Well, this was certainly not perfect, but is still worth a consideration. In brief, it concerns a lonely young Frankenstein's-Monster type, who is just not monstrous enough to fit in at monster school, being built and not born (or reborn) a monster. Feeling completely lonely, he goes against all the rules of the place and creates a human – but when an accident gets in the way of the process, he will have no idea just what he's set in motion.

This was clumsy at times, about what it wanted to be – one of the old saws about 'the monsters are fine, it's the humans that are most monstrous', something debating the merits of a fine mind and a brilliant meritocratic logic versus the status quo, or just a quippy, for-kids-only story of a monster making a human, in a blatantly simple reverse of what normally happens. Obviously the young target reader will only see the latter, and they will probably think it fine, but when the first at least is overtly on these pages, it makes sense to run with it more than what this author is doing here. That at least would help disguise how so much of this revolves around socialist gardening – as I say, there were some weird decisions made in the creation of this. But as it's not without fun, it probably deserves three and a half stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Sweet Cherry Publishing, for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the amazing, hand drawn illustrations! They really made me pause and look at all the creepy and fun details!

The cover is so cute and the title intriguing.

I really loved this cute twist on the original story. It sucked me in and I had a great time reading it. The world building and characters were amazing. I would have given it 5 stars, if it didn’t have a few underdeveloped, negative messages. It could have been a favorite book. I think some readers will dislike this book because of that. But a lot of readers will love this book anyway!

It’s about Frankie, who lives in Frankenstein castle, with his mom and Igor. Frankenstein castle is located in Monsterweld. A great map at the beginning shows you that there’s Monsterweld and Humanplace, divided by a raging river. Humans and monsters used to live together but why they don’t anymore, is unfortunately not really explained much. A missed opportunity I didn’t get, because the author did do an amazing job explaining stem cells, in bite-sized bits of understandable information (really well done!).

Frankie is lonely, the kids at school make fun of him (they call him Freaky Frankie) and his mom isn’t helping because she wants him to study all the time, to become a great scientist like her, instead of playing with the other kids.

He does have a neighbor but they call her spooky Suki and he has seen her do some scary things so he avoids her. That and kids who look a lot stranger than Frankie does, making fun of his looks, was a bit hard for me to get. But it does create a great base for the rest of the story, which is about Frankie eventually creating a friend to play with, which leads to more than one unexpected outcome.

I would have loved to see what happened in class after that, I feel like we didn’t get any closure there. Especially because last time he was there, some remarkable things happened.

This story contains a lot of: “Humans are awful and progress is wrong” messages, without much explanation why. I didn’t like that at all. If it was explained better (this could have been a great fun learning opportunity), if it got a positive twist or at least taught us that not all humans are bad and not all progress is wrong and if we would have been given the satisfaction of gradually seeing the characters finding something they could do about it and about their relationship with humans, maybe even come up with possible solutions together with them, or if all that was just left out and it was “just” a story about Frankie wanting and finding an unexpected friend, this would have been a book I would read over and over with a smile.

An enjoyable read with a lot of good sides, but a little bit of a bad aftertaste for me.

Frankie lives in Frankenstein castle on the very top of the mountain. He is leaving school to go home while his classmates are showing off the silly things that they do as Frankie has no special powers. When Frankie gets home, he is asked how his day at school was while Frankie asked if there were any crumpets left to eat. Afterwards he goes to his room. He thinks about how lonely he is and wishes he had a friend. He knows it won’t happen at school. His mother tells him to study hard and to read the science books they have. He is only interested in having a friend. He lives in Monsterland where only monsters live. No humans are allowed. He decides to make a friend for himself. He knows that it can’t be a monster so he decides to makes a human. He succeeds but finds out that his human is wanting to improve everything which would only cause problems for the monsters’ lives. What will Frankie do?

The author has written a humorous novel about having a friend. I enjoyed reading how Frankie made the human. It was a little sad as to how much Frankie wanted a friend. As I was reading this, I was thinking of the movie “Frankenstein.” And wondered if that was her inspiration for writing this. Regardless, it’s a fun book to read. You also will learn to not to think you can’t have a friend.

I read this with my students and it was such an enjoyable experience. We had so much fun.
The twist on the original tale is done so well and it keeps you entertained throughout the story. It is good for the beginner readers as well.

Frankie is the youngest in a long line of Frankenstein’s monsters. You would think that’s impressive, but the other monsters in his school treat him like he is worthless. Because what kind of monster can’t take its head off, stick its tongue through its ears, or fold its bones to the size of a box? If Frankie tries to do tricks, his stitches rip, and his mother has to fix him. Not very spooky at all. Poor Frankie is all alone and gets bullied daily. Fortunately, the Frankensteins are also known to be fantastic scientists. An idea pops into his mind: Why not create a friend who will spend time with him and stand up for him against his bullies? He isn’t allowed to create more monsters, but nobody said he couldn’t make a human. And the human couldn’t be more perfect until he is not. Can Frankie fix his mistake and not risk all of Monsterweld in the meantime?

I loved Frankie. He is such a sweet monster who cares deeply. And I felt emotional about him being bullied and having no friends. I completely understand why he would break all the rules to create a human. What I didn’t expect was how bad this experiment would turn out. Humans in this book, are depicted as careless creatures who destroy themselves and the planet. I guess, ultimately, that’s true. Having a society like in Monsterweld just isn’t possible for us because of multiple flaws that we haven’t outgrown yet. And that’s exactly what makes this story - where monsters are the good guys, and humans are the bad ones - so believable. I was scared of the human Frankie created. And that says something. It made me reflect that we have a long way ahead of us.

The process of growing this human felt slightly underdeveloped, and I was hoping Suki had more of a part in the story instead of looming in the background until the last chapter.

But overall, How Frankie Made a Human is a story about much-needed kindness towards the planet, friendships and humanity’s flaws. A fun spooky read with not-so-scary monsters but scary humans.

Frankie isn’t like the other monsters in Monsterweld. They enjoy showing off the weird things their bodies can do, like Violet the Skeleton and her musical rib cage, but Frankie needs to be careful he doesn’t accidentally undo the stitches and bolts that hold his body together.

Frankie’s home, Frankenstein Castle, sets him apart even more because … ‘humans used to live there.’ Sure, humans are creepy but Frankenstein Castle has secret tunnels so it’s definitely my kind of creepy.

Frankie really wants a friend, but not Spooky Suki. He does have standards. So he comes up with an ingenious plan; he’ll make his own friend. Sounds easy enough.

Fido might be human but it quickly becomes apparent that Frankie has indeed created a monster.

Rachel Delahaye has reimagined a classic in a fun, imaginative way that will make you wonder why you didn’t think of it. The focus is on friendship but there’s some accidental learning in there as well.

I always look forward to finding out how Rachel is going to play with words to make me smile. One of my favourites in this book was discovering that Monster Radio plays rhythm and boos.

Maïté Schmitt’s illustrations are detailed and just the right amount of quirky. The characters are expressive and there’s just so much to find in the backgrounds. I absolutely adored the Jaws poster.

I really liked Frankie and wanted him to find a friend. It was Suki who stole my heart, though. She was independent, smart and merrily did her own thing instead of trying to blend in with the crowd. I need another story set in Monsterweld that has her centre stage. I’m also keen to watch Frankie’s mother at work. She’s definitely got some stories to tell.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sweet Cherry Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

I'm really sorry but the format wasn't compatible so I was unable to read it properly.. I have given 4 stars due to the issue.

Perfect for the spooky season, this twisted tale of Frankenstein sews together a very clever concept with an endearing main character, fun world-building and an exploration of human behaviour.

Frankie is lonely. He's not like the other monsters in Monsterweld and he wants a friend. But when he decides to grow a human, will things work out the way he hoped?

This is a really sweet story and just the book for young readers who love monsters but don't want to be scared. Frankie is an instantly loveable and relatable character who feels left out because he lives high up on a mountain and is a different sort of monster to everyone else. We also loved Igor and Frankie's scientist mum who insists on Frankie studying science.

By creating a world where monsters and humans are now separated, Rachel Delahaye is able to explore some great themes. The set-up of monsterweld is really interesting, where everyone is respectful of their environment and has just enough to sustain them. Humans live differently, however, and this is cleverly shown through Fido's character. It was nice to see he wasn't all bad though and that change is always a hopeful possibility. There's definitely a lot packed into the short word count and we'd love to see more stories from this world.

by Rachel Delahaye 🧪
Illustrated by Maïté Schmitt 🔩
Published by Sweet Cherry Publishing 🍒



*Gruesomely Good & Monstrously Misunderstood*


THAT is the perfect way to catch someone's attention! Then the actual title tells me I 🔩MUST READ🔩 this book!!

Add in the superb cover illustration & design... I'm sold!

This is a great new story from Rachel Delahaye. Some things might seem a tiny bit familiar but, as with a lot of her other excellent books, there's a major twist.

Frankie is young, bright, curious & adventurous but it's hard to live by the rules in their very strict environment. Frankie doesn't live in your average town or village. Even food is grown to the exact requirements of the population to reduce waste.

Nobody is even allowed to create any more monsters to add to the headcount.

There must be more to life than endless study & becoming the next great triple-science frankencreature!

Frankie sees a loophole & tries to keep his idea a secret.

Everyone LOVES a map, right?

As with all the illustrations from the talented Maïté Schmitt, this map is very detailed & has so much to see, find & talk about.

Can you imagine travelling like Frankie via a zip-wire across the mountain valley to Gügensplat Castle? That sounds like a crazy-fun idea to me! Or crazy-scary 👀!

Things might not go exactly as Frankie hoped but the results will keep you wondering how everything is going to turn out.

This is a super blend of story & illustration that will appeal to readers who are transitioning to longer books. Maïté Schmitt's detailed & original art style is such a perfect fit.

Suki's dolls are her friends. Frankie could see them in the window all the way from his castle. They looked weird! But a lot of things are weird in their own fabulous way in this story.

I am sure this will be a popular read for youngsters who love something a bit different!

It would be a fun at-home book & a great read-along book for a class, library or club.

It's fantastic that authors can be so creative, develop characters & write such a huge range of stories, bringing them to life for readers of all ages.

Rachel Delahaye is one of those very talented authors & we hope she'll continue to deliver stories that encourage children to read & have fun being immersed in exciting adventures.

Make sure you check out my reviews of Rachel Delahaye's other titles.

A cute book where Frankenstein ('s monster), Frankie, is lonely and makes himself a friend. I loved the illustrations and this was a cute story! Also a fun twist on a classic!

Thank you to Sweet Cherry Publishing and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Frankie is an outcast in the monster world with no friends and everyone always laughing at him instead of including him. So he starts experimenting on how to grow a human to be his best friend. But his human friend will cause more trouble than he thought.

I loved the illustrations they were so incredibly well done and really added so much to the whole book. So much detail on each page and they were really perfectly fitting within it. Giving the spooky vibes that a monster world could have, with the two dark castles. I really loved them all.

The story was original and really creative, I liked the concept of monster and human worlds and that they live separately. I liked that as he couldn’t create a monster friend he chose to make a human friend instead, it was so interesting how he created the human too.

I honestly didn’t find myself as engrossed in this book as I was expecting and wanted so much more out of it. I found that the pacing and the story progression was very slow and some of the the chapters sort of went nowhere, which is a shame. I did want more from it and thought it was going to be such an exciting read.

The human Fido was very odd, he was created super quickly out of nowhere, he suddenly wanted his knowledge and freedom. He started to decide how to fix but rather destroy a land that didn’t belong to him, all because he could. He was a very odd character and I didn’t care for him or how he was once created.

I liked Suki and how weird she was and the fun twist towards the end with her and Frankie. I did like that eventually Frankie made himself a friend as it was so sad he struggled to find where he fitted into the world.

I do think this a book younger children might enjoy and will find really fun, they’ll love the illustrations, the characters and the mix of human and monster world. I personally didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted to but, I did like the premise of it.

My son loves reading chapter books and especially when we curl up and read. Funny and just a tad spooky read.

This was such a great concept and I’m surprised that this hasn’t been done before. It was what I was looking for from the Frankenstein mythos and was a fun concept for a kids series. The characters worked well overall and I appreciated how good it was.

I am not so sure about this one. The illustration is adorable, but the opening is rather flat. Not sure if it will be able to grab the attention of children.

I thought Frankie was super sweet. I would have liked a bit more action but overall it was fun story.
The illustrations were fantastic and really added to the story. Would have love more of them.

Although the illustrations were cute (sure to please the target demography) and green living themes are important, overall the narrative felt flat. The human acting like that so quickly didn't feel grounded and came off as awkward.