I adore everything Barrington Stoke does and in these Classic retellings - they have hit the jackpot! Making the most well known stories accessible for everyone no matter their age should be hugely applauded!!

I have to read a lot of classics for University and I sometimes have a really hard time with them due to the wordy writing style and the way they are written. For that reason I think that book slike this are such an amazing way for people to be able to access classic literature in a more accessible form.
The writing is simple and engaging and will definitely appeal to young and old audiences alike

I’m a huge fan of the original Frankenstein Book by the ever famed Mary Shelley but appreciate that the classics aren’t the most enticing or accessible for all who wish to read it. I love retellings for this reason as it gives people access to the original story but in an easier format and with perhaps more modernised writing.

This was a fantastically done retelling, keeping all of the original themes and events with the great storytelling I’ve come to know and love with this classic. It was paced perfectly and executed brilliantly.

It’s perfect for those who want to read the story of Frankenstein and his monster but perhaps without delving into the original version. It’s greatly formatted for children and adults alike; a book for everyone who wants a quick little hit of this amazingly spooky tale. I really enjoyed it!

An interesting retelling, allowing younger readers to access a classic story. I really enjoyed this story, it was easy to read and easy to follow

I loved this, I have always wanted to read the classics but find them bulky and inaccessible at times. Landman has done an exceptional job at making this an enjoyable read and I could not put it down (and usually it is the opposite, I cannot pick it up!). I am thrilled to have discovered this and will definitely be seeking out more classics retold.

This is an excellent retelling of Frankenstein, keeping all of the key themes and style of the original intact, but presenting it in a clear, concise and very readable version.

Barrington Stoke are industry experts at creating books to suit reluctant readers and people with reading difficulties. They're also excellent reads for more experienced and capable readers who are looking for something short and straightforward to read. This is the third of their classic retellings I've read, after Pride and Prejudice and Little Women (both retold by Laura Wood) and is also the first one where I'm familiar with the original text.

It's all in here. Frankenstein's ego and pride, and then his despondency and despair as his creation doesn't match up to his original dreams, worsening as the people he loves are slowly and cruelly taken from him; his creation's journey of self-discovery and learning as he is turned by the world around him into a monster capable of feeling nothing but cruelty and hate. The great tragedy of the novel comes across really clearly here, that the monster is incapable of truly understanding the world he suddenly finds himself in and everyone he meets refuses to accept him as anything other than a monstrous brute to be feared and chased off.

The pace is fantastic, thrillingly racing the reader along to the frantic conclusion, getting all of the moral and philosophical elements across without dwelling overlong on any of it. I read through the whole thing in about an hour and felt like I'd read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It even captures the rather cruel and thoughtless treatment of Elizabeth, the orphan who is presented to a young Victor Frankenstein as "a gift" with the assumption that they'll one day marry, and then cruelly used for unfeeling revenge.

Mary Shelley is a fascinating author. She's one of the originators of the horror novel genre, wife to a famous poet, daughter of a leading feminist and a leading anarchist thinker, but with a deserved fame that eclipses them all. I think Tanya Landman and Barrington Stoke have done her proud here, and I'm sure this will help a lot of young readers embrace her work.

Oh, and don't forget: Frankenstein is the name of the monster!