Kris Waldherr

This Frankenstein retelling reads like historical fiction shoehorning itself into an existing plot line. While the original sets the date as sometime during the seventeen hundreds, this book sets exact years, with the French Revolution occurring in the background. It also goes into detail about clothing and servants and houses in a way tailored for a modern reader wanting to explore the world of the time period.

But at the same time, it simply erases many of the sexist attitudes that existed... while still having the female characters face limitations caused by sexist attitudes? Elizabeth, for example, is seemingly able to travel freely and even has no qualms about walking alone in unfamiliar streets at nighttime (nor did any other characters scold her for it), but she still lives with the Frankensteins and takes care of their youngest son instead of getting an education like Victor. In the original text, Elizabeth expressed frustration that she was not allowed to do what Victor could, which in my opinion showed her to be a strong character in a society that kept her down. In this book, the author seems to be erasing or toning down attitudes a modern audience would rightly be uncomfortable with, but because the characters are required to do what they did in the original, their characters are changed or their actions no longer make as much sense.

This was a common frustration for me throughout the book, as the more the author changed, the more it seemed that events shouldn't have played out in the same way. I couldn't understand why Victor wanted to marry Elizabeth or why the monster responded the way he did to certain events that I won't spoil. There are some notable twists, but otherwise there were too many plot points that just seemed like a stretch.

This odd mix of old and new was also reflected in the text itself, which made liberal use of quotes from the original, even though the majority of the book was not written in Mary Shelley's style. This resulted in characters suddenly having a bit of dialogue with a strangely antiquated voice to it or narration that expressed the thoughts and feelings of a character from the original rather than meshing with what the character in the new version would be thinking and feeling at that point.

There was also more romance in the plot than I was expecting, including scenes of physical intimacy, which may appeal to other readers but didn't suit my personal taste. The writing quality didn't hit the mark for me, either, which was a disappointment.

In the end, I think this book may appeal more to fans of dark historical romance than to fans of the original classic. If you want to see some female characters engaging in the action, it'll give you that. If you're grossed out by Elizabeth being Victor's biological cousin, that part is also changed. But if you love the writing of the original or have a deep appreciation for its full historical context, this might not be the one for you.… (meer)

A compendium of female royalty from ancient times all the way up until the ill-fated Diana Spencer. I liked how it was royalty from several continents and not just focusing on Europe, as many similar books do. Each entry seemed to be well-researched and had side notes that explained types of death or something referenced in the main text.
The design of the book was also what initially drew me but I was disappointed to find that many of the images inside were slightly pixelated (and obviously easily fixed with a modicum of skill in Photoshop) and included fan-art type drawings rather than classical paintings and etchings, I assume due to copyright prices. The pages were also that really annoying un-cut edges that makes it difficult to turn pages and impossible to flip through. The author also made a lot of obscure or random cultural references to things that weren't related ("she was the Angela Jolie in a sea of Reese Witherspoons" isn't something I care to read in a somewhat educational text) and a few I didn't even understand.
Overall, an interesting and fun read, but not as entertaining as I had hoped.… (meer)