The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein Review

Ebook, 304 Pages
YA/ Retelling/ Historical Fiction
By: Kiersten White

“For everyone made to feel like a side character in their own story”

🌟 I like the dedication of this book very much as I always think of people as main or secondary characters. I myself am a secondary character!

🌟 Some of you know that I didn’t finish the And I Darken book. But you also know that I believe in second chances. I wanted to give Kiersten her second chance, and while this was not a favorite book, not even close to that. I like this one more than the first book and I did finish it.

🌟 My problem is not the writing itself, because the writing is great and there were a few quote that I like. My problem in both this book and the And I Darken book is the Main characters. Sadly, I don’t seem to like the MC of the book because they tend to be boring, predictable and kind of stupid.

🌟 This is supposed to be a feminist retelling if I am not wrong. Elizabeth should have been more interesting, Victor should have been more interesting but I was more intrigued by Justine and Mary. I even considered DNFing this and that maybe Kiersten’s style is just not for me. But the book got better in the second half. I felt it was predictable and tedious at first but then there is a mini plot twist and things got really interesting after that point which made me continue reading without hesitation.

🌟 Many of the character’s behaviors made me roll my eyes and say “Really?”. I should disclose that I had never read Frankenstein but I know the story from other media forms. That was part of why I was interested in reading this. Some said that this is a horror book but I wasn’t scared.

🌟 Summary and Prescription: A feminist Frankenstein retelling with a not so interesting characters. The start was shaky and a bit slow for me but it definitely gets better. It has a very good writing but I could not relate to the main characters. Still a decent read for fans of feminist retellings and Frankenstein. I gave this 3 out of 5 stars.