“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear.”

Genre: Gothic Fiction

Pages: 230

Rate: 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis

It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open…

Written when Mary Shelley was only nineteen-years old, this chilling tale of a young scientist’s desire to create life still resonates today. Victor Frankenstein’s monster is stitched together from the stolen limbs of the dead, and the result is a grotesque being who, rejected by his maker, sets out on a journey to reek his revenge. In the most famous gothic horror story ever told, Shelley confronts the limitations of science, the nature of human cruelty and the pathway to forgiveness.

“Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock.”

Back in February my good friend LynnAnne and I did a buddy read of Frankenstein and we ended up having different opinions.

My Take
Frankenstein is a book I have been meaning to read for years so you can imagine how excited I was when I got it.
What I liked: Mary Shelley is a fantastic writer and definitely knows how to tell a story. The book does get interesting later on and the ending is mind blowing. What I didn’t like was how slow paced the story is. The plot dragged out so much that at some point it got boring. The book is termed scary but I didn’t even get the scary vibes. Just a monster with a grudge, and not scary at all. Other than Frankenstein, the characters were not memorable and it felt like a one man show.

What Lynn thought:
I’m a sucker for a great story especially if it depicts human nature in the way that Frankenstein does. It shows us courage, fear, love, a need for acceptance and to fit in, in a way that I haven’t come across in any piece of of literature I have read. Gripping me from the very first chapter, this tale spins characters that sometimes I hate, most I love and everytime I understand. Read this and decide, did Frankenstein create a monster in this story, or is Frankenstein the monster. I expected a story on the creation of a monster but instead got way more than I bargained for. Definitely a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ read.

“How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!”

Its often said that no one book is read the same and this is a clear indication.

Let’s Chat…

Have you read Frankenstein? What are your thoughts on the book? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, happy new week! ☺