The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

I've been on a retelling kick lately and this was one of my favorite retellings that I've read so far. Elizabeth is ab orphan that is taken in by the Frankenstein's and she figures the only way to stay “useful” to them is to put all her devotion to Victor Frankenstein. Yes she is manipulative but she has good reasons. I loved Elizabeth and feel in spite of her manipulative behavior she had a good heart.

The first 2/3 of the book were really good and if you've read Frankenstein you'll get a little more out of it, but the last part is crazy good.

[7.8/10 Rating] [Spoiler-free review]

I thought this book was great. It started off quite confusing? But oh boy it got GOOD. The author's writing style was great, and the way she wrote about Elizabeth's thoughts and motives was really well done! The descriptions were super detailed, and horrific and I loved it! I enjoyed the book alot, but I wish it was longer... The ending felt a bit rushed to me, and I wish it was developed more. Overall a great ‘creepy' read to pick up on a stormy day in your room alone, highly recommended!

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

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

That was exceptionally dark. I mean, the original story this is based off of is dark, but this is...woo boy. There is murder, and dissection, and all sorts of nasty gross things in this book. Perfect for the Halloween season.

Did I enjoy it? Yeah. Will I read it again? Probably not.

I'm not great with body-horror. Like at all. Makes me queasy and nauseous and just...blech.

What an amazing read!! I have never read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein but this makes me want to tackle it.

I have also never read this author before and after this? I'm going to go find more to indulge in. I love the writing..the feelings while reading..and the characters. This was a very fun and at times gruesome read. Perfect for Spooktober.

Oof, wow, I definitely liked this better than the original Frankenstein!!! Highly recommend!!!