A review by octavia_cade
Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was fun! I want to get a copy for myself once this one goes back to the library. I'm a big fan of Frankenstein, and this is a modern, irreverent take on it - still serious, but deeply entertaining in a very different way to the original. There are interludes of it told from the perspective of Mary Shelley, little historical snippets, but the bulk of the book is five characters representing the updated inhabitants of the Villa Diodati. I have to say that Ron, the sexbot mogul and marketer, is far more amusing than I've ever found Byron to be! The main character, though, is a trans man called Ry Shelley, whose journalist role prompts the discovery of, and interaction with, the other four characters.

There's just something quite sparkling about it - I would happily read it again on a long summer afternoon with a few glasses of something light and boozy to keep myself giggling and occupied. It's not perfect - I could have done without the rape scene, there for I-don't-know-what unnecessary reason - but I still very much enjoyed it.