Review: Frankenkitty by R. Harrison

Published: January 2016

Pages: 115

Synopsis: “Poor Mr. Snuffles, all nine lives gone in the squeal of a tire and the screech of brakes. His person, Jennifer, is in tears at her loss. Her neighbor, Mrs. Jones, a German war bride and about to move into assisted living has a treat for her. Being the grand-niece of a certain Transylvanian doctor, she has a treat for Jennifer. The good doctor’s laboratory notebooks. Thus begins the convoluted story of how a cat becomes Frankenkitty, upsetting the status quo ante in a sleepy college town. Mayhem abounds in this young-adult themed novelette.”

Rating: ***

I came across Frankenkitty by accident on one of those recommendation emails that Amazon send you based on your recent purchases and views. I ended up buying 5 from the same email and Frankenkitty was the first I decided to read.

A short, quick read that did unfortunately have some editing errors which made some paragraphs difficult to follow. But this was a good idea, which, seemingly innocent at first managed to cover a huge range of themes such as friendship, bullying, academia, science and getting older.

There was one scene where a boy tried to force himself on the main character and this is accepted as he is the star player of a varsity sports team. I found this incredibly frustrating but unfortunately I know that kind of viewpoint is very much alive in parts of the world.

Personally I would have liked more made of the connection to Frankenstein; some extracts from his diaries would have been brilliant!

Overall a good, quick read but with some negative points.