This Dark Endeavor - What Avon Thinks

Official Summary

Bravery, danger, and intense passion. How does obsession begin?

Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures...until the day their adventures turn all too real.

They stumble upon the Dark Library and discover secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies. Father forbids them from ever entering the room again, but when Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is drawn back to the Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. Victor, along with his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry, immediately set out to find a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help them create the formula.

Determined to save Konrad, the three friends scale the highest trees in Strumwald, dive into the deepest lakes, and even make an unthinkable sacrifice in their quest for the elixir’s ingredients. And as if their task was not complicated enough, a new realm of danger—that of illicit love—threatens to end the ordeal in tragedy.

Short and Sweet
This Dark Endeavor is a thrilling and gothic prequel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. With a gorgeous storyline and relatable teen characters, Kenneth Oppel writes a novel that gives tribute to the 1800s classic and simultaneously emulates the unique flair of his earlier books.

So, what's Avon's take on the book?
I was excited to crack open This Dark Endeavor. I'd recently read Airborn, and was excited to return to Mr. Oppel's beautifully crafted settings. This Dark Endeavor certainly does not disappoint. Each of the characters is as well-sculpted as a Michelangelo, and wonderfully relatable as well. Victor Frankenstein, the main character, is a wealthy child growing up in the shadow of his twin brother. Throughout the novel, we see Victor glow green with envy every time his brother proves to be smarter, stronger, and faster than him. However, this element of Victor's personality does not overpower what is underneath. He is curious, naïve, and sometimes a bit stupid, as any sixteen-year-old boy would be. Most of all, he has a deep "passion" that is clearly obvious to the reader.



Konrad soon falls ill, and Victor hunts for the Elixir of Life in the hopes of curing his brother of a rare, deadly disease. He seeks the expertise of Polidori, a poor, greedy alchemist who can help him brew the potion. With the help of his friend Henry and his beautiful cousin Elizabeth, Victor goes on midnight excursions for rare plants, explores underground caverns, and sacrifices himself for the sake of his brother. Throughout it all, he has a strange motivation that keeps him fighting until the end. And as a reader, you start to wonder: does he want the Elixir of Life just so that his brother can survive? Or is there a deeper, more selfish motivation behind it? When Konrad dies, his quest for immortality becomes his life, and the prequel ties in nicely with the classic. He was rash throughout the book, but now, he is on the brink of madness. By the end of the novel, we can see the insane doctor he will one day turn into.

The one thing that I can't fully appreciate about the novel is the love triangle. It seems that the love "triangle" (more like the love 'v') is a common occurrence in YA literature, and authors seem to add it in just for the heck of it. Elizabeth is a well-rounded character. She's independent and reasonable; she bounces off of Victor and balances him out. However, the small sparks of romance between her and Victor seem to be added just for love triangle's sake, or to justify Victor's envy towards his brother (who is initially Elizabeth's lover). Their pre-Frankenstein romance does not develop the characters in any way. By the end of the book, it hardly seems to change their relationship, or tie in to the classic. Nevertheless, Elizabeth carries the plot forward, and it is clear that her existence has a deeper meaning.

Overall, the book is gorgeous. The setting is vivid, and the characters are multi-dimensional. Three cheers for Kenneth Oppel!

So, what did you think of the book? Am I right? Did I get everything completely wrong? Do I deserve to go to jail for this review? Tell me your thoughts!

Matched - What Avon Thinks

Official Summary

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. 

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

Short and Sweet

Matched is a dystopian love story with weak characters and an uneventful storyline. But Ms. Condie gives you just enough hope to keep you reading until the end.

So, what's Avon's take on the book?

No wonder Matched is a YA bestseller: it has romance, it's dystopian, and––that's pretty much it. When I first cracked open the spine and decided to see what the hype was all about, I anticipated something that would be so-so. And that's precisely what it was.

The book starts out with Cassia's "Matching Banquet", where her husband-to-be appears on the screen and she excitedly anticipates her soon-to-be perfect life in the Society. Of course, her best friend Xander is her Match. Like any dystopian heroine, Cassia starts out as naïve and accepting of her loving society. And then, like any heroine, she goes on to realize that her society is all wrong and spearheads a revolution that will reawaken the minds of her fellow citizens. And that's it. She has no personality traits that make her unique. As a reader, I'm not endeared to her. I know absolutely nothing about her, because I can't relate to her. She's patient, she's kind, she's a perfect human being. And sometimes perfection gets a bit boring.

That's what the Society has given us: time. We live longer and better than any other citizens in the history of the world. And it's thanks in large part to the Matching System, which produces physically and emotionally healthy offspring. 

However, one element I love about Ms. Condie's writing style is that Cassia always seems to be talking directly to the reader. It's almost as though she's in the room with me. This is a difficult skill to pick up as a writer, and I have never been able to master it.

I always enjoy these few seconds in the theater before a showing, when all is dark and I am waiting. I always feel a drop in my stomach––wondering if, when the lights of the showing come on, I might find myself completely alone.

There is one element that I just can't accept about the book: those cheesy one-liners that pop in here and there and make me red with embarrassment. No one goes around thinking, "Some things are meant to be together" or "We go through a forest that is complicated and full of tangles and there are no stones to guide us except the ones we build ourselves". The only characters who can make such ridiculous statements are ones who have lived a hard life and have felt pain. Cassia is fed, clothed, and cleaned by the Society. She has never felt pain in her life. I feel as though Cassia has no right to act like such a deep character when there really is no depth to her at all. 

"What [color] are [my eyes] now?" he asks. He widens his eyes a little, leans closer, lets me look as long and as deep as I want. 

And there's so much to see. They are blue, and black, and other colors, too, and I know some of what they've seen and what I hope they see now. Me. Cassia. What I feel, who I am.

"Well?" Ky asks.

"Everything," I tell him. "They're everything."

The plot is slow moving and it never really gets to a boiling point. Cassia spends most of the novel trying to choose whom she loves more: Xander, the smart, cute one, or Ky, the dark and mysterious one (of course, what did I expect?). Meanwhile, the plot slips downhill. A bunch of "little incidents" occur that don't lead anywhere. Cassia gradually gets more and more annoyed with her oppressive government, but does absolutely nothing about it. Instead of rebelling, she hides her mutinous thoughts and rants to the reader. She kisses the boy she loves and is let off with a warning. She falls on the treadmill and scrapes her knee. Talk about someone as badass as Katniss Everdeen. By the end, her true love ends up being sent off to war and she moves to the country in hopes of finding him. She's passive and I can't get past that. In fact, almost the entire book is passive.

Overall, Matched is a weak novel. It's typical, and it's near impossible to get past its weak characters. Nevertheless, Ms. Condie's writing style blows me away. I love Cassia's voice and her outlook, and the way I can almost reach into her fictional world. 

So what did you think of the book? Am I right? Did I get everything completely wrong? Do I deserve to go to jail for this review? Tell me your thoughts!

All you need is love.

I view my book characters as children. Like a parent, I control their faith. I can either screw them up or transform them into a person who can positively change the world. I put myself into my characters, and even though they are their own unique human beings, they will always carry a piece of me with them. And I will always carry a piece of them with me. And one day, when I've finished my story or novel, I will have to say goodbye to them. And that will probably be one of the most bittersweet moments of my life.

And you know what? I've learned that I am an overprotective writer,  when it comes to my characters. And I will admit one of my dozens of weaknesses as a writer:

I can't write emotional romance. 

You see, my characters are special to me, and I don't want to expose them to the heartbreak and heartache they will experience in the big, bad world of writing. Sure, they can be near-shot to death, or be forced to survive two weeks without food. 

But that's physical pain. It gets better. Emotional pain doesn't. 

And physical romance? God, that itself is its own story. 

*cut to scene of me reading [insert name of YA romance novel]* 

"Oh god, no! It's too early! They barely even know each other! What if they break up? Why would you kiss someone you're going to break up with in the future?! If they're not the right one, why kiss them? *shudders*" 

I do not consider myself as a cynical human being. But in terms of love, I am. Especially when it comes to writing. I have attempted to seek this same dilemma in other writers' lives. But it seems as though I am the only one.

So if you see me shuddering while at the laptop, you know what kind of scene I'm trying to write.