Frankenstein

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly

A timeless masterpiece of gothic horror and philosophical inquiry, Frankenstein tells the haunting story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant scientist who dares to create life—and suffers the devastating consequences. His creation, abandoned and misunderstood, becomes a tragic figure driven by loneliness, rage, and a desire for acceptance.

Exploring themes of ambition, humanity, and the dangers of unchecked scientific pursuit, Mary Shelley’s novel remains as powerful and relevant today as when it was first published. A cornerstone of classic literature, Frankenstein is both a chilling tale and a profound reflection on what it means to be human.

Genres: Audiobook, Classics

219 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2025

About the author

See Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Reviews

[Tessa Zucht · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sick to my stomach. This was sad af. It’s less of a science fiction book and more of a cautionary tale. A prime example of monsters are not born; they are made.
“If I can not inspire love, I will cause fear” HITS

[Rach · Rating 5 out of 5]

victor frankenstein i hate your bitch ass

[Vale]

Antes de leerlo, pensé que conocía la historia de Frankenstein. Me esperaba algo mucho más fantasioso, monstruos, cosas oscuras, terror y todo eso. Y terminé completamente al revés: no le tuve miedo a “la criatura”, quería entenderla. Me dio una pena tremenda.

Una de las cosas que más me pegó de esta novela es que la criatura ni siquiera tiene un nombre. Nosotros le decimos Frankenstein, pero Frankenstein es su creador. Él no tiene nombre, no tiene identidad, no tiene un lugar en el mundo. Básicamente, nace y desde el minuto uno es rechazado por absolutamente todos.

Frankenstein, como personaje, me costó muchísimo. Hubo momentos, sobre todo hacia el final, en los que pude entenderlo un poco más, pero nunca llegué a empatizar realmente con él. De hecho, para mí él es el verdadero monstruo de la historia. Y no porque haya creado vida, sino porque creó algo y después decidió lavarse completamente las manos.

Quería jugar a ser Dios, pero cuando llegaron las consecuencias fue tipo “bueno, esto ya no es mi problema”. Y mientras él se quedaba callado, había gente inocente sufriendo y muriendo por decisiones que él mismo había tomado.

Todo cambió para mí con la historia de la criatura y la familia De Lacey. Ahí fue cuando dejé de verlo como “el monstruo” y empecé a verlo simplemente como alguien que quería pertenecer.

La escena que más se me quedó fue cuando le pide a Victor que cree una compañera para él. Porque, más allá de todo lo que implica la situación, su pedido me pareció tan básico y tan humano: quería tener a alguien. Quería querer y ser querido. Y eso fue probablemente lo que más me costó dejar de pensar después de terminarlo.

También me sorprendió muchísimo lo bien que envejeció este libro. Yo iba preparada para leer algo imposible de seguir y terminé leyéndolo en cuatro días. La escritura es bastante formal y muy descriptiva, pero nunca sentí que se hiciera pesada. Al contrario, hubo momentos en los que sentí que estaba completamente metida en la historia.

Y creo que justamente ahí está una de las cosas que más me gustaron: Mary Shelley se toma muchísimo tiempo para meterse en la cabeza de sus personajes. No es solamente “crearon un monstruo y ahora el monstruo mata gente”. Hay un montón de emociones, soledad, culpa, rechazo, obsesión y, sobre todo, consecuencias.

Al final, creo que Frankenstein me dejó pensando mucho más en la responsabilidad que en los monstruos. Es muy fácil querer hacer algo para destacar, cuando todo está en tu cabeza y parece increíble. Lo difícil es hacerse cargo de lo que pasa después.

Y honestamente, se lo recomendaría muchísimo a cualquiera que quiera empezar a leer clásicos pero les tenga un poco de miedo. Yo pensaba que iba a ser mucho más difícil y terminó siendo una historia que me atrapó muchísimo.

[Laurie Grube · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were there long-winded narratives sprinkled throughout the book? Absolutely. I happened to be in the perfect frame of mind to enjoy them, though, and I can see how they might not appeal to every reader. Rather than slowing the story, those extended accounts drew me in and gave the characters incredible depth. Mary Shelley's writing is beautiful— elegant—and I enjoyed every chapter. This is a classic that reminds me why some books stand the test of time.

[Emilia Wiecek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler free:

Frankenstein er ikke boken jeg ville anbefalt som den aller første klassikeren man leser. Hvis jeg ikke hadde lest klassikere tidligere, tror jeg denne ville vært ganske tung å komme gjennom. Den er fortsatt ganske bareable med språket, men den krever litt tålmodighet. Nå som det er sagt, GUDDDD Mary Shelley er en jævlig klok dame.

Det er utrolig mye indre tanker og lange dialoger i denne boken, som kanskje er noe av det jeg likte aller best, overraskende nok. Det er så mye dybde i karakterene og i måten de tenker på. Jeg endte med å tenke tilbake til det jeg lærte helt i starten av Psykologi 1: Er vi født sånn, eller blir vi sånn? Denne boken er på «blitt sånn» siden.

Noen kapitler kan føles ganske lange. Spesielt når de består av veldig mye sammenhengende tekst, enten i form av tanker eller lange dialoger. Surprisingly likte jeg dette ganske godt, fordi det føltes veldig innsiktsfullt å få høre så mye av tankene og perspektivene til både Victor og skapningen.

Jeg synes også dette er en bok som gir deg noe å tenke på etter at du har lest den ferdig. Og egentlig er dette en bok alle burde få lest minst én gang i livet.

‼️Spoiler‼️
Jeg ble virkelig lei meg da jeg fikk lese skapningens POV. Han ville egentlig bar passe inn og bli akseptert, men ble dømt og avvist av nesten alle han møtte, til og med av sin egen skaper. Jeg ble særlig lei meg etter De Lacey sin familie oppdaget han, my heart was broken. Det gjorde historien mye tristere enn jeg hadde forventet.

Victor er også en utrolig godt skrevet karakter. Han er veldig uansvarlig og tar noen helt enorme valg uten å tenke ordentlig over konsekvensene. Samtidig bruker han utrolig mye tid på å reflektere over det han har gjort. Jeg trodde egentlig at jeg skulle hate han mer enn jeg faktisk gjorde. Han er ikke skrevet som en direkte ond person, selv om jeg personlig mener at han gjør mange ting som gjør ham ganske ond.

Det jeg kanskje likte aller best, er tanken boken skaper rundt hvem som egentlig er monsteret i historien. Er det skapningen, fordi han begår grusomme handlinger? Eller er det Victor, som skapte han, forlot han og nektet å ta ansvar for konsekvensene? Eller er det folket som dyttet han vekk og nektet han? Det synes jeg var noe av det mest interessante med hele boken. Begge karakterene er kompliserte, og det er nettopp det som gjorde boken så interessant for meg.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankenstein is a science fiction horror novel written by Mary Shelly. It was originally published in 1818 and then updated in 1831.

Victor Frankenstein tests the bounds of science by creating a creature and bringing it to life, leading to a series of catastrophic events and a life long obsession of revenge.

While I have been aware of the popculture impact of Frankenstein and his Creature, I have only in recent years started watching Frankenstein films and had never read Shelly's novel. I was quite surprised with how narratively different the book is from every version of Frankenstein film I have seen. So much of the current mainstream imagery of Frankenstein comes from Universal's 1931 film: electricity being used used to reanimate the corpse, a criminal's brain used for the Creature, the castle setting, Frankenstein's dimwitted assistant, the Creature's physical appearance, and the Creature's emotional and mental temperament are all vastly different. Guillermo del Toro's 2025 film is closer, but is still an amalgamation of the novel, the 1931 film, and del Toro's own thematic and creative flare.

Shelly's novel is much more haunting. Frankenstein is instantly appalled at his creation and irresponsibly runs from it, leading the Creature to fend for it own in a lonely and hateful world. After thinking he found a new home, the Creature experiences further heartbreak of rejection, leading him to adopt humanity's lust for revenge and hate. The Creature's calculated and cold malice was pretty shocking to me when other versions sgie the Creature being much more misunderstood, caring, and full of wonder.

I usually find it really hard to read any novels written in this era as they tend to be overly flowerly in language and repetitive. Shelly's novel definitely falls into these same categories, but it is so well written and unique that I was often able to overlook these concerns. I'm very glad that I finally read this classic.

[Pat Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it aloud to my daughter and so maybe noticed the sometimes odd choices of language more than had I read it silently, the term countenance for example appears with comic frequency.

It captures a universal feeling of the guilt one feels after doing something and realizing the consequences of it only too late. I don't know of any other book that has given me such a visceral feeling like that.

Its theme is very resistant today with AI discussions.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a must read.

Every time it's read, I find something new. This time I focused on the author. Who did she consider the monster, the creator or his creation? What did she consider to be horrific?

Is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved?

There are still more nuggets to find.

I recommend the film with Robert Duvall to further enjoy the story.

//
From one monster story to another. I want to read Stephen King's Gerald's Game.

[Marisol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very cool that she wrote this in 1880!! It was very hard for me to motivate myself to continue reading because there are so many moments where u think omg do it differently and the dialogues were very long. But it's a cool experience.

[Alice Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never read this book. To my surprise the story is very engaging. It has many profound lessons of life, love, friendship, betrayal, and desire. I highly recommend. My next plan is to watch at least two of the movies.

[elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The monster's pov was the best part of this story, he's such a cutie patootie. Had a hard time getting though Viktors whiny thoughts on science, philosophy and mankind. King of "well if it isn't the consequences of my own actions".

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

[Szymon Uczciwek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyle ekranizacji a oryginał jeszcze inną historię opowiada.

[Karl Corpuz · Rating 4 out of 5]

who was the real monster? the monster or dr. frankenkenstein

[Ryan Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very good

[Aisha Hazrati · Rating 5 out of 5]

there’s no words to describe how i feel about this book. it’s a must read

[Caitlin Steinat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read

[Pedro Avaria Iriarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro. No se lo recomiendo a nadie.

[Gabriela Serna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entiendo el impacto que generó es una novela con una historia que conmueve es de no creer que lo escribió a los 21años que historia que de verdad me llegó al corazón.

[Iari Tomasello]

el primer incel

[Fyhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankenstein is a beautiful monument to creation on a whim, with no thought for said creation. The creature can be interpreted as a lot of different things, all under the umbrella of "the unwanted". I found his rage and sorrow tragic and justifiable. He *is* the monster, in so far as it is monstrous to have been created without concent nor care and to be rejected at every turn, while Frankenstein himself is the monster who created him and then spurned him.
Beautiful writing, and a classic for a reason