Book Review: Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Author: Kenneth Oppel
Title: Such Wicked Intent (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein #2) 
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Gothic, Fantasy, Mystery, & Paranormal
Pages: 310
First Published: January 1st, 2012
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

"When his grieving father orders the destruction of the Dark Library, Victor retrieves a book in which he finds the promise of not just communicating with the dead, but entering their realm, and soon he, Elizabeth, and Henry are in the spirit world of Château Frankenstein, creating and growing a body."



First book of the year. Woot woot!

Well...this does well as a stand-alone, but it isn't. It's actually the second book of the series. However, if you read this first, there really is no reason to read the first due to the large amounts of spoilers. Yes, there are many references, but it all pieces in together and it all makes sense sooner or later.  

Anyways...

This was an interesting and fun book. Very different. I loved the fact that this played off the Frankenstein book, but with a huge twist. Victor is the ancestor of Dr. Frankenstein who discovered a way into the spirit world and who discovered a way to create life. It's way different though. No electricity, no machines. I won't say how they create this body, because its weird, but kinda cool and a little bit creepy, but different. 

The story was fun and the adventure addicting, buuuuuuut I hated the characters. They were flawed, which is always a plus, but I wanted to punch them all. Punch some sense into their thick skulls. GAH! Victor was an arrogant ass, Elizabeth was a hypocrite who keeps playing games with everyone's emotions, and Henry was okay sometimes, but he was annoying. The only one who I actually really liked was Victor's twin brother, Konrad who was truly just a victim throughout this whole story. After thinking about it for a while, I do think that the author purposely wrote the characters the way she did to make you squint your eyes at them and be in disbelief at their idiocy. It made the story. If they had used logic all would have been revealed. Granted...they are teenagers, so it all makes sense. At the end, there seems to be hope at the end for all the characters though.

Anyways...

The end left me wanting more and so far there is no more. Hopefully that changes soon, because there was a twinkle in Victor's eye for further adventure. There not only was hope for more adventures, but there was hope for all the characters. I also would like to see what is to come of them. Odd, because I wanted to punch them...*shakes head*

ANYWAYS!

This was good. I would recommend this to those that like darker books that will indeed keep you on the edge of your seats. This was a Young Adult novel, but it didn't feel like it at times. So don't let the fact that this is a YA keep you away. I recommend this that like historical paranormal books. And especially for those that like or just appreciate the story of Frankenstein. Out of five stars I shall stamp this with 4 stars. 

Favorite Character(s): Konrad
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Elizabeth (the other annoyed me, but I hate, HATE hypocrites)