This Dark Endeavor: the apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel

I am one of those wimps who can’t stand to watch horror movies, but I have made it through the old “Frankenstein” movie starring Boris Karloff .
When I saw that this new YA novel by Oppel was about Frankenstein, my first impulse was to ignore it. A few weeks ago, however, I learned that this might be one of the novels being considered for the Michael Prinze Award for young adult fiction of 2011 Reluctantly, I began to read… but soon I became reluctant to put the story down. This account is much truer to Mary Shelley’s novel than any of the movies made by Hollywood. The names of these characters are straight out of the original classic and some other details follow the same pattern as Shelley’s novel.
Elizabeth is the love interest of twin brothers, Victor and Konrad. The young men are filled with lust for adventure and a recklessness that will certainly resonate with YA readers. Elizabeth can be a sweet, religious young woman in one moment and a daring feminist in the next. The tale has sensational moments of suspense and gore, but not so much that I couldn’t get through them. I am going to eagerly await the next installment, as Oppel absolutely must write more!