Title: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
Author: Kiersten White
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Horror
Click For Goodreads Summary
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.
I should probably preface this by saying that I read Frankenstein once upon a time, but … I don’t remember any of it.
Well, except Frankenstein is actually the doctor, and he was a bit of a jerkwad, and I was rooting for the monster. So I judged this book based solely on its own merits and not based against the original.
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a dark read told from a fresh perspective about a story that we know all too well.
Despite knowing the story, there was enough different (from what I can remember) where this one felt fresh and interesting, even though the reader may know the overall plot going in, being familiar with the original.
❧ Elizabeth made a fabulous perspective character. She was dark and ruthless and aware of her place in a world that sees her as worthless.
Now, Elizabeth Frankenstein is not a sympathetic character, and she’s not meant to be. She lives in a time when women barely have a place in society, and even worse, orphans such as her certainly don’t have anything to offer. Considering everything, she’s learned to survive the best that she can—through deception. And she’s freaking good at it.
Elizabeth has learned the art of charming those around her, of molding herself to become the person everyone needs her to be, because she refuses to be thrown out on the streets and become nothing again.
This leads to an unhealthy relationship with Victor Frankenstein, who is the only reason Elizabeth stays in the household. She is his, and by extension, he is hers, as well, as long as he chooses to be. Part of my delight in Elizabeth’s character is waiting to see just how far she’ll go to protect her precious Victor.
❧ White captures the creepy Gothic vibe of the original, but from a fresh female perspective.
All the female characters in this are more than aware of their position in society, even though they’re doing their darndest to push back against it. We’re reminded over and over again how unfortunate it is that Elizabeth happens to be a female, but from her perspective, she refuses to let it stop her and does everything she can to get ahead, regardless of how society views her.
Better yet, the story isn’t just told through a female perspective, but Elizabeth is surrounded by strong female characters, rather than being the only female in a largely male cast.
Justine is Elizabeth’s best friend and also employed by the Frankensteins, serving as the tutor for Victor’s two younger brothers. She’s the perfect foil for Elizabeth. Where Elizabeth is dark and manipulative, Justin is light and honest to a fault.
Then there’s Mary. Oh, Mary was a pure delight. She was smart and witty and loyal. It’s sort of a disappointment that the story wasn’t written from Mary’s point of view, because she was my favorite by far.
❧ This book wasn’t nearly as dark as I expected … which feels strange to say, because it was pretty dark.
Given the title The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, I expected Elizabeth to be, well, darker. I guess I expected something just … different. It was a little disappointing that her character arc ended up being so predictable. I was hoping for more of a twist. This isn’t really so much a fault of the book as my own expectations.
❧ Nothing particularly significant happens for the first third of the book, and it felt like it dragged on.
Honestly, it consists of Elizabeth and Justine chasing after Victor and trying to find where he is, because they haven’t heard from him in some time. That’s pretty much all that happens. It isn’t until they actually find Victor where things get interesting, and it was slow going until then. I mean, Mary came into the picture, which was fabulous, but other than that, it lost my attention in several spots.
❧ How did Elizabeth see none of this coming? REALLY?!
We’re from Elizabeth’s perspective, of course, so we get to “see” her thoughts and experiences, particularly regarding Victor. We don’t get everything right upfront, and things are revealed throughout the course of the book, but you know that it’s … not good. Obviously. Because Victor’s creepy.
Yet, everything that she knows, and with how smart Elizabeth claims to be and how good she is at reading people … you’re telling me she had no inkling that something was wrong with Victor? I mean, there were SO MANY RED FLAGS. Neon red and glowing, with people shouting as they waved them. Given that, it sort of killed the ending for me and the “big reveal.”
❧ The secondary characters were much more interesting to me than the primary ones, and I wanted so much more of Henry and Mary.
Actually, what I really wanted was a happy ending with Mary and Elizabeth being an item, despite it being taboo at the time. But two women with strong personalities such as them? They can live remotely enough. Screw society. In my mind, they will always deserve to be a thing. Fight me!
Unfortunately, at some point, Elizabeth’s thoughts and Victor’s behavior became a bit repetitive. Henry was the unpredictable force between them, trying to understand them both and always coming up short. But he was sweet. And Mary was sharp as a tack with a wit to boot, and unfortunately, we didn’t actually really learn much about her at all.
Yeah it is a shame we didn’t get to learn more about Mary. 🙁