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A review by forevermorepages
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
4.0
Disclaimer: I have not read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley nor have I seen any movie adaptations of it. I have a general idea of the story based off what the media has said, so that's what I'm going by. I do not intend to review based on the accuracy of the retelling.
Onto the review...
I picked up this ARC at Comic-Con, which was really exciting for two reasons: 1-It's a major YA release this year and 2-It's a major YA release this year from one of my favorite authors, who also signed it. Needless to say, I had high expectations.
Unfortunately, this didn't really meet them. Obviously I enjoyed it because I wouldn't have rated it so high, but the first half was regretfully boring. I think the pacing was off a bit; things didn't seem to happen when they felt like they should have. Elizabeth finds out something really important to the story within the last part and that's when the action really picks up. The first fifty pages or so are spent looking for Victor, and that wasn't really exciting. I think it would have been better off starting when she found Victor.
However, the writing, of course, was amazing and well-done for the era, and the character development was the book's strong-suit. I shouldn't have expected anything less considering Kiersten White wrote this, queen of character development in The Conquerer's Saga. I started off disliking Elizabeth because she let men roll all over her, but she grows into this strong woman with a "don't need no man" attitude by the end. I fell in love with Elizabeth for this.
Victor, on the other hand, was the subject of a plot-twist that killed me. I was expecting it, but at the same time, was in denial because I really liked him. Honestly, knowing the story of Frankenstein, this wasn't much of a plot twist, but it still felt like one coming from Elizabeth's POV.
Anywho, I don't recommend this over The Conquerer's Saga, but it's also very different. I recommend it for fans of horror, even if it's not all that frightening. It has an...eerie...nature to it.
-Book Hugger
http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com
Onto the review...
I picked up this ARC at Comic-Con, which was really exciting for two reasons: 1-It's a major YA release this year and 2-It's a major YA release this year from one of my favorite authors, who also signed it. Needless to say, I had high expectations.
Unfortunately, this didn't really meet them. Obviously I enjoyed it because I wouldn't have rated it so high, but the first half was regretfully boring. I think the pacing was off a bit; things didn't seem to happen when they felt like they should have. Elizabeth finds out something really important to the story within the last part and that's when the action really picks up. The first fifty pages or so are spent looking for Victor, and that wasn't really exciting. I think it would have been better off starting when she found Victor.
However, the writing, of course, was amazing and well-done for the era, and the character development was the book's strong-suit. I shouldn't have expected anything less considering Kiersten White wrote this, queen of character development in The Conquerer's Saga. I started off disliking Elizabeth because she let men roll all over her, but she grows into this strong woman with a "don't need no man" attitude by the end. I fell in love with Elizabeth for this.
Victor, on the other hand, was the subject of a plot-twist that killed me. I was expecting it, but at the same time, was in denial because I really liked him. Honestly, knowing the story of Frankenstein, this wasn't much of a plot twist, but it still felt like one coming from Elizabeth's POV.
Anywho, I don't recommend this over The Conquerer's Saga, but it's also very different. I recommend it for fans of horror, even if it's not all that frightening. It has an...eerie...nature to it.
-Book Hugger
http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com