Book Review: This Monstrous Thing

Title: This Monstrous Thing
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: N/A

Just to be clear, when I fail my required reading assignment I am totally blaming it on this book. Because I was supposed to be reading Lord of the Flies and read this instead (even though yes, I should have read my required reading a long time ago, I'll get to it eventually, it's fine). This was one of those books where I wasn't exactly sure why I was happy, and I can't exactly point and go "THIS is what made me love it," but the whole package just made me a very happy and very sleep-deprived little bookworm because why sleep when you can read an extra 100 pages? What is sleep?

This is basically another Frankenstein retelling/remake kinda deal, but I'd have to say that it's my favorite out of all the ones that I've read so far. It's probably one of my favorite retellings, which is saying something because I read A LOT of retellings since they are awesome and because why not. However, this version focuses almost less on the actual monster part of the story and more about the fact that just because other people are different doesn't mean that they should be treated as "lesser than." This conflict was able to go hand-in-hand with the main conflict of the story, and helped explain some of the later-on events and also helped portray a universal-type conflict. Obviously the whole bringing-people-back-to-life thing played a role in the story, but coupled with the Shadow Boys and those with clockwork and I think it really improved the book because it was thought-provoking as well as entertaining.

On a totally unrelated note, I also loved the fact that there was only the teensiest bit of romance because if you have read any of my other reviews you know that romance is not my thing. Underlined for emphasis in case you missed the bold type. But in this book Alasdair doesn't run around falling in love with every single person he meets which is really nice AND it turned out that this story wasn't focused around two people fighting over the same person because that gets old really quick.

LIKES:
+ Clemence because I just loved her character and while I would have liked to learn a smidge more about her backstory I really loved her friendship with Alasdair and her personality and all that. At first I was kinda ehh towards her but then I started to really like her and I looked forward to the parts she was in.
+ Only a little romance! This was one of those books that didn't use a gallon when a cup would do and it was wonderful. The little romance there was actually helped explain/justify parts of the story so I couldn't get angry that it was there. I think that any more romance would have spoiled the tone of the book so I'm glad that there wasn't a ton.
+ The story. I was drawn into the world that Alasdair lived in and the struggles he faced and I loved it! I cared about the characters and what happened to them, I was on the edge of my seat, AND I sacrificed sleep to read more and seeing as I'm currently sick that's a big deal for me. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
+ The fact that a universal conflict was tied in there and it made sense and didn't feel forced at all, which I sometimes have a problem with
+ Scott Westerfeld wrote a nice quote on the front. As a fan of Afterworlds that's a plus for me. (And it's true! It was a "compelling and brave retelling," just like promised)

DISLIKES:
- I would have like to learn more about Clemence and her story, because she was super interesting but sometimes parts of her story were brushed over?
- I wish some of the flashbacks had been slightly clearer because I did get confused sometimes.

I really, really, really liked this book. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially if they like retellings.

I also just realized that Mackenzi Lee wrote The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which is a book I wanted to read before and I REALLY want to read now.

See this review on Goodreads.