Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Horror
Series: No
Brief Summary:
It is a new take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, told through the eyes of a female protagonist, Elizabeth Lavenza, a ward of the Frankenstein family whose sole purpose is to 'keep Victor from going mad'. In order to do this, she has to totally reinvent herself, losing her own identity and becoming strictly 'Victor's Elizabeth'. She knows this is the only way to survive, and the only way that to ensure that the Frankensteins don't return her to her abusive guardian, so she devotes all of her energy to do just that.
Just like in the original novel, Victor is obsessed with Elizabeth, which only fuels his madness, and leading to a dark path of destruction and the creation of his 'monster'. The expected death and destruction ensue, as befitting of a retelling of this novel. However, that is where the similarity ends. In the original, Elizabeth is angelic, pure, and without guile..an innocent victim of Victor's twisted reasoning. In this book, however, Elizabeth is cunning, manipulative, and complicit in Victor's madness. She does what she has to do, and heaven help anything (or anyone) that stands in her way. This is her story as much as it is Victor's, perhaps even more so. It brings to the forefront a background character, in a total reversal of the original. It allows the reader to see things the events of the original through a different lens, and the change is quite refreshing.
Here is what Goodreads has to say:
My take: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 wholeheartedly would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the retelling of classic stories. I will say that it is not totally necessary to have read the original Frankenstein before tackling this book, but it does help. In fact, the author was kind enough to include the original text as an addendum to her novel. Quite clever, and much appreciated.
I absolutely love that the woman who had been a mere victim in the original novel is given (at last) a strong and determined voice. Elizabeth is hardly an innocent victim, and even as you sympathize with her plight, you fully understand that the situation is largely one of her own making. I could not help but admire her guts, however; she was willing to do whatever she had to do in order to survive, and she didn't let little things like remorse or sentimentality get in the way. She's a character that makes you empathize with her, no matter how hard you try to feel otherwise. She isn't nice, but then again, given her circumstances, how many of us would be? I wouldn't.
Even the monster, (self-named Adam) is presented in a way that makes you connect with him on a level that you never do with Victor. It drives home the belief that sometimes, the real monsters are men (humanity) themselves and not the other way around. The true 'monster' may hide behind a smiling mask, while the supposed monster turns out to be the kindest of them all. In a word (okay 2 words lol) read it! You won't regret it, I promise.
