[Horror October] Review: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on October 8, 2018 | 0 Comments


[Horror October] Review: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten WhiteThe Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
Published by Delacorte (9.25.2018)
Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror, Young Adult
Format: ARC, 304 pages
Source: From Publisher


1 Stars

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.

My thoughts

Did I read an entirely different book than everyone else read?! I am 1000% disappointed in this. This is the second Kiersten white novel that didn’t work for me, and I confess I’m starting to lose faith in her books.

For being a rather short book, it was INSANELY boring. Basically nothing happened for 95% of this book. The first exciting scene is nearly 70 pages in (in the ARC, anyway), then the next thing to happen is yet another 70 pages away. The book didn’t actually pick up until chapter 21, which was only 75 pages or so from the end. That’s 220 pages of NOTHING. View Spoiler »

Where is the dark descent I was promised?! WHERE?! It’s in the title for crying out loud! I feel like she was just submerged into said dark in the last few chapters. The end. I was expecting some mind bending shit and only got some mind numbing shit. I was really looking forward to this book, too.

In addition to being horribly boring and lacking any sort of solid plotline whatsoever, the characters were uninspiring and fell flat for me. Elizabeth was a horrible and unrelatable lead with little to no redeeming qualities. She was quite a selfish and manipulative turd, actually. The lack of feeling behind anything she did sapped whatever feeling I might have had while reading, even when it was remotely interesting.

I’m glad it picked up in the end, and it did make it somewhat better, but it felt rather…anti-climactic? I was disappointed in the way things turned out. Basically, the best word I can attach to this book in general (for me, at least) is disappointing.

If you like historical and documentary-feeling stories, you’d probably love this one. However, it was sooo not for me.

If the whole book had been like that ONE scene I spoke of, I’d have loved it.

Overall Assessment

Plot: 0/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 2.5/5
Pace: 1/5
Feels: 0/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 1/5

Jessi (Geo)

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