured as the orphan girl who would pursue any means if that meant surviving, even covering up dastardly deeds of victor frankenstein. victor is much more terrifying, unhinged and outright bad in this retelling, and so i had expected elizabeth to descend into madness with him -- again, as the title suggests. as much as i hate the harley quinn & joker dependency/toxic relationship trope, i think it would've been interesting in this context (what with the time period, elizabeth's characterization of a morally f***ed-up teen, etc.) but was not at all pursued.
in fact, i would say that elizabeth's character changes halfway through the book, and she is no longer as motivated by how badly she wants to "survive", rather she is motivated by "love" and "friendship". which, i guess ended up being an interesting take, but i can't say this enough: it's really not what i expected nor wanted from a book entitled "the dark descent of elizabeth frankenstein"
so while this isn't a bad book by any means and i was entertained for most of it (there were some third act pacing and plot issues that i wasn't a big fan of), the execution did not live up to the promise of the title nor the synopsis alone