The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

"I sought to puncture Heaven and instead discovered Hell.”

Elizabeth Lavenza, dubbed “cousin” to Victor Frankenstein after being sold to and taken into his family’s home, is told her sole purpose in life is to be a companion to Victor. Untamable and mad, his parents pass the responsibility of controlling and soothing him to Elizabeth. She is determined to plant herself so firmly into Victor’s life that the Frankenstein family should never find a reason to dismiss her, resulting in a penniless and homeless existence as an orphan. As Elizabeth and Victor grow up and closer together, it is revealed that, while a genius, Victor has a darkness to his soul that threatens to drag down anyone close enough to get sucked into his gravitational pull. Disappearing from society to further his studies, Victor stops communication with Elizabeth, who grows concerned for his mental health and sets out to find him. What she doesn’t expect to find is the ever darkening downward descent as she follows Victor into the inferno of insanity. 

Credit where credit is due, Kiersten White has a way with words. She does an excellent job of mimicking voice and language of times gone past while maintaining modern prose for readability. 

Writing skills aside, I couldn’t fully immerse myself into this book. The character development and world building were decent, but I had a problem with the pace of the plot. For the first 200 pages it felt as though there was little point to the story, other than to detail Victor’s devious deeds. It was kind of a flatline leading to a heart racing climax at the very end, leaving me unsatisfied with the content as a whole. The elements of darkness that stain humanity are sure to enthrall many readers drawn to this retelling; however, the awkward pacing makes it a challenge to push through to the ending.

Overall, 3.5 stars.