Man Made Boy

by Jon Skovron

Tired of being sheltered from humans, seventeen-year-old Boy, son of Frankenstein's monster and the Bride of Frankenstein, runs away from home and embarks on a wild road trip that takes him across the country and deep into the heart of America.

• ISBN10: 0670786209
• ISBN13: 9780670786206
• Publish Date: 3 October 2013
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 361
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

4½ Stars.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/02/man-made-boy-by-jon-skovron.html
I LOVED Man Made Boy. It's was beautifully written, fun and full of sarcastic humour. Boy is the son of Frankenstein's monster and his bride, stitched together in much the same way. But where his parents are more robotic than human, Boy is an abundance of emotion, intelligence and even teenage hormones. But he's incredibly lonely. His only human interaction comes from internet friends, where they discuss hacking and coding. Besides his big project, Boy occupies his time watching Liel. As intended, Liel will irritate readers at times, being more cagey than most of us would give her credit for. But rest assured, Boy isn't naive.

For a group of monsters, the characters are incredibly enchanting. Each with a unique personality and well developed. Besides Boy, I adored the Dragon Lady. Her use of 'little monsters' was far too cute to be legal. Man Made Boy is pure entertainment, brilliant characters and a unique storyline that's intelligent and fun. I would love to see this one made into a series, and given the ending, it might just be a possibility.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron is a retelling of the classic Frankenstein featuring Frankenstein and the Bride’s son Frank. Skovron introduces a mix of genres in this paranormal romance, from cyberpunk to fantasy. At its heart, it is a coming of age story, with life lessons and first experiences. Mini word review: quirky, intriguing and for the young at heart.

The tale begins beneath the streets of New York City, where we meet Boy, his mother Bride and his father Frankenstein. They live with an extraordinary group of supernatural creatures who run the theater directly above them. There are trolls, werewolves, brownies, ogres and even Medusa herself. They even have a siren that sings nightly. Boy is a computer hacker, who longs to explore the world beyond and after a confrontation with his father he runs away. The tale that unfolds has several interesting threads, a road trip and a lot of firsts for Boy.
Boy is an interesting character, and while I didn’t really connect with him, I was able to appreciate what he was feeling and experiencing. He is quite smart, and his hacking ability is extraordinary. I loved Skovron’s imagination regarding Boy and his computer. We witness him experience love a few times, and all were young adolescent romances. Claire and Sophie were interesting characters, but a lot of the secondary characters tended to be mean. I think Skovron captured the age and mannerisms of the characters well, even if at times they were a little cliché. We have some evil villains, and I wanted more depth from them and a little more angst.

Man Made Boy had moments of greatness and really delivered a solid message to its intended target, but I struggled with all of the threads. Essentially Boy is a runaway, and we travel on his adventure. His desire to be human and accepted often made him a pushover. He had his moments but at times I wanted to shake him. There is insta-love, but not the typical kind instead Boy falls hard for all of the girls he meets. Basically, he is in love with “love” and here the author really captured a realistic portrayal of young love. You remember high school where on Monday, “he was the one” and on Friday, he wasn’t but by Monday another guy was “the one”. Some threads that could have been intense like the program Boy created and the evil characters were for me all resolved too quickly. Despite these issues, this isn’t a bad book, in fact, moments were delightful and exciting. The pacing is fast, and the world building is minimal. If it weren’t for the foul language and some other situations, I would recommend this to boys 9 to 13. I would suggest parents preview it first, but I do think it would engage the reluctant male reader. Shovron has a wonderful imagination, but for me I needed more depth and greater focus on one or two threads.

With its array of supernatural creatures, myths and genres Man Made Boy offered up a unique coming of age story. I personally think it will be a hit with some readers.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer