Swallows and Amazons (2016 film) reminder of the value of allowing children to get outside and explore instead of being mollycoddled by fearful parents." He added, "The film adds an espionage subplot that feels a little underpowered to really provide the intended narrative oomph, danger or excitement, but in an age in which the teen heroes and heroines of YA adaptations are routinely given ridiculously proficient combat skills, there's something nice about watching kids mucking about and learning basic wilderness skills." Geoffrey Macnab in "The Independent" began by saying, "This new adaptation of Arthur Ransome's novel evokes a long-lost era in which kids didn't just
The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein that while he argues that Mary Shelley was not well educated enough to have written "Frankenstein", his argument fails because "it is not a good, let alone a great novel and hardly merits the attention it has been given." Lauritsen replied that "Frankenstein" "is a radical and disturbing work, containing some of the most beautiful prose in the English language ... a profound and moving masterpiece, fully worthy of its author, Percy Bysshe Shelley." "The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein" received positive reviews from Jim Herrick in "Gay Humanist Quarterly", Hubert Kennedy in "The Guide", and Douglas Sadownick in "The Gay