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A review by ashley_eliza
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
3.0
Well, I have to say, my feelings on this book are a bit mixed. I really got into about the first 2/3rds of this book. I loved the extra dimension the author gave to Elizabeth, and I was struck by how well this narrative fit with the source material. That is, until the last third of the book. While the final third of the book took some interesting twists and turns, it somewhat pulled away my suspension of disbelief. Victor after the reveal sort of felt a bit cartoony as a villain? I’m not sure why, his dialogue just felt weird to me at times.
I really enjoyed Mary as a character, but I was not thrilled about the changes the author made to the monster. It felt odd that Adam was suddenly on Elizabeth’s side because he somehow had memories from the parts of him that came from Henry Clerval? I know that this whole story is fiction, but the fact that he retained memories from the previous life of parts of his body??? How??? That choice just didn’t sit right with me. Quite honestly, I was most disappointed in Adam’s role in the story. I was fully prepared for Adam to show up on the wedding night, prepared to kill Elizabeth, and for them to have some sort of dialogue. I had it in my head that Elizabeth would come to her realizations about being trapped, and in her despair, accept death when the monster came to kill her. I was ready for full-blown tragedy!!!! I came here for the gothic feel, not a happy ending. Not to mention that when Adam was fully involved in the story and had dialogue, I didn’t get the same sense of “tortured soul that is new to this life, but has been neglected, abandoned, and abused in the short time he’s been alive” as I do from the original source material. The character and choices of Frankenstein’s monster in the original story is one of my favorite parts, and that didn’t seem to translate well here.
What I liked the most was Elizabeth’s thought process, and how she objectively made many unkind and complicit choices, but her constant manipulation and self-preservation instincts were a big part of what made her interesting. Her growth over the course of the story was mostly satisfying, I just feel that she lost a bit of her wit during the ending moments. I felt this the most when suddenly she wasn’t worried about the monster anymore just because they were moving honeymoon locations. This monster has been following you and Victor for AWHILE now. You’re not worried he would find out where you’re headed by simply watching you leave? Obviously, that isn’t what happens, but I was still struck by the fact that she didn’t seem worried at all about that.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed reading this book, but given my final thoughts, I likely won’t revisit it.
I really enjoyed Mary as a character, but I was not thrilled about the changes the author made to the monster. It felt odd that Adam was suddenly on Elizabeth’s side because he somehow had memories from the parts of him that came from Henry Clerval? I know that this whole story is fiction, but the fact that he retained memories from the previous life of parts of his body??? How??? That choice just didn’t sit right with me. Quite honestly, I was most disappointed in Adam’s role in the story. I was fully prepared for Adam to show up on the wedding night, prepared to kill Elizabeth, and for them to have some sort of dialogue. I had it in my head that Elizabeth would come to her realizations about being trapped, and in her despair, accept death when the monster came to kill her. I was ready for full-blown tragedy!!!! I came here for the gothic feel, not a happy ending. Not to mention that when Adam was fully involved in the story and had dialogue, I didn’t get the same sense of “tortured soul that is new to this life, but has been neglected, abandoned, and abused in the short time he’s been alive” as I do from the original source material. The character and choices of Frankenstein’s monster in the original story is one of my favorite parts, and that didn’t seem to translate well here.
What I liked the most was Elizabeth’s thought process, and how she objectively made many unkind and complicit choices, but her constant manipulation and self-preservation instincts were a big part of what made her interesting. Her growth over the course of the story was mostly satisfying, I just feel that she lost a bit of her wit during the ending moments. I felt this the most when suddenly she wasn’t worried about the monster anymore just because they were moving honeymoon locations. This monster has been following you and Victor for AWHILE now. You’re not worried he would find out where you’re headed by simply watching you leave? Obviously, that isn’t what happens, but I was still struck by the fact that she didn’t seem worried at all about that.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed reading this book, but given my final thoughts, I likely won’t revisit it.