A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEARA CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR “Inescapably compelling.” —VICTORIA SCHWAB, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue “A masterful and monstrous retelling.” —STEPHANIE GARBER, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Caraval and Legendary A stunning and dark reimagining of … —STEPHANIE GARBER, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Caraval and Legendary
A stunning and dark reimagining of Frankenstein told from the point-of-view of Elizabeth Lavenza, who is taken in by the Frankenstein family.
Elizabeth Lavenza hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her “caregiver,” and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything—except a friend.
Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable—and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.
But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth’s survival depends on managing Victor’s dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.
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Exquisitely disturbing. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a beautiful tapestry of horror, sewn together with threads of madness, obsession, and murder. Kiersten White has written a masterful and monstrous retelling.
This was such a fantastic spooky October read! Kiersten White’s Frankenstein retelling focuses on the women from the original story, beautifully building them out into fully-fledged protagonists.
Visceral, sinister, and inescapably compelling, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein feels at once reverent of its inspiration, and entirely new. White’s skill is scalpel-sharp.
Kiersten White has breathed fresh life into a much-loved classic. Even Mary Shelley herself would be riveted by the dark lengths Elizabeth Lavenza would go to in order to survive. A dark and lovely midnight read.
I love Kiersten White (you have to read And I Darken) and just a couple weeks before Halloween is the perfect time for a Frankenstein retelling, but I had a really hard time getting into this book. There was so much I liked about it: a strong narrator, a super compelling premise, and the promise of something dark and twisted simmering beneath the surface. Still, I found myself struggling to get through most of the first half. I think the original Frankenstein novel put so many constraints on White’s story that it just didn’t have room to breathe – everything seemed to be happening almost at a distance as the plot was forced to stick to Mary Shelley’s original narrative. It wasn’t until White took a hard left turn and made the story fully her own that I truly started to love it. The moment everything went off book, I was totally sucked in. I would very happily read an entire second novel about Elizabeth, Mary, and Adam post-Victor. That was the true gold in this retelling, and the ending made everything else worth it!
Although it has been an age or two since I’ve read Mary Shelley’s book about the “Modern Prometheus,” when I read Kiersten White’s The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, I felt the Gothic glory and remembered. White’s Young Adult story is told in first person from the perspective of Elizabeth, the “cousin” or “ward” of the Frankenstein family. Put in the precarious position of “friend” and “intended” of the volatile and mentally ill Victor, Elizabeth arms herself with charm and uses her beauty and perceived innocence to become invaluable. Many of the characters present themselves in false ways to survive. Elizabeth connives and charms and takes a very personal part in the story. She uses intuition and intellect to ultimately become a more understanding and empowered person. This book is a story of co-dependence, violence, and misjudgments, told with obvious love for the original novel by a skilled writer. A reader can enjoy Kierten White’s book without previously reading the 1818 Mary Shelley classic, though it was fun recognizing all of the references to the original in the modern novel.
Having read Shelley’s original Frankenstein, I picked up this book because of the title. Elizabeth? Who she is and the part she plays in this fast-paced reimagining of the classic gives a tragic depth to a story of obsession and madness. The question remains: who was more madly obsessed? Elizabeth or Frankenstein?
4 ½
This is a wonderful retelling of Frankenstein, but full disclosure before I start. It has been way to long since I read Frankenstein and only remember the basics and no details. So this review will only focus on the book read and not be compared to the original.
The first few chapters were a bit sow for me but it picked up fast and you get thrown right into the world of Elizabeth, Justine and Victor along with some others.
I loved the writing it was so nice and smooth to read even with sort if dual-timelines, which can be confusing sometimes but Kiersten White done an awesome job with it. It just fit and made sense.
It is about Victor Frankenstein and with that super dark, chilling and gory. It is not for people who have issues with gore, medical experimentation, use of corpses and child abuse. All that being said, it was super fun to read, it was dark, chilling but fun.
So if you looking for a chilling read, this is the one…… I enjoyed very much and had a hard time putting it down, in fact I stayed up super late to finish the book but it was so worth it.
Overall I rate this chillingly, fun book 4 ½
This book was so freaking good, I don’t have the correct words to put together to say how much I loved it. But I did love it. So freaking much.
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.
A difficult but necessary read for survivors of emotional and physical abuse, especially narcissists, and the people who support survivors. Although the penultimate asylum scenes felt a little rushed or passed-over in comparison to prior settings in the book — especially with regard to what they mean for the narrator’s personal journey — at the same time, the horrors of Victorian asylums are well described in television series like “Penny Dreadful” (which this book echoes). Overall the messages are well done and resonant, the pacing is excellent, and the characters are very well drawn. I appreciated this read much more than I thought I would.
THE DARK DESCENT OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN was a unique retelling of the Frankenstein family through the eyes of an orphan, Elizabeth. Sold by her “caregiver”, she was brought to the estate as a “friend” for young Victor. Realizing that her survival meant becoming who others wanted her to be, Elizabeth quickly learned what roles to play.
“I was safe, and that was better than happy.”
The concept of watching a dysfunctional Frankenstein family as young Victor grows up, through Elizabeth’s mind, made for an intriguing read.
“. . . You are mine, Elizabeth Lavenza, and nothing will take you from me. Not even death.”
I really enjoyed the characterization of each individual. By a quarter of the way through, I felt I “knew” them all, as so many minute details were given. Elizabeth was the most complicated, as we see how she views herself, her usefulness, and yet still maintains a spark of her own compassionate nature–usually carefully veiled.
“Sometimes we are strangers, even to ourselves.”
The environment changed as Victor began traveling, but again, we see this through Elizabeth’s eyes, which have an entirely different perspective.
As Victor’s true nature begins to reveal itself, Elizabeth is torn between her role as “his”, and what she believes is right. This made for a unique and exciting story, especially form a psychological standpoint.
“Death touches us all in different ways.”
Overall, an exciting and unique approach to the Frankenstein saga. I really enjoyed this author’s style, and will be reading more from her in the future.
Recommended.
Overall, the main failing of this book for me was the lack of an engaging plot. That’s why I was only able to read the first half of the novel. While it had a solid writing style and complex characters, I couldn’t get myself engaged as to what came next in the story.
The book does require you to be familiar with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, otherwise it rather hard to follow the relationships between the established characters.
For my full review, please visit: https://www.krwardbookreview.com/
This was an okay book. The best character, by far, was the monster. However, some are the characters are not only loathsome, but also, provide very little depth. The oddest thing is the book finishes at 50%, and the remainder is just rambling academia that’s very boring.
Since I hadn’t yet read the original “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley this was a “fun” read. I am now reading the original which was included in the Kindle download. “Dark Descent” is written in more modern language than Mary Shelley’s version and the twist of telling the story from the female characters’ point of view is novel and well done. I am impressed with the vocabulary & knowledge young Mary Shelley presents in the original “Frankenstein” story.
This book is hauntingly melancholic, with a dark feel that seems to surround you.
I am often drawn to books that expand on the classics. I’ve read Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN: The Modern Prometheus several times, including once for a class in speculative fiction. Each reading was a different experience because of the different ages at which I read it. I’ve also seen some of the movies which always seem to tell a different story than the one that Shelley penned. I believe that movies, as an independent art form, need to be judged on their own merits and not as an extension of the written work upon which they are based.
Perspective is everything. We accept the tale of Victor Frankenstein, and the monster he created, penned by Mary Shelley, as gospel. Through twin tropes, first the brilliant, but somewhat mad, scientist, and second his sympathetic monstrous creation, the tale unfolds. In THE DARK DESCENT OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN we are presented the events as seen by a character somewhat peripheral to Shelley’s telling.
Elizabeth Lavenza is a clever girl… a manipulative young woman… a chameleon. By her own admission, she possesses a “calculating and conniving mind.” In many ways, THE DARK DESCENT OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN is a treatise on the voluntary subjugation of women in the mid to late nineteenth century to the men in their lives. It is difficult for me to fathom setting aside my own personality to be what some man expects me to be. Back in the 60s, we burned a lot of bras, marched in protest, and generally let the world know that women are not to be considered second class citizens. As the old saying goes, we’ve come a long way baby! History matters.
I tend to write my reviews while I am reading a book so as not to forget something that impacted me in a positive or negative way. I wrote this paragraph before finishing the book and before reading the Author’s Note at the end. I started out not much liking this book until I came to the conclusion that Kiersten White was not simply adding to Mary Shelley’s original work, she was bolstering the basis for today’s woman to zealously guard her independence in a society trying to again dominate the female body and spirit. With all her calculations and conniving, it is never said or insinuated that Elizabeth Frankenstein, nee Lavenza, is not smart. In fact, her comprehension of the culture in which she must survive is quite brilliant.
We have long been taught that the lesson of FRANIKENSTEIN is ‘just because you can, should you?’ Men of science want to know how the world works. Victor Frankenstein wanted to know how life works. Sometimes scientific pursuit results in great harm no matter the purity of the original intent. Have you ever noticed that the greatest innovation comes in time of war?
Be sure to read the Author’s Note, following the text of the novel, that starts “Two hundred years ago, a teenage girl sat down and created science fiction.” Those words brought me back to my class in speculative fiction where I learned that very fact. We tend to put Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN into the horror genre, however, horror is just one of the many aspects of speculative. In addition to the notes, there is an extensive Teacher Guide, also well worth perusing.
The author suggests that you might want to read the original FRANKENSTEIN after reading her book. I would suggest that if you’ve not read it (no, movies don’t count) that you consider doing so before you read THE DARK DESCENT OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN. The novel by Mary Shelley is included in the Kindle Edition with Shelley’s own introduction.
This one goes deep! I was so taken with the main character and her emotional journey! A very imaginative re-imagining of a classic story!
I didn’t get this read when I wanted to, too many blog tour review books to get done. I got this from ALA last summer, and it was one of my unicorn ARCs. I loved The Conqueror’s Saga by this author, her retelling of Vlad the Impaler, and so I had high hopes for this retelling of the Frankenstein story. I wasn’t disappointed. Once I got the chance to pick it up, I was hooked, and loved trying to fit what I remembered of the original story in with how the author was retelling it. It was a great account at looking how Victor wasn’t really just a good guy gone bad, how he was a bad guy in this one. On a side note, I loved that one of the character’s last names was my mother’s maiden name, even if it is probably more common in Europe. Great retelling, and I’m reading another good one by the author right now, Slayer, and enjoying it as well.
What a dark, twisted tale. Totally recommend it!