What a fun middle grade spin on the Frankenstein story. Sadly I didn't really put that together until the end! Frances as a character was incredibly smart and resourceful, but also a bit arrogant and annoying at the beginning. She definitely grew on me by the end though. I thought the story was quirky and fun. Loved the little bits like the super smart chimpanzee who is her best friend, the robot nanny, and the secret rooms in the house. I think it was a bit unbelievable that her parents would have just left her home alone, but it worked for the story. Of course her adventure through town was intense at times, humorous at times, and a bit over the top at times too. Ultimately I did enjoy this, but it's not a few favorite. 3.5 stars overall.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This is obviously going to be compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as it was intended, but this is plainly a different vehicle for that story and one that I've enjoyed quite a bit. I found myself reminded of the first books in Tony DiTerlizzi's Wondla trilogy or J. Scott Savage's Mysteries of Cove series in that the character spends a lot of time discovering her own abilities and place in the world as she pursues her main objective. The suspense is great and characters are well-developed. I particularly enjoyed the ending leaving you to wonder what will come next door some characters. Setting this against the backdrop of the beginning of world war was particularly clever as it added a layer of intrigue all on its own. I would recommend this to my student fans of mystery, action and adventure, horror, as well as the more obvious science fiction. It's really well done.

A middle grade retelling of Frankenstein.

Unfortunately I wish I would have liked this book more. It had a good premise and I like the idea of having a story of Frankenstein.

Frances is left alone as her parents travel for work, her tutor is a robot and she just woke up a monster in her grandfather's lab...and now it's loose.

The story though fell flat for me, there was also a few times where God's name is used in vein near the end of the book. I also didn't like how it ended, and it left on a cliffhanger where there should have been more to the story I felt like.

I did like the friendship between the children, because they needed each other and neither had friends before they met. And relied on each other for help and support.

*thank you to #netgalley for a previous copy of this book to read and review.

A fantastic middle reader, I couldn't put it down. I loved the heart with which the protagonist is written, and would have loved to read something like this as a child.

This was a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I requested this because of the cover, and it didn't really disappoint. I think my kids would enjoy this too.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Frances and the Monster.

This book is a Frankenstein retelling that kids and adults are sure to love! Frances is the daughter of scientists and lives in a manor rife with materials for all kinds of experiments. When her parents leave town for a few days, Francis creates a monster. Oops! The majority of the book involves Frances pursuing the monster before it destroys the nearby town. Along the way, she makes her first friend and several enemies. She develops empathy and learns some secrets about her past. This book is perfect for fall reading. It's cozy but packed with adventure and full of heart!

Wonderful story! Definitely a junior novel, but really engaging and fun for its target audience. Its very touching and accomplishes exactly what a novel in this range should do.

Definitely will recommend this to my students who have children!

What a surprisingly delightfully read! This 70-year-old’s inner child loved this book. I read at least one middle-grade book each month and this was my book for September. It’s a perfect “spooky season” read for children. Frances is a character you will love from the start. While her story is a little sad, she’s precocious and a tough little girl. When she let’s a monster loose in her town and exciting adventure begins. Along the way Frances learns a lot about friendship, loyalty and perseverance.

Frances and the Monster by Refe Tuma was a charming middle grade read. I just loved this story. A middle grade twist on Frankenstien. Frances just wants to prove to everyone that she is a scientist. Unfortunately she awakens a monster, which is an old experiment of her great grandfathers. A monster is now on the loose and she must rectify the situation. Themes include; friendship, girls in science, determination and subtly asks the reader who the real monsters are. So good! Highly recommended. Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

'Frances and the Monster,'' by Refe Tuma is a fun Middle Grade novel that riffs on Frankenstein. It is modern and fun, smartly written with an entertaining cast of characters!

I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written and engaging. It was active and fun to read. I don’t have much negative feedback to give at all. It was overall a very good book that I would recommend to others.

I can't stop thinking about Frances and the Monster by Refe Tuma! It was published in August by HarperCollins Children's Books, and it's Frankenstein with a twist. And another. And another.

This book has so much funny dialogue between the characters, who are incredibly quirky and yet realistic at the same time. There’s action, adventure, a lot of genuinely scary parts (kids who are afraid of the dark should read it in the daytime), fun and friendship, and sad parts. All the feels, as the kids say! It reminded me of The Wild Robot in that way. It doesn't hurt that there is also a robot. And did I mention the monster?

Frances has been left home again by her scientist parents (named Victor and Mary in one of many nods to Frankenstein), and she doesn't like it one bit. She decides to explore the castle they all live in and try to have some fun. Much to her surprise, she discovers her grandfather's ancient, hidden science experiments that contain life-and-death secrets. Monstrous secrets. Secrets that unleash a monster, who may end up killing an entire town if Frances can't stop him.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of my favorite books. Refe Tuma does a fantastic job of mirroring the novel while still telling an utterly unique story. I found some of the physical feats to be inconsistent and implausible (even in this context), but I'm rounding up (to five stars) because I'm haunted by this charming middle-grade book.

#FrancesandtheMonster #ChildrensFiction #ChildrensBooks #kidlit #middlegrade #scifi #fantasy #fiction @HarperCollinCh

3.5-4 stars.

The author's writing style is great. The story was well written, engaging and the characters were well developed. I did expect more interaction with the monster. It didn't seem like the monster was present as much as I would have expected, but overall still a good read. The ending has me believing that there will be a follow up a book and I am eager to see where it leads.

This story is a great adventure read for kids.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Perfect for fans of STEM, Frankenstein and steampunk! I really enjoyed this read! My 10 year old son did as well. It was the perfect balance of adventure and heart. We love finding a good age appropriate book with the right amount of twists and turns. The characters are lovely and leave you wishing there was more time to spend with them! We can't wait to read more about Frances and her adventures.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was immediately intrigued by the premise and the cover, not to mention a MG take on Frankenstein, and while the book wasn't exactly what I expected, it didn't disappoint either.

Frances is an interesting character, and a protagonist that I think kids will be able to understand and relate to. A smart girl raised by scientist parents, she wants nothing more than to prove to them that she's just as capable as they are. Among the many twists and turns of her story, Frances surprises readers and herself as she learns and grows.

The side characters are just as fun. From a smart and friendly chimp to a robotic babysitter to a boy looking for a friend, I found myself cheering them all on. They all serve to teach Frances something that changes her along her journey. Full of comic relief and serious moments, the characters are easily the best part of the story.

I will say, there are darker themes within the story that I didn't expect. They aren't horrible and I wouldn't stop anyone from reading the story because of them, but I do think it would have been helpful to know going in--or at least less of a surprise. Tough topics are, well, tough, but that doesn't mean kids shouldn't be exposed to learning about them.

Overall, Frances and the Monster was a great read that I would highly recommend picking up.

What a fun book! I enjoyed this one.
Loosely based on Frankenstein this book is a nice clean middle grade (or older) adventure with monsters, friendship, grumpy cops and science experiments gone wackadoodle.

I had so much fun reading this. Laughed out loud more than once. Will definitely read more by this author. ❤️❤️❤️

SYNOPSIS
Frances is a super-smart scientist little girl. Her mother and father are great scientist and she wants to be just like them, only better. Raised in an overprotective environment, Frances couldn’t even leave the house. She spent her days studying and doing experiments with her mother and father. When her parents leave to go to a symposium; Frances, left on her own with just the robot nanny, finds her grandfathers secret laboratory.

Studying her grandfathers notes, she quickly picks up his experiments where he left off. She wants to succeed where her grandfather failed. She uses the robot body from her nanny to enhance the cadaver left in the laboratory. Then BOOM! The monster awakens! He goes on a rampage and escapes the laboratory and starts to terrorize the town. Frances has to catch him and bring him back. What follows is an adventure through a town she has never been in. Being chased by the local constable, Frances has to stay one step ahead of him while trying to track down and capture the monster. Can she stay out of jail? Will she capture the monster before it kills someone? The chase takes her through seedy alleyways, in the sewers and over the rooftops. Her adventure has just begun.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy. My apologies for criticizing any text changed before publication.
It’s 1939 Switzerland, and eleven-year-old Frances never gets to go anywhere and rarely sees anyone. Since the car accident that took her right ear, she’s stayed on her family’s estate with her genius, scientist parents, tormenting her tutors, who rarely last long, while working on her own inventions. She's aware that her anxieties help keep her isolated, but is ready to try to push past them and attend a scientific symposium with her parents. When they put an artificially intelligent automoton in charge and leave her behind yet again, Frances decides to rebel and unintentionally looses a monster on the neighboring city of Bern.
Can an anxious, sheltered girl, who dresses as a boy, save a conservative city aided only by her automoton’s head, a sentient chimpanze and a sensitive local boy? This updated, steampunk riff on a gender-expansive Frankenstein has plenty of action and a cast of endearing sidekicks. Like Victor Frankenstein, Frances is cursed with intellectual arrogance, blinkered by priviledge and has dangerously brittle self-regard. Also like Frankenstein, the appalling enormity of what she has done causes a lot of interior growth. Unlike Victor, it is the friendships Frances forms that truly drive her transformation There is a welcome twist that pushes readers to consider what it is to be human, what it means to be alive and what warps creatures to become monsters.
What stops the story from truly shining are drags on the lively interaction among the children, chimpanze and automotan as they pursue the monster. The adult characters feel two dimensional and tend to talk a lot. Despite plenty of drama, the book feels overly long. Frances is an admirably complex character, but giving due consideration to her erudition, STEM knowledge, gender fluidity, and anxiety issues can make some scenes feel overfull. A physics lapse in which Luca's badly bent, flat tired, bicycle is able to be rolled across the city distracts as does a spelling error that has pine needles written as pine nettles. An epilogue indicates a sequel is in the works.

I received an ARC of Frances and the Monster by Refe Tuma from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun twist on a Frankenstein story. It has the right amount of scary for a middle-grade audience along with all the laughs.

The robot programmed to protect Frances has humor that will appeal to adults. Kids will find the situation (temporary home) of the robot funny. I loved the relationship between Frances and Luca. They're both navigating hardships from their past. I wasn't sure why Frances lost the ear and had it sew-up from the car wreck of when she was a little girl. (But the author worked it into the plot in a logical way.)

This book is high adventure, hunting for a monster. Could you say there are more than one monster in this book? Why yes, you could.

I hope you pick up this book and love it!