I had wavering expectations of this book before starting it, but the quality of the writing quickly outpaced them. While Frankenstein is my favorite book, I was continuously distressed by how poorly Elizabeth was characterized and treated throughout it. White's novel approaches Shelley's original with a deep respect, but alternatively presents Elizabeth as a cunning and capable young woman whose meekness and purity are calculated efforts to survive to adulthood. In White's retelling, Elizabeth is not only the protagonist of her own story but a catalyst and witness to the events of Frankenstein we are already familiar with. Her experiences intersect with the story we already know until a dramatic and unexpected end that is entirely White's own.

For the most part I felt this retelling believably complimented the original, and seemed to have been researched well. However the pacing and dialogue of some segments felt awkward to read, and the end wrapped up a little too rushed and sweetly to be taken seriously, so I won't give it a perfect rating. Yet I still highly recommend it to everyone else who loved Frankenstein but wished the women had been more than victims.