What I Liked:

The book tried its best to stay true to the classic that it inspired it. There was a similar Gothic feeling to the story that I felt while reading Frankenstein. It was still there in the practicality with which one of the twins decides to hack a dead body and use the pieces from it. She wanted to replace the nerve-dead parts that were slowly killing her boyfriend with those pieces. The calm demeanor that she showed was reminiscent of her father's i.e. Dr. Frankenstein.

The premise that this story is set upon is completely possible. There was a huge span of time when Victor was absent from home. He was spending his hours trying to reanimate the dead but why couldn't he also have fallen in love and married during that time? Nevertheless, from what I have read of him, the girl would probably  have to don an apron and prance around in his lab, if she was to make that happen.

I loved how the crazy twin's craziness started to come across in the story. As I read the part where she went loco just because her sister wouldn't attend a party, I started to think, why is she acting like an insane person? Who drags their sister to a party while she is kicking and screaming? That's crazy! Turns out, it was lol

The author researched the scientific experts of that time and included them in the story. Their efforts paid off! And, I came across a name, Sushruta. An Indian surgeon who, "was repairing facial injuries incurred in battles in 600 B.C." Consider me hooked! Here's what a Google search yielded:

"Though he practiced during the 5th century B.C., many of his contributions to medicine and surgery preceded similar discoveries in the Western world. Sushruta devotes a complete volume of his experiences to ophthalmologic diseases. In the Uttar Tantrum, Sushruta enumerates a sophisticated classification of eye diseases complete with signs, symptoms, prognosis, and medical/surgical interventions. In particular, Sushruta describes what may have been the first extracapsular cataract surgery using a sharply pointed instrument with a handle fashioned into a trough."

Sounds like Sushruta was really something!

Words that Stayed With Me:

What I didn't Like:

I could not differentiate between the twins. They might have been separate people but I had to take the author's word for it. They seemed alike. This brings me to my next issue, which is an issue that many YAs face. The female lead has to be beautiful and yet not know how beautiful she is. In this case, there were two leads. How would a book follow this trope in such a case, you ask? Easily. One of the twins was beautiful while the other was interested in science. Any guesses which one was prettier? Yeah, it wouldn't have bugged me since I have gotten used to this in YA books. But the twins were IDENTICAL!! Identical, I tell you!

How the author treated the monster from the classic. If you are going to base a book on a legend like that, you need to treat them with respect. You can't just use them in a scene and not tell what happened to the monster! It attacks the girls one night, trying to nab them, and then runs away scared when their grandfather brings out his shotgun? Does it seem like the intelligent and shrewd creature from the classic? Say, it does run away but why does it not come back? In the original, he was determined, if nothing else.

One of Victor's diaries mention him saying, "It's Alive!", when the monster woke up. The character from the book never uttered those words but the character in the movie did. A noticeable mistake that the author should not have made when they put so much effort into research.

Now for the Pretties

The book is quite different from many YA novels out there. It does not contain any love triangles and the female leads know how to get things done without boys! Give it a try, if you like such stories.

This was my third Franken-Date.