Author: Kenneth Oppel
Pages: 298
This book takes place years before Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The purest intentions can stir up the darkest obsessions.
Sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein leased a charmed life. He and his twin brother, Konrad, and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.
The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book the contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life.
The elixir needs only three ingredients. But impossible odds, dangerous alchemy and a bitter love triangle threaten the quest at every turn. Victor knows he must not fail. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science and love - and how much he is willing to sacrifice.
Victor Frankenstein is young, stubborn, conceited and headstrong. He is the ringleader of everything that happens in the Frankenstein household. I’m actually not going to lie, he is the exact same as me, only male. Even though irrational, he is my favourite character. Not only because he is the man who will create Frankenstein’s Monster, but because of all the things he sacrifices for his brother.
Konrad Frankenstein is intelligent, caring and cautious - the exact opposite of his identical twin brother. He follows along behind Victor, but only after trying to tell him not to do whatever it is he is going to.
Henry Clerval is a friend and fellow ‘schoolmate’ of the three. He is loyal to his friends and, although he always disagrees greatly with the ideas of Victor and Elizabeth, he would follow them to the end of the earth and back.
Elizabeth Lavenza is intelligent and she loves adventure. She is pro at climbing trees, spelunking and her only fault is that she has a terrible anger. Also every young man in this book is in love with her (okay, if you didn’t catch it, I’m not the biggest fan of her).
It starts off with Victor, Konrad and Elizabeth performing in a play written by Henry. It shows how easily one brother can turn against each other when there is a prize in sight. This theme carries throughout the whole book.
They say everything happens for a reason so when they stumble upon a ancient, hidden library it is no different. In this library are hundreds of books written in strange languages. Mr Frankenstein soon finds them and forbids them from venturing down into the dark dungeon library.
One day while fencing, Konrad falls gravely ill causing the Frankensteins to call on all the doctors they can find. Again and again the doctors fall to find cure, driving Victor to return to the forbidden library. There he finds a book containing the recipe for the Elixir of Life. With every great thing in life comes with sacrifices, as Victor will soon find out. How much will he be willing to give to save his brother's life?
This book was really good. I was always wondering how Victor was going to pull through, but soon enough I found out. There were evil characters when needed and good characters throughout. There were a few times when I found too many coincidences, especially with the ingrediants.
But this book gave me a reaction that I had never gotten from a book before. Right before I flipped to the last chapter, I was very happy with the book. Once I flipped the page, I announced in shock 'What the f*ck?'. I had to put the book down for a minute and have myself a good cry.
Don't let this discourage you. This is a wonderful book and I believe anyone who likes historical and kinda-but-not-really steampunk would love this book.
I rate this: 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment