Join us for Boo-Cause Reading’s Spookacular this month, as we talk about various spooky topics. We did a post with the full schedule and topics, so you can easily join in whenever you’d like.
Michelle
Frankenstein is my Jam. Yes the Doctor not the monster. While I do like that green fella, The Doctor is who I am talking about today. I have read a few retelling about Dr. Frankenstein over the years and it’s one of my favorite types of retellings (besides my friend headless, see monday’s post) Today I want to share my favorite retelling of Dr Frankenstein, I haven’t found another retelling (you can make a drinking game out of how many times I say retelling) that matched this one. These are under appreciated books in my opinion and a wonderful retelling of the life of Victor Frankenstein.
A dark gothic twist of Victor Frankensteins life. You find out about his family and his love Elizabeth. The book is set before the monster and before he became the mad scientist that creates the monster. This retelling is about his life and how he becomes the crazy Frankenstein. The house he lives in is a character in itself. I have always wished this had another book in the series or even became a TV series. I love the dark setting and I just loved how this story was told. This retelling is my favorite and a must read. Highly Recommend! 🙂
Berls
Unlike Michelle, I’m not a Frankenstein fan. I’ve never read the book and have little desire too. The book I’m going to recommend I only read because of book club, but as it turned out, I really enjoyed it. So it was good that I got pushed out of my comfort zone. And since I haven’t actually managed to share the review on the blog – but I did write one on Goodreads, I thought I might as well share the review here for today’s post (a two-fer lol).
Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge Published by Roaring Brook Press on January 30, 2018
Pages: 312
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Goodreads
A young adult biography of Frankenstein's profound young author, Mary Shelley, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of its publication, told through free verse and 300+ full-bleed illustrations.
Mary Shelley first began penning Frankenstein as part of a dare to write a ghost story, but the seeds of that story were planted long before that night. Mary, just nineteen years old at the time, had been living on her own for three years and had already lost a baby days after birth. She was deeply in love with famed poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a mad man who both enthralled and terrified her, and her relationship with him was rife with scandal and ridicule. But rather than let it crush her, Mary fueled her grief, pain, and passion into a book that the world has still not forgotten 200 years later.
Dark, intense, and beautiful, this free-verse novel with over 300 pages of gorgeous black-and-white watercolor illustrations is a unique and unforgettable depiction of one of the greatest authors of all time.
This was a super quick read – I read it in one day, not just because book club was the next day, but because it was an easy, compelling read. It’s not the sort of book I would typically pick up, but I was intrigued and since I had it for book club, I figured I would give it a shot.
It’s an illustrated book, written in verse. I don’t go for either – verse/poetry just isn’t my thing – and when I think illustrated, I tend to think graphic novel. Well, this was not graphic novel like at all – the illustrations aren’t used for dialogue, they are truly just a gorgeous backdrop that helps bring the verse alive. And the verse/poetry was not the kind that you have to dissect to get it. It really told the story, but in a more beautiful, artful way.
And what a story! I was not at all familiar with Mary Shelley’s life and now I find it no wonder that she wrote one of the original Monster/Horror stories! She didn’t have a real break in life from childhood on. The people who were supposed to protect her mistreated her, the person she gave everything too was abusive (and maybe bipolar?) and people she loved discarded, betrayed, and shunned her. She was surrounded by death and sadness and just… gah! Your heart just goes out to her.
I have never read Frankenstein, nor have I ever been interested in it. I don’t do monsters or horror really, but after reading this I have my first potential interest. Not sure I’ll act on it, but I’m at least curious for the first time ever.
All those sound good! I have been meaning to try This Dark Endeavour as I remember you liking it, just never made it on the TBR…lol.