Monday, November 30, 2015

This Monstrous Thing

TITLE: This Monstrous Thing
AUTHOR: Mackenzi Lee
PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegan Books
PUBLISHING DATE: September 22, 2015

FROM GOODREADS: In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…


MY THOUGHTS: 
I have been wanting to read this book since it first came out so I was happy to see it available recently at my library. I knew this book was a sort of retelling of Frankenstein, and that Mary Shelley was actually a character in the book, so to say it had me intrigued from the beginning is a real understatement.

Although I found the book slow at times, I was overall engrossed in the plot. I enjoyed many characters such as Clemence and Alasdair. Also, Oliver is such a great, misunderstood "monster." I really felt for him and truly cared about what happened to him. He in no way asked to be recreated and suffered tremendously for his brother's impulsive acts. I must add that I didn't like Mary's character much at all. I didn't feel connected to her and actually felt she was more of a monster than Oliver.

Like I mentioned, the plot is somewhat slow at times, but once past the 50% mark, it did really pick up. I found Lee's writing pleasurable and since this is only her debut novel, I am really interested to see what she comes out with in the future.

I would like to add my favorite quote from the book and one I feel sums it up quite nicely "...you made a human being. And humans are, by nature, monstrous."


RATING: 4 PAWS

 

1 comment:

  1. Ohh great review now I really need to check if this one is at my library as well. Because I am really intrigued by the plot and concept of the book, plus it looks and sounds really great and I think I will really love and enjoy this book too. Thank you for the awesome post my friend.

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