Review: Such Wicked Intent

Title:  Such Wicked Intent
Series:  The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein #2
Author:  Kenneth Oppel
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Books
Pages:  310
Format:  Hardcover 

Devotion turns deadly in this second Gothic thriller from Kenneth Oppel.  When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother’s betrothed.
If only these things were not so tempting.
When he and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor’s twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, the four venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return.

My Review:  Just like the first one, this book hooked me immediately.  We start off almost exactly where we ended which made it so easy to jump right back into the action and the adventure.  This book was a lot darker and more morose than the first.  There was a chill in it that had replaced the excitement that had been in the previous.  I found this shift very believable and understandable considering what had taken place at the end of the first one.  It drove a lot of the character's actions and affected them in a way that was totally realistic.  

My favorite part of these books is Victor.  I absolutely adore this guy.  He is so driven and determined to get what he wants and at the same time he is so flawed.  To be totally honest, he's a little broken.  But that's what makes him so amazing.  There's so many different layers to him and all these little things added up to an awesome, three dimensional character.  That being said, a lot of what he did frustrated me to no end.  I knew that what he was doing was bad for him and would only hurt him and everyone else in the end and I was so upset that he didn't seem to comprehend that.  The rest of the characters were pretty good, too.  I didn't like Elizabeth so much in this book but I always think that she is a really interesting character.  She's has a lot of layers like Victor but she doesn't show them as much as he does.  Henry got much more interesting in this one, though I still feel like he is more of an accessory to the other more major characters than a real contributor.  

The plot was great.  There was a lot of adventure like in the first but there were higher stakes.  Victor and the rest of the gang found so much more danger.  I was at the edge of my seat the entire time, my heart racing.  

If you haven't read the first book, This Dark Endeavor, I would definitely suggest you do!  And then move on to this one.  There is so much action and mystery, it's impossible not to get dragged into the world Kenneth Oppel has created.  

  Four Cards