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Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match
A historical rom-com that imagines Victor Frankenstein's sheltered younger sister, and her attempts to create the perfect man.
For generations, every Frankenstein has found their true love and equal, unlocking lifetimes of blissful wedded adventure. Clever, pretty (and odd) Angelika Frankenstein has run out of suitors and fears she may become the exception to this family rule. When assisting in her brother Victor's ground-breaking experiment to bring a reassembled man back to life, she realizes that having an agreeable gentleman convalescing in the guest suite might be a chance to let a man get to know the real her. For the first time, Angelika embarks upon a project that is all her own.
When her handsome scientific miracle sits up on the lab table, her hopes for an instant romantic connection are thrown into disarray. Her resurrected beau (named Will for the moment) has total amnesia and is solely focused on uncovering his true identity. Trying to ignore their heart-pounding chemistry, Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past, hoping it will bring them closer. But when a second suitor emerges to aid their quest, Angelika wonders if she was too hasty inventing a solution. Perhaps fate is not something that can be influenced in a laboratory? Or is Will (or whatever his name is!) her dream man, tailored for her in every way? And can he survive what was done to him in the name of science, and love?
Filled with carriages, candlesticks, and corpses, Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is the spooky-season reimagining of the well-known classic that reminds us to never judge a man by his cadaver!
For generations, every Frankenstein has found their true love and equal, unlocking lifetimes of blissful wedded adventure. Clever, pretty (and odd) Angelika Frankenstein has run out of suitors and fears she may become the exception to this family rule. When assisting in her brother Victor's ground-breaking experiment to bring a reassembled man back to life, she realizes that having an agreeable gentleman convalescing in the guest suite might be a chance to let a man get to know the real her. For the first time, Angelika embarks upon a project that is all her own.
When her handsome scientific miracle sits up on the lab table, her hopes for an instant romantic connection are thrown into disarray. Her resurrected beau (named Will for the moment) has total amnesia and is solely focused on uncovering his true identity. Trying to ignore their heart-pounding chemistry, Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past, hoping it will bring them closer. But when a second suitor emerges to aid their quest, Angelika wonders if she was too hasty inventing a solution. Perhaps fate is not something that can be influenced in a laboratory? Or is Will (or whatever his name is!) her dream man, tailored for her in every way? And can he survive what was done to him in the name of science, and love?
Filled with carriages, candlesticks, and corpses, Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is the spooky-season reimagining of the well-known classic that reminds us to never judge a man by his cadaver!
384 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2022
730 people are currently reading
38755 people want to read
About the author
Sally Thorne
9 books22.1k followersSally Thorne is the USA Today bestselling author of the office rom-com The Hating Game (2016). It is her debut novel that has sold in over twenty-five countries and is being made into a major motion picture, directed by Peter Hutchings and starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell. Filming wrapped in December 2020. It was named in the top 20 romance novels of 2016 by the Washington Post and was a top ten finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards romance category. The Hating Game has been cited as a book that has reinvigorated the romantic comedy genre.
Sally’s much anticipated second novel, 99 Percent Mine, was released on 29 January 2019 by William Morrow Books and debuted at #37 on the USA Today Bestseller List.
Sally’s third novel Second First Impressions is released AU/NZ 31 March 2021, and US/CAN 13 April 2021.
Sally lives in Canberra, Australia, with her husband- plus a pug called Delia and a horse called Louie.
Sally’s much anticipated second novel, 99 Percent Mine, was released on 29 January 2019 by William Morrow Books and debuted at #37 on the USA Today Bestseller List.
Sally’s third novel Second First Impressions is released AU/NZ 31 March 2021, and US/CAN 13 April 2021.
Sally lives in Canberra, Australia, with her husband- plus a pug called Delia and a horse called Louie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,240 reviews
July 24, 2022
This book is genuinely, fantastically nuts, and I adored every single second of it! Jelly is the lonely, horny, enterprising heroine of my heart, Will is the most adorable love interest to ever grace a book, Belladonna gave me P&P 2005 flashbacks and deserves all the apples, Lizzie and Victor had me dying laughing every time the came on screen, and then there’s the plot, which is deliciously bonkers and utterly unique! Love, love, love, LOOOOOOOOVE ❤️
September 13, 2022
life's too short actually.
this is awful. there's no other word to describe this.
i despise Angelika. she's annoying at the best of times and disgusting and predatory at worst.
the power imbalance in this is honestly sick. the way she constantly goes on about his dick and the way her constantly going on about his dick is seen as this "hihi funny penis joke" thing is just horrid.
you can't make a love story with a premise like this? the entire first chapter is Angelika going into a morgue, making fun of a dead body for being inadequate and then sewing a bigger, better dick on him. build your man. if it was the other way around y'all would have cancelled the book three months before it came out.
and then when this poor man comes back to life and has no memories and no control of his "new member" and makes explicitly clear that he DOESN'T WANT to sleep with her and every ounce of attraction he feels for her is AGAINST HIS WILL - the entire narrative just goes "aww silly horny man, just fuck Angelika, she wants it, DESPERATELY, it's FINE"
no it's not fucking fine. i'm honestly surprised she hasn't r*ped him yet. cause that would be very in character tbh.
dnf at 17%. i have never wanted to read a book less and i have read some shitty books.
this is awful. there's no other word to describe this.
i despise Angelika. she's annoying at the best of times and disgusting and predatory at worst.
the power imbalance in this is honestly sick. the way she constantly goes on about his dick and the way her constantly going on about his dick is seen as this "hihi funny penis joke" thing is just horrid.
you can't make a love story with a premise like this? the entire first chapter is Angelika going into a morgue, making fun of a dead body for being inadequate and then sewing a bigger, better dick on him. build your man. if it was the other way around y'all would have cancelled the book three months before it came out.
and then when this poor man comes back to life and has no memories and no control of his "new member" and makes explicitly clear that he DOESN'T WANT to sleep with her and every ounce of attraction he feels for her is AGAINST HIS WILL - the entire narrative just goes "aww silly horny man, just fuck Angelika, she wants it, DESPERATELY, it's FINE"
no it's not fucking fine. i'm honestly surprised she hasn't r*ped him yet. cause that would be very in character tbh.
dnf at 17%. i have never wanted to read a book less and i have read some shitty books.
Read
September 8, 2022Source of book: Bought for myself
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
Further disclaimer: Readers, please stop accusing me of trying to take down “my competition” because I wrote a review you didn’t like. This is complete nonsense. Firstly, writing isn’t a competitive sport. Secondly, I only publish reviews of books in the subgenre where I’m best known (queer romcom) if they’re glowing. And finally: taking time out of my life to read an entire book, then write a detailed review about it that some people on GR will look at would be a profoundly inefficient and ineffective way to damage the careers of other authors. If you can’t credit me with simply being a person who loves books and likes talking about them, at least credit me with enough common sense to be a better villain.
*******************************************
So…I mean. I guess let me just start this by saying that I have always been very in love with The Hating Game and I have nothing but admiration for authors who are willing to take risks. And I’m aware it feels like a loaded compliment to describe a book as “risk” but there’s an extravagantly weirdness about Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match that may not pay off for all readers. And, to be honest, did not wholly pay off for this one, even though something I love about Sally Thorne as a writer is her willingness to embrace the weird. I mean, the fact Lucy and Joshua are, in their own ways, deeply weird people is why The Hating Game speaks to me as deeply and particularly as it does.
Anyway. Let’s talk about Angelika Frankenstein but please, as ever, do be aware that my views are very subjective and I’m only speaking personally. What didn’t work for me here might be exactly the sort of thing that makes you go “wow, I really want to read that now”—and, frankly, I hope it does. Because it would be a shitty world if everyone liked (or didn’t like) the same things.
Mild spoilers, of course. More significant ones later, but I’ll flag them up so you can exit the vehicle if you need to.
Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the basic premise of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is that Angelika and her brother Victor Frankenstein are a pair of wealthy, hyper-privileged Regency orphans. As one might expect, he’s obsessed with Science!, particularly the Science! of re-animating the dead, though mostly to spite his never-on-page rival. She just … wants to get laid. Despite her beauty and wealth, Angelika’s intelligence and independence have alienated her every suitor, so she and her brother have hit on the solution of making her one.
So far this is, y’know, a tale as old as time. Who doesn’t root for a heroine whose value isn’t recognised by her society and who hasn’t, at some point, thought life would be infinitely easier, if we couldn’t just build ourselves a custom partner from bits of dead people. Where I think AFMHM, potentially, runs into trouble is that its premise is sort of inherently and inescapably problematic. I mean, yes, there’s a long cultural tradition of people making other people, for sex or science, or anything else, but … like. The thing is, those are *villain* narratives. The original Victor Frankenstein is a terrible human being: he creates life and abandons life, and deserves to die on icefloe in the Arctic. Most modern takes on Pygmalion are pretty negative because, when you get right down to it, carving yourself an idealised woman because actual women with hopes, dreams, flaws and, not to point too fine a point on it, *agency* just don’t hit the spot is fucked all the way up. Frank-N-Furter, from Rocky Horror, for all its campy musical fun, has, again, resorted to making a man because he doesn’t want to deal with, y’know, tricky little issues like consent.
And I think where AFMHM lost me as a reader early on, and never quite regained me, was that, for me, I didn’t feel it managed to extract a successful romance from the inherited problems of its premise. I don’t want to go too far down a gender reversal route, because I think it has limited value and doesn’t account for the nuances of social power dynamics. But I do get the sense that some readers might struggle with a male protagonist who builds himself a sextoy from the chopped-up parts of women chosen specifically for their adherence to conventional beauty standards: the biggest boobs, the longest legs, the roundest arse, etc. I’m not saying you *couldn’t* write a romance with this premise (although you might want to skip the build-a-babe angle) but I think it might be an uphill struggle to recapture reader sympathy and make us truly believe in the other character’s agency within the context of a relationship with someone who has been so actively employed in stripping them of it.
In AFMHM, Angelika’s complicity in choices that objectify, dehumanise, and disempower her love interest is mostly … played for laughs? The book opens with her and her brother scrutinising thirty or so dead men for their best bits. Angelika does, eventually, spot a corpse she feels is attractive, but she ends up deciding the man in question would be even more satisfying to her if he had a more muscular chest and a bigger dick. Which is, on the one hand, fair enough maybe, and I’m absolutely not saying it’s not okay for women (real or fictional) to have preferences for particular body types or physical attributes. But I also can’t help but come back to wondering how we might feel about a hero who surgically enhanced the heroine’s breasts, because he prefers women with bigger breasts, while she was unable to consent to the procedure.
Because here’s the thing, while Will (the man Angelika plays dick ‘n’ mix with) does initially have no memory he is not a blank slate. He is not a new person like Dr Frankenstein’s creation in the original text or Frank-N-Furter’s Rocky. He has a life behind him and an identity that he’s in the process of recovering. And while Angelika does, I think, get something of a personal growth arc where she has to reckon with her privilege and the decisions she made around Will, I personally needed the book to treat changing someone’s body in quite violating ways to suit your personal tastes just slightly less comedically. There’s a whole extended section, for example, where Will wakes up, frightened and confused, with no memory, in pain, and his erection won’t go down when he’s near Angelika. I have no idea if this was meant to be sexy or funny or what, but it just came across incredibly strangely to me. Like I was being presented with a Black Mirror episode and being told it was a romcom.
I just also say at this juncture that I have no issues with heroines (or characters in general) in romance who do bad things or need to learn how to be a less dreadful person. I am HERE for that stuff so hard. I don’t want it to come across that I am excessively condemning Angelika for doing the very thing that men have been doing in fiction literally since before Jesus. But Angelika is a romance heroine, not a horror villain, and I wish I’d had a better sense that both her, and the book as a whole, understood that re-shaping someone, then forcing them to live as your dependent in mental and physical torment (Will is explicitly in pain the whole book and his recovery of self-agency is represented largely by gardening) isn’t all that cute, no matter how disenfranchised or unloved you feel. I mean, at that point, you’re basically Warren from Buffy, no matter what your gender identity.
It didn’t help that the emotional trajectories across the book a whole felt somewhat incoherent to me. There are some lovely scenes between Will and Angelika, both sexual and romantic, but they never felt like they were building upon each other so much as strung or, well, sewn together Frankenstein’s monster style. Like Will is telling Angelika that he hates her for what she’s done to him (fair enough, mate, I wouldn’t be thrilled either) to snuggling with her in bed across a matter of pages and saying things like:
Similarly, there are moments when he steps up to defend her or shows a deep empathy for her loneliness, but they never felt earned because I never understood how he got to them, given the foundation of their relationship. Or maybe I’m just a really unforgiving person and that’s something you should all bear in mind if you ever decide to blend me like a Spotify playlist and then animate my corpse to be your sextoy. Angelika, meanwhile, is horny for Will from the outset but I never quite got what she saw in him beyond the physical, because his main personality traits were “amnesiac” and “gardening.”
About to move into more serious spoiler territory now.
Because I also want to mention that the ending of the book, too, left me somewhat surprised. In that the sense that the various plot threads are resolved via an extremely literal deus ex machina. Which is to say, the characters all pray—yes, actually pray—for a happy ending and they get one. And. Um? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for faith to play a role in romance outside of the whole inspirational romance thing, and I’m sure you absolutely could write a faith-centric romance about desecrating corpses, but it was just the last thing I was expecting here. I mean, I guess it sort of fit because we discover that Will’s previous identity was hot priest (and, even before they uncover that, he was a moment where he’s like “hi, Angelika, I have a conviction that God is important to me” that, at the time of reading, I didn’t know how to parse) but it still felt slightly out of nowhere, especially given the previous events of the book, and the fact it’s all taking place in a universe where it is canonically possible to raise men from the dead, either wholly or from body parts. Which … y’know. Precedent suggests that gods don’t much like that kind of thing. Anyway, it all felt like the end of a Shakespeare play where, like, everything is complete carnage and then the highest-ranking character comes on stage, be it the Duke or the King (or the next King) and is like AND NOW ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED EVERYBODY BUY AN ORANGE AND GO HOME. Only. With God?
Aaaaand that’s Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. I think, at this point, it’s fair to say that this book didn’t really work for me but, equally fair, to note that the ways it didn’t work for me are probably quite personal and it will probably work for others.
Of course, it’s also really well-written, there’s some wonderful moments of sexiness, banter and pathos, and I felt Sally Thorne adapted her voice super successfully to an irreverent histrom style. Will is certainly a devoted romance hero (to the extent he’s telling a woman he’s in awe of everything she is a day or two after she’s non-consensually regrafted his penis) so he might hit the spot for people who particularly enjoy those kind of dynamics between protagonists. Angelika, too, has a lot going for her as a heroine who feels genuinely alienated and love-needy, while also being smart as fuck, honest about her sexual desires, and determined to get what she wants. It’s just I wish there’d been a context in which Angelika getting what she wanted didn’t involve explicitly robbing someone else of their agency, their bodily autonomy, and large swathes of their identity.
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
Further disclaimer: Readers, please stop accusing me of trying to take down “my competition” because I wrote a review you didn’t like. This is complete nonsense. Firstly, writing isn’t a competitive sport. Secondly, I only publish reviews of books in the subgenre where I’m best known (queer romcom) if they’re glowing. And finally: taking time out of my life to read an entire book, then write a detailed review about it that some people on GR will look at would be a profoundly inefficient and ineffective way to damage the careers of other authors. If you can’t credit me with simply being a person who loves books and likes talking about them, at least credit me with enough common sense to be a better villain.
*******************************************
So…I mean. I guess let me just start this by saying that I have always been very in love with The Hating Game and I have nothing but admiration for authors who are willing to take risks. And I’m aware it feels like a loaded compliment to describe a book as “risk” but there’s an extravagantly weirdness about Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match that may not pay off for all readers. And, to be honest, did not wholly pay off for this one, even though something I love about Sally Thorne as a writer is her willingness to embrace the weird. I mean, the fact Lucy and Joshua are, in their own ways, deeply weird people is why The Hating Game speaks to me as deeply and particularly as it does.
Anyway. Let’s talk about Angelika Frankenstein but please, as ever, do be aware that my views are very subjective and I’m only speaking personally. What didn’t work for me here might be exactly the sort of thing that makes you go “wow, I really want to read that now”—and, frankly, I hope it does. Because it would be a shitty world if everyone liked (or didn’t like) the same things.
Mild spoilers, of course. More significant ones later, but I’ll flag them up so you can exit the vehicle if you need to.
Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the basic premise of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is that Angelika and her brother Victor Frankenstein are a pair of wealthy, hyper-privileged Regency orphans. As one might expect, he’s obsessed with Science!, particularly the Science! of re-animating the dead, though mostly to spite his never-on-page rival. She just … wants to get laid. Despite her beauty and wealth, Angelika’s intelligence and independence have alienated her every suitor, so she and her brother have hit on the solution of making her one.
So far this is, y’know, a tale as old as time. Who doesn’t root for a heroine whose value isn’t recognised by her society and who hasn’t, at some point, thought life would be infinitely easier, if we couldn’t just build ourselves a custom partner from bits of dead people. Where I think AFMHM, potentially, runs into trouble is that its premise is sort of inherently and inescapably problematic. I mean, yes, there’s a long cultural tradition of people making other people, for sex or science, or anything else, but … like. The thing is, those are *villain* narratives. The original Victor Frankenstein is a terrible human being: he creates life and abandons life, and deserves to die on icefloe in the Arctic. Most modern takes on Pygmalion are pretty negative because, when you get right down to it, carving yourself an idealised woman because actual women with hopes, dreams, flaws and, not to point too fine a point on it, *agency* just don’t hit the spot is fucked all the way up. Frank-N-Furter, from Rocky Horror, for all its campy musical fun, has, again, resorted to making a man because he doesn’t want to deal with, y’know, tricky little issues like consent.
And I think where AFMHM lost me as a reader early on, and never quite regained me, was that, for me, I didn’t feel it managed to extract a successful romance from the inherited problems of its premise. I don’t want to go too far down a gender reversal route, because I think it has limited value and doesn’t account for the nuances of social power dynamics. But I do get the sense that some readers might struggle with a male protagonist who builds himself a sextoy from the chopped-up parts of women chosen specifically for their adherence to conventional beauty standards: the biggest boobs, the longest legs, the roundest arse, etc. I’m not saying you *couldn’t* write a romance with this premise (although you might want to skip the build-a-babe angle) but I think it might be an uphill struggle to recapture reader sympathy and make us truly believe in the other character’s agency within the context of a relationship with someone who has been so actively employed in stripping them of it.
In AFMHM, Angelika’s complicity in choices that objectify, dehumanise, and disempower her love interest is mostly … played for laughs? The book opens with her and her brother scrutinising thirty or so dead men for their best bits. Angelika does, eventually, spot a corpse she feels is attractive, but she ends up deciding the man in question would be even more satisfying to her if he had a more muscular chest and a bigger dick. Which is, on the one hand, fair enough maybe, and I’m absolutely not saying it’s not okay for women (real or fictional) to have preferences for particular body types or physical attributes. But I also can’t help but come back to wondering how we might feel about a hero who surgically enhanced the heroine’s breasts, because he prefers women with bigger breasts, while she was unable to consent to the procedure.
Because here’s the thing, while Will (the man Angelika plays dick ‘n’ mix with) does initially have no memory he is not a blank slate. He is not a new person like Dr Frankenstein’s creation in the original text or Frank-N-Furter’s Rocky. He has a life behind him and an identity that he’s in the process of recovering. And while Angelika does, I think, get something of a personal growth arc where she has to reckon with her privilege and the decisions she made around Will, I personally needed the book to treat changing someone’s body in quite violating ways to suit your personal tastes just slightly less comedically. There’s a whole extended section, for example, where Will wakes up, frightened and confused, with no memory, in pain, and his erection won’t go down when he’s near Angelika. I have no idea if this was meant to be sexy or funny or what, but it just came across incredibly strangely to me. Like I was being presented with a Black Mirror episode and being told it was a romcom.
I just also say at this juncture that I have no issues with heroines (or characters in general) in romance who do bad things or need to learn how to be a less dreadful person. I am HERE for that stuff so hard. I don’t want it to come across that I am excessively condemning Angelika for doing the very thing that men have been doing in fiction literally since before Jesus. But Angelika is a romance heroine, not a horror villain, and I wish I’d had a better sense that both her, and the book as a whole, understood that re-shaping someone, then forcing them to live as your dependent in mental and physical torment (Will is explicitly in pain the whole book and his recovery of self-agency is represented largely by gardening) isn’t all that cute, no matter how disenfranchised or unloved you feel. I mean, at that point, you’re basically Warren from Buffy, no matter what your gender identity.
It didn’t help that the emotional trajectories across the book a whole felt somewhat incoherent to me. There are some lovely scenes between Will and Angelika, both sexual and romantic, but they never felt like they were building upon each other so much as strung or, well, sewn together Frankenstein’s monster style. Like Will is telling Angelika that he hates her for what she’s done to him (fair enough, mate, I wouldn’t be thrilled either) to snuggling with her in bed across a matter of pages and saying things like:
“I permit you to sleep next to me, but I should warn you . . .” He trailed off, lost the thought, and his eyes closed. Then they opened again, with a startling intensity in them. “I’ll tell you now, before I forget. You’ve seen all of me. I want to know your body in return. I’d touch you everywhere. I want to pick you up, to feel your weight. I want to test my body.”
Similarly, there are moments when he steps up to defend her or shows a deep empathy for her loneliness, but they never felt earned because I never understood how he got to them, given the foundation of their relationship. Or maybe I’m just a really unforgiving person and that’s something you should all bear in mind if you ever decide to blend me like a Spotify playlist and then animate my corpse to be your sextoy. Angelika, meanwhile, is horny for Will from the outset but I never quite got what she saw in him beyond the physical, because his main personality traits were “amnesiac” and “gardening.”
About to move into more serious spoiler territory now.
Because I also want to mention that the ending of the book, too, left me somewhat surprised. In that the sense that the various plot threads are resolved via an extremely literal deus ex machina. Which is to say, the characters all pray—yes, actually pray—for a happy ending and they get one. And. Um? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for faith to play a role in romance outside of the whole inspirational romance thing, and I’m sure you absolutely could write a faith-centric romance about desecrating corpses, but it was just the last thing I was expecting here. I mean, I guess it sort of fit because we discover that Will’s previous identity was hot priest (and, even before they uncover that, he was a moment where he’s like “hi, Angelika, I have a conviction that God is important to me” that, at the time of reading, I didn’t know how to parse) but it still felt slightly out of nowhere, especially given the previous events of the book, and the fact it’s all taking place in a universe where it is canonically possible to raise men from the dead, either wholly or from body parts. Which … y’know. Precedent suggests that gods don’t much like that kind of thing. Anyway, it all felt like the end of a Shakespeare play where, like, everything is complete carnage and then the highest-ranking character comes on stage, be it the Duke or the King (or the next King) and is like AND NOW ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED EVERYBODY BUY AN ORANGE AND GO HOME. Only. With God?
Aaaaand that’s Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. I think, at this point, it’s fair to say that this book didn’t really work for me but, equally fair, to note that the ways it didn’t work for me are probably quite personal and it will probably work for others.
Of course, it’s also really well-written, there’s some wonderful moments of sexiness, banter and pathos, and I felt Sally Thorne adapted her voice super successfully to an irreverent histrom style. Will is certainly a devoted romance hero (to the extent he’s telling a woman he’s in awe of everything she is a day or two after she’s non-consensually regrafted his penis) so he might hit the spot for people who particularly enjoy those kind of dynamics between protagonists. Angelika, too, has a lot going for her as a heroine who feels genuinely alienated and love-needy, while also being smart as fuck, honest about her sexual desires, and determined to get what she wants. It’s just I wish there’d been a context in which Angelika getting what she wanted didn’t involve explicitly robbing someone else of their agency, their bodily autonomy, and large swathes of their identity.
July 28, 2022
i simply... what in the wattpad WAS this!?!
like... HUH
hello?!?!?!? earth to hating game sally?!?!??!?!?!??!?! if you're being held prisoner blink three times please we can help
this was pitched as the tim burtonification of historical romance; angelika is the sister/bombshell assistant of viktor frankenstein, and she has decided that together they will build her ideal match using various corpses from a morgue as everyone in town has rejected her for being too Intelligent and Opinionated and Forthright and she is old (24) and unwed. the experiment finally works (!) and patchwork boy is brought back to life, and angelika expects him to love her immediately with essentially no acknowledgement to his former existence as a potentially married man. for reasons unclear to me he is the most placid human alive and is fine with this, so long as they figure out who he was before he died, which they work together to do.
shit gets REALLY WEIRD. it's like if sally thorne took the smurf subplot we all pretend didn't exist in the hating game and decided yes, an entire book should have this energy. and idk if sally thorne has found god or something but there were some really bizarre religious overtones. i also got uncomfy vibes from a subplot that seemed to drive home the idea that sure, angelika could be free and travel all over and be an intellectual who is Opinionated and Forthright but man, she also could stay home and have KIDS...and wouldn't that be even better.
all of this was cloaked in decent writing and as a result i didn't fully realize how ridiculous the plot was until i explained it out loud to someone. truly something you have to see to believe. my boyfriend picked this out as my next read and if anyone asks he's cancelled now.
1 star. i received this as an arc (thanks HC) and i almost feel bad but the people need to be warned
like... HUH
hello?!?!?!? earth to hating game sally?!?!??!?!?!??!?! if you're being held prisoner blink three times please we can help
this was pitched as the tim burtonification of historical romance; angelika is the sister/bombshell assistant of viktor frankenstein, and she has decided that together they will build her ideal match using various corpses from a morgue as everyone in town has rejected her for being too Intelligent and Opinionated and Forthright and she is old (24) and unwed. the experiment finally works (!) and patchwork boy is brought back to life, and angelika expects him to love her immediately with essentially no acknowledgement to his former existence as a potentially married man. for reasons unclear to me he is the most placid human alive and is fine with this, so long as they figure out who he was before he died, which they work together to do.
shit gets REALLY WEIRD. it's like if sally thorne took the smurf subplot we all pretend didn't exist in the hating game and decided yes, an entire book should have this energy. and idk if sally thorne has found god or something but there were some really bizarre religious overtones. i also got uncomfy vibes from a subplot that seemed to drive home the idea that sure, angelika could be free and travel all over and be an intellectual who is Opinionated and Forthright but man, she also could stay home and have KIDS...and wouldn't that be even better.
all of this was cloaked in decent writing and as a result i didn't fully realize how ridiculous the plot was until i explained it out loud to someone. truly something you have to see to believe. my boyfriend picked this out as my next read and if anyone asks he's cancelled now.
1 star. i received this as an arc (thanks HC) and i almost feel bad but the people need to be warned
September 11, 2022
After reading an early version of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match, we immediately emailed her agent and called dibs. Ok, that’s not a thing you can actually do in publishing, but this was the book we’ve been waiting for and we want to shove it into everyone's hands. Take everything you’ve come to love in a Sally Thorne novel: witty banter, a sexy, toe-curling romance, and voice that practically pirouettes off the page, but add one part Tim Burton. Dear reader, that is what’s waiting for you, and we are OBSESSED. This is Sally Thorne at her absolute best.
March 13, 2023
✨🧵Frankenstein’s Monster…Cock🪡✨
This book was ABSURD and absolutely amazing. It’s easily one of my top 5 reads of the year. Everything about it was so unexpected and hilarious. I truly didn’t know how it was going to end. Nor did I expect it to begin the way it began. Cock shopping was a new one, I must admit.
Angelika had so much heart and I really loved her journey from start to finish. She wasn’t perfect, but she was truly good. Will and Angelika, however, were truly the perfect match. My sensibilities have been properly confused and utterly ravished. Will was an absolute cinnamon roll, but he had a bit of an edge that drove me wild. Also his wayward cock was so funny, down boy 😭
The romance was super slow burn, but the steam was so great??? I didn’t know what to expect and I prepared for closed door, but they were a little bit freaky!! We got a few scenes and honestly some of the lines are truly iconic. They will live in a gorgeous, decrepit mansion in my mind rent free. (The explicit language was pretty minimal, but I’ve been hurt a lot in this reading journey of mine so I’m counting this as a major victory.)
The mystery of who Will was had me guessing until the end and I loved the pace at which it was unraveled. There was a minor love triangle, but I actually really liked how that wrapped up as well! I also loved the ode to Shelley’s Frankenstein at the end.
I fear I was not strong enough for this book. I cried so much and I really don’t think I’ll ever be the same. I cried at parts that weren’t even supposed to make me cry. I was eating up the pages even though I was desperate to make it last as long as possible. I was in SHAMBLES trying to figure out how Will and Angelika would make it work.
Sally’s writing has always spoken for itself and while this one speaks of dismembered body parts and gothic mansions, it was no exception. Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match truly felt tailor-made to my exact hopes and dreams. There was humor, steam, and enough absurdity to keep me guessing every page. It’s a beautiful, weird, mildly creepy thing and I love it to well-endowed pieces.
I started reading this at night at a campfire and the ambiance was perfect. This will be THE read of fall for me, I can’t wait for the audiobook and a mug of apple cider.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶*/5
*honestly what the fuck just happened lmao it could probably be 2.5-2.75🌶 but this did something unholy to me
Thanks so much to the publisher for a gifted finished copy. All opinions are honest and my own.
_______
Initial reaction:
I had no business crying this much 😭 I really didn’t know how it was going to end but oh my GAWD I loved it so much definitely top 5 of the year. It was literally so absurd and I was truly not prepared for cock shopping to say the least but who am I to judge? I love a good sale.
This book was ABSURD and absolutely amazing. It’s easily one of my top 5 reads of the year. Everything about it was so unexpected and hilarious. I truly didn’t know how it was going to end. Nor did I expect it to begin the way it began. Cock shopping was a new one, I must admit.
Angelika had so much heart and I really loved her journey from start to finish. She wasn’t perfect, but she was truly good. Will and Angelika, however, were truly the perfect match. My sensibilities have been properly confused and utterly ravished. Will was an absolute cinnamon roll, but he had a bit of an edge that drove me wild. Also his wayward cock was so funny, down boy 😭
The romance was super slow burn, but the steam was so great??? I didn’t know what to expect and I prepared for closed door, but they were a little bit freaky!! We got a few scenes and honestly some of the lines are truly iconic. They will live in a gorgeous, decrepit mansion in my mind rent free. (The explicit language was pretty minimal, but I’ve been hurt a lot in this reading journey of mine so I’m counting this as a major victory.)
The mystery of who Will was had me guessing until the end and I loved the pace at which it was unraveled. There was a minor love triangle, but I actually really liked how that wrapped up as well! I also loved the ode to Shelley’s Frankenstein at the end.
I fear I was not strong enough for this book. I cried so much and I really don’t think I’ll ever be the same. I cried at parts that weren’t even supposed to make me cry. I was eating up the pages even though I was desperate to make it last as long as possible. I was in SHAMBLES trying to figure out how Will and Angelika would make it work.
Sally’s writing has always spoken for itself and while this one speaks of dismembered body parts and gothic mansions, it was no exception. Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match truly felt tailor-made to my exact hopes and dreams. There was humor, steam, and enough absurdity to keep me guessing every page. It’s a beautiful, weird, mildly creepy thing and I love it to well-endowed pieces.
I started reading this at night at a campfire and the ambiance was perfect. This will be THE read of fall for me, I can’t wait for the audiobook and a mug of apple cider.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶*/5
*honestly what the fuck just happened lmao it could probably be 2.5-2.75🌶 but this did something unholy to me
Thanks so much to the publisher for a gifted finished copy. All opinions are honest and my own.
_______
Initial reaction:
I had no business crying this much 😭 I really didn’t know how it was going to end but oh my GAWD I loved it so much definitely top 5 of the year. It was literally so absurd and I was truly not prepared for cock shopping to say the least but who am I to judge? I love a good sale.
August 23, 2022
I'm sorry, I genuinely thought I could suspend disbelief enough to find the quirky humor in this but its just too gross for me. There's something inherently creepy and off putting about romanticizing a story like "Frankenstein." Its impossible to get away from the horrifying implications of literally playing god with a human life, its just too massive and terrible of a concept to then insert a romantic, cutsey story of an obnoxious rich girl who wants to build her own husband.
Like the Frankenstein's aren't adorable nerds, they're a couple of megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur and no thought for anything but their own supposed mental superiority and how famous they're gonna be once they reanimate a dead person they've sewn together. They're literally trying to be gods. That's not cute and quirky, its terrifying.
I just couldn't get past that and no amount of quippy, regency dialogue or burning glances exchanged with reanimated corpses was able to help.
Like the Frankenstein's aren't adorable nerds, they're a couple of megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur and no thought for anything but their own supposed mental superiority and how famous they're gonna be once they reanimate a dead person they've sewn together. They're literally trying to be gods. That's not cute and quirky, its terrifying.
I just couldn't get past that and no amount of quippy, regency dialogue or burning glances exchanged with reanimated corpses was able to help.
Read
May 17, 2022I got an early copy of this!
I was hooked the moment I read the first page, and adored every delightful word of this book. It gave me Bridgerton meets The Addams Family vibes - a little bit spooky, a little sweet, with a wonderful, loving cast of friends and a creative, heartwarming romance that kept me on edge right up until the very end. I of course knew it was going to work out, but the how had me biting my nails! I absolutely loved Angelika Frankenstein - a heroine who is as confident as she is competent.
The banter is world-class, and I caught myself laughing out loud and staying up far too late to read just one more page. We need more wonderfully weird romances like this!
(You guys know I love weird)
I was hooked the moment I read the first page, and adored every delightful word of this book. It gave me Bridgerton meets The Addams Family vibes - a little bit spooky, a little sweet, with a wonderful, loving cast of friends and a creative, heartwarming romance that kept me on edge right up until the very end. I of course knew it was going to work out, but the how had me biting my nails! I absolutely loved Angelika Frankenstein - a heroine who is as confident as she is competent.
The banter is world-class, and I caught myself laughing out loud and staying up far too late to read just one more page. We need more wonderfully weird romances like this!
(You guys know I love weird)
September 21, 2022
This was such a fun historical book with a twist on the classic, Frankenstein. You def have to suspend your disbelief while reading it but it was so fun. I loved the romance between Angelika & Will and the brother/sister relationship with Victor and Angelika and how he called her Jelly.
It was super cute and such a perfect time to read it with fall coming!
It was super cute and such a perfect time to read it with fall coming!
November 14, 2022
funny but not funny haha… funny weird…
no like this made me so uncomfortable like the amount of time there were mentions of dicks and childish penis jokes you would’ve thought this shit was written by a man. sally thorne has lost her touch and will never be about to replicate the success of the hating game i fear.
no like this made me so uncomfortable like the amount of time there were mentions of dicks and childish penis jokes you would’ve thought this shit was written by a man. sally thorne has lost her touch and will never be about to replicate the success of the hating game i fear.
September 8, 2022
At this point Mary Shelley is doing cartwheels in her grave
did-not-finish
September 12, 2022DNF @ 13%: Sally Thorne will always have a special place in my heart, but this was simply not for me lol. And that is okay!
September 22, 2022
Another contender for worst book of year.
September 16, 2022
… Listen.
I love Sally Thorne. LOVE her. She's written actual masterpieces. I will fight to the death for her.
However.
This book was not at all what I was expecting. I was very confused about where it was going, and, sometimes, the answer was nowhere.
This is the story of Angelika Frankenstein, Victor's rich, spoiled, romantic little sister who assists him in all his insane scientific experiments (i.e., bringing people back from the dead). At twenty-four, Angelika is tired of searching the village for a husband, and decides she will make her match the same way Victor is making his creation: out of stitched together body parts taken from the morgue.
Angelika successfully brings back the perfect man, who she names Will and hopes will fall in love with her as quickly as she fell in love with him (before he even took his first breath). However, she is heartbroken to find that, while he does feel immense attraction and emotional connection towards her, he can't go forward with their relationship until he finds out who he is, and makes sure he doesn't have a family somewhere grieving for him.
Now, Sally's second book, 99 Percent Mine, is one of my all time favorites. I've reread it a million times, and when I started this book, I felt echoes of Tom Valeska and Darcy Barrett in Will and Angelika (crazy devotion and longing, insane sexual tension, etc.). And that was fantastic, as only Sally can make it. The characters weren't afraid to show how in love they were all the time, especially Angelika – except, of course, they couldn't be together.
I think the part of this book that bothered me the most was the love triangle element. I hate it with a passion on a good day, and this one was just pushing every one of my limits. It felt so unnecessary! The other man, Christopher, is supposed to represent everything that Will can't give Angelika (immediate availability, a stable job, a certainty of who he is and what he believes in, a past he actually remembers, the certain ability to have children, etc.), but I don't understand why there had to be an embodiment of all of these things. These were concerns that could have just been voiced out loud! I didn't need to read page after page of Angelika being like, "Well, I can't deny this guy is handsome and could give me everything I want and also that I really like him." It's not like there was a shortage of plot to be explored, especially with Will's mysterious background waiting to be uncovered.
Another thing I've seen other reviewers complaining about is the element of religion in this book, being thrown in the plot like a life jacket. I was expecting to be very bothered by this, but I guess my view is that the author was trying to make a point about allowing yourself to have your own convictions, and respecting other people's beliefs, and making space for the people you love and all that comes with them, even if you don't necessarily agree… which I get.
The thing is, everything Sally does, she does masterfully. Even when I didn't like this book, I still loved it. It's definitely my least favorite of hers, but I still couldn't put it down for a second, and when I swooned, I swooned.
I love Sally Thorne. LOVE her. She's written actual masterpieces. I will fight to the death for her.
However.
This book was not at all what I was expecting. I was very confused about where it was going, and, sometimes, the answer was nowhere.
This is the story of Angelika Frankenstein, Victor's rich, spoiled, romantic little sister who assists him in all his insane scientific experiments (i.e., bringing people back from the dead). At twenty-four, Angelika is tired of searching the village for a husband, and decides she will make her match the same way Victor is making his creation: out of stitched together body parts taken from the morgue.
Angelika successfully brings back the perfect man, who she names Will and hopes will fall in love with her as quickly as she fell in love with him (before he even took his first breath). However, she is heartbroken to find that, while he does feel immense attraction and emotional connection towards her, he can't go forward with their relationship until he finds out who he is, and makes sure he doesn't have a family somewhere grieving for him.
Now, Sally's second book, 99 Percent Mine, is one of my all time favorites. I've reread it a million times, and when I started this book, I felt echoes of Tom Valeska and Darcy Barrett in Will and Angelika (crazy devotion and longing, insane sexual tension, etc.). And that was fantastic, as only Sally can make it. The characters weren't afraid to show how in love they were all the time, especially Angelika – except, of course, they couldn't be together.
I think the part of this book that bothered me the most was the love triangle element. I hate it with a passion on a good day, and this one was just pushing every one of my limits. It felt so unnecessary! The other man, Christopher, is supposed to represent everything that Will can't give Angelika (immediate availability, a stable job, a certainty of who he is and what he believes in, a past he actually remembers, the certain ability to have children, etc.), but I don't understand why there had to be an embodiment of all of these things. These were concerns that could have just been voiced out loud! I didn't need to read page after page of Angelika being like, "Well, I can't deny this guy is handsome and could give me everything I want and also that I really like him." It's not like there was a shortage of plot to be explored, especially with Will's mysterious background waiting to be uncovered.
Another thing I've seen other reviewers complaining about is the element of religion in this book, being thrown in the plot like a life jacket. I was expecting to be very bothered by this, but I guess my view is that the author was trying to make a point about allowing yourself to have your own convictions, and respecting other people's beliefs, and making space for the people you love and all that comes with them, even if you don't necessarily agree… which I get.
The thing is, everything Sally does, she does masterfully. Even when I didn't like this book, I still loved it. It's definitely my least favorite of hers, but I still couldn't put it down for a second, and when I swooned, I swooned.
June 14, 2022
This one was a DNF for me. It made me feel so uncomfortable and I only made it 4 chapters in. In the very first chapter, Angelika and her brother are looking at dead bodies to find her perfect man and he calls out a male form for its huge "package." She then asks her brother if it's "too big." That is not a scenario I ever want to read about between siblings. DNF.
October 12, 2022
The premise of this one is intriguing - I wondered how the author could recast the dark Frankenstein story as a historical romance. I staying up late to finish the novel, which features a new character, Victor Frankenstein's brilliant sister and partner in scientific experimentation, Angelika. The story is fun (but not for the squeamish), the romance kept me guessing, and the writing is wittty and stylish. There's a pleasing surprise near the end, and a note of respect to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of the original Frankenstein, a woman who, like the fictionaL Angelika, didn't always get the recognition she deserved.
dnf
October 19, 2022DNF @8%
I love Sally Thorne but I have zero interest in continuing on with this one. Not every book is for every reader and this one just isn't for me.
I love Sally Thorne but I have zero interest in continuing on with this one. Not every book is for every reader and this one just isn't for me.
May 5, 2022
This is a 2.5 rounded up to 3
Listen, real talk: Did Sally Thorne find religion after she published The Hating Game and that's why she writes such boring books now? Like, DM me & let me know, it's fine, I won't tell anyone. Because honestly, it's the only reasonable explanation I can think of as to why the steam level is basically nonexistent & there are weird religious overtones in all her novels now. In that (dreadful, lbr) last one, the MC was the daughter of a priest or whatever, right? And then, in this one, the hero is literally a priest? Like, it's a bit sus if we are being honest. Not super keen on that at all.
There was some Real Weird stuff going on in this book with the Frankenstein's being atheists & Victor being all about science and Angelika being """selfish"""" and """"vain"""" and """"uncaring"""" until Will/Father Arlo pops in and teaches them about religion and ~miracles and being nice to poor people or some shit. I don't know, honestly. It felt gross for Angelika to be as old as she was and needing to be ~taught better behavior by a man, and a priest at that. Homegirl was honestly fine as she was. And her being like "you can't TELL me what to believe or not believe anymore, brother [because i ~believe now]!!!" was a bit of a side-eye. She just felt like such a passive character. She doesn't do things, things just happen & everyone is mean to her because she likes to buy expensive soap instead of working at a soup kitchen. She spends basically the entire book mooning around about Will/Father Arlo and wanting to have a baby. It's a bit regressive, is all I'm saying. There is a line towards the end, direct quote: "You are in the bed of a spoiled, wealthy heiress who has realized her privileged position and will work for the rest of her life to deserve you." Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike, nah brah, this is not it.
Listen, ultimately the book was _fine_. Not a page turner, but better than her last two, for sure. If I didn't know it was written by Sally Thorne, I would have never guessed that it was-- it lacked all the spark and wit of The Hating Game. It honestly read more upper YA to me than anything.
And girl, if you are going to make me wait until OVER 80% of your book to have a sex scene, at least make it a good one, holy shit.
btw a lot of reviews are concerned about a love triangle: calm down, there really isn't one. It's massively obvious who she would end up with and honestly, both dudes aren't well developed enough for you to care one way or the other.
Listen, real talk: Did Sally Thorne find religion after she published The Hating Game and that's why she writes such boring books now? Like, DM me & let me know, it's fine, I won't tell anyone. Because honestly, it's the only reasonable explanation I can think of as to why the steam level is basically nonexistent & there are weird religious overtones in all her novels now. In that (dreadful, lbr) last one, the MC was the daughter of a priest or whatever, right? And then, in this one, the hero is literally a priest? Like, it's a bit sus if we are being honest. Not super keen on that at all.
There was some Real Weird stuff going on in this book with the Frankenstein's being atheists & Victor being all about science and Angelika being """selfish"""" and """"vain"""" and """"uncaring"""" until Will/Father Arlo pops in and teaches them about religion and ~miracles and being nice to poor people or some shit. I don't know, honestly. It felt gross for Angelika to be as old as she was and needing to be ~taught better behavior by a man, and a priest at that. Homegirl was honestly fine as she was. And her being like "you can't TELL me what to believe or not believe anymore, brother [because i ~believe now]!!!" was a bit of a side-eye. She just felt like such a passive character. She doesn't do things, things just happen & everyone is mean to her because she likes to buy expensive soap instead of working at a soup kitchen. She spends basically the entire book mooning around about Will/Father Arlo and wanting to have a baby. It's a bit regressive, is all I'm saying. There is a line towards the end, direct quote: "You are in the bed of a spoiled, wealthy heiress who has realized her privileged position and will work for the rest of her life to deserve you." Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike, nah brah, this is not it.
Listen, ultimately the book was _fine_. Not a page turner, but better than her last two, for sure. If I didn't know it was written by Sally Thorne, I would have never guessed that it was-- it lacked all the spark and wit of The Hating Game. It honestly read more upper YA to me than anything.
And girl, if you are going to make me wait until OVER 80% of your book to have a sex scene, at least make it a good one, holy shit.
btw a lot of reviews are concerned about a love triangle: calm down, there really isn't one. It's massively obvious who she would end up with and honestly, both dudes aren't well developed enough for you to care one way or the other.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2022
I did not like this. I wanted creepy/kookie romance vibes. I got the most unlikeable FMC with all the “I’m not like the other girls, no one wants to date me even though I’m the hottest woman around” who then reanimated a corpse bc he was like super hot. She attaches a bigger penis cause Frankenstein…she does not even try to get to know him AT ALL beyond him being all handsome. And when formerly dead dude expresses he’s not interested bc he just met this bitch everyone either is rude or makes penis/sex jokes.
This had the potential to be so much fun. It was not.
I made it 21% in and said I love myself to much to continue this nonsense. I even looked at reviews to see if it would redeem itself if I kept going. Maybe Angelika wouldn’t be a hot garbage person later on the book, but all I saw was “love triangle” and I noped the fuck out. This was cringy
This had the potential to be so much fun. It was not.
I made it 21% in and said I love myself to much to continue this nonsense. I even looked at reviews to see if it would redeem itself if I kept going. Maybe Angelika wouldn’t be a hot garbage person later on the book, but all I saw was “love triangle” and I noped the fuck out. This was cringy
June 8, 2022
I will write a longer, better review later but for now I’m just going to say that I finished it but it was awful.
Want to read
February 6, 2023historical rom com by sally thorn?? yes yes yes!!!
![Profile Image for Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1746468325i%2F66224803._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
September 15, 2022
What if your perfect match is dead?
Well, just resurrect them, of course.
Dating Frankenstein-style! 🤌🏻✨
Well, just resurrect them, of course.
Dating Frankenstein-style! 🤌🏻✨
September 8, 2022
I am at a loss for words...
May 31, 2022
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match may be one of the weirdest mish mash of books I have read in a long, long time. I got about halfway through and didn't care for the characters, the story, or how the book would resolve so I didn't finish. Even the time period was weird for me, it didn't fit. The characters are hard to like, I'll be honest. The story was confusing and didn't make much sense. I'm sorry but this one was not for me.
January 24, 2025
A quick, light read. Amusing and enjoyable. 🧟
"Angelika Frankenstein knew what physical qualities her ideal man should have; unfortunately, she had to find those attributes at the morgue."
This romantic retelling of Frankenstein takes a few creative liberties with historical details, but as author Sally Thorne says in the acknowledgements, she wrote this book to have some fun during the pandemic, and the result is a book that's fun to read.
Angelika Frankenstein falls in love with a man she and her brother bring back to life, but her handsome scientific miracle awakes with no memory of who he was before. He refuses to to commit himself to Angelika before first learning the truth of his identity (even though his stitched-on lower half, which previously belonged to someone else, is clearly *ahem* hard pressed, that is to say . . . *cough* willing to rise to the task of . . . *clears throat* let's just say is keenly interested in knowing her intimately). 😉
Here is a story of unlikely romance, sisterhood, self-discovery, and sex. Good times!
"Angelika Frankenstein knew what physical qualities her ideal man should have; unfortunately, she had to find those attributes at the morgue."
This romantic retelling of Frankenstein takes a few creative liberties with historical details, but as author Sally Thorne says in the acknowledgements, she wrote this book to have some fun during the pandemic, and the result is a book that's fun to read.
Angelika Frankenstein falls in love with a man she and her brother bring back to life, but her handsome scientific miracle awakes with no memory of who he was before. He refuses to to commit himself to Angelika before first learning the truth of his identity (even though his stitched-on lower half, which previously belonged to someone else, is clearly *ahem* hard pressed, that is to say . . . *cough* willing to rise to the task of . . . *clears throat* let's just say is keenly interested in knowing her intimately). 😉
Here is a story of unlikely romance, sisterhood, self-discovery, and sex. Good times!
May 20, 2022
This is the weirdest historical romance I’ve ever read 🌟💫
Angelika Frankenstein wants a husband but she’s a Frankenstein so she’s a little weird, socially awkward, and sends men running with her sharp questions. So what’s a girl of twenty six (not six and twenty?! What kind of HR is this????) to do except make her own husband from some cadavers?!
This book takes two hard selling tropes: instalove (the MOST insta of insta loves,) and love triangle, and shifts it into this completely bizarre, quirky, romance book that somehow…works? I think??
Here’s the goods about this book:
🌟 Sally Thorne’s voice is present and I found myself rereading passages that she wrote in such a peculiar and interesting way that I was hooked from the very beginning. A few chuckle worthy moments and a quick paced read.
🌟Victor. Angelika’s older brother who is constantly chomping on apples, puffing up his own chest, and evading the pig that is in love with him, was probably my favorite character. You never know what to expect when Victor is in a scene cause he’s the most straight forward, no filter, historically inaccurate man of all and I love him. He’s a great brother character. Makes fun of his sister, takes her for granted, loves her fiercely. I loved how authentic he felt as a character even though the way he spoke and really everything about what he said did not fit into the historical time period at all. But, what the hey, I’m just along for the historically inaccurate ride. His only flaw being that he’s callous and oblivious to his fiancé at times and his nickname for Angelika, “Jelly.” NO TO THIS NICKNAME. As an Angela and form of Angelika, I forbid this nickname.
🌟Did I mention Belladona the pig who is in love with Victor? I want to read her book about her obsessively pig pining days. I needed more Belladona in my life.
🌟There’s a bit of a mysterryyyy hereeee and I was really curious as to who?! our cadaver really was!!!
🌟This is a Frankenstein retelling but like a Frankenstein retelling in a Fairy Tale genre. I was genuinely terrified of Victor’s creation murdering people the entire book and ruining everyone’s life and was pleasantly relieved when it didn’t follow Mary Shelley’s book so closely.
🌟This book has serious My Lady Jane vibes which is one of my all time favorite YA books but it’s adult so there’s an inordinate amount of conversations about cocks and loud sex that My Lady Jane lacks.
From an entertainment standard, I’ll give this book five stars. It’s definitely the only book in a LONG TIME that has held me captive and I’ve been giddy to get to at the end of the day.
From a *romance* standard………idk. Is it super steamy and swoony? Do I feel the moment these characters fall in love? Do I see the connection and know these two are destined to be together because of ABC? Ummmmm…not really.
This is the most instant of instaloves. In that the dude is a corpse when she falls in love with him. They don’t even lock eyes. They don’t even have a conversation. Dude is revived and screaming and howling in pain and she’s calling him “my love.” The vast majority of the book our cadaver Will doesn’t know who he is. So there’s not a lot of depth and background and getting to know each other happening. Just a lot of, “I made you and we are connected and can you stop fighting feelings, plz?” But for the weirdest reason, it didn’t bother me. I didn’t find myself frustrated with the romance part of this book because of characters like Victor’s fiancé Lizzie who is a duchess but isn’t a duchess, and Clara the poor widow down the lane and her chubby baby Edwin and her soulful puppy eyes at Christopher but also didn’t her husband JUST DIE?!, and Victor and his goal of getting a sperm sample from Will (who aptly refuses.) This book is really about this cast of characters as a group and I really enjoyed that side of it. Angelika and Will in and of themselves are not really it for me. Angelika reaaaaaaallllllyyyy loves Will and I found her changing a lot of herself once she gets to know him. Obvs they’re all good changes, but the fact that she clung so tightly to her brother after their parents died and so much of her personality and achievements are based off of their sibling relationship and camaraderie to THEN clinging herself to Will so tightly and seeing all these rapid fire changes? She’s gonna need some therapy to find herself through all the men in her life, but I believe you can do it, Angelika! 🤣
I have a lot more thoughts but they will waver on the Spoilery side so we will save that for later.
Thanks Avon for the ARC! Review is my own.
Angelika Frankenstein wants a husband but she’s a Frankenstein so she’s a little weird, socially awkward, and sends men running with her sharp questions. So what’s a girl of twenty six (not six and twenty?! What kind of HR is this????) to do except make her own husband from some cadavers?!
This book takes two hard selling tropes: instalove (the MOST insta of insta loves,) and love triangle, and shifts it into this completely bizarre, quirky, romance book that somehow…works? I think??
Here’s the goods about this book:
🌟 Sally Thorne’s voice is present and I found myself rereading passages that she wrote in such a peculiar and interesting way that I was hooked from the very beginning. A few chuckle worthy moments and a quick paced read.
🌟Victor. Angelika’s older brother who is constantly chomping on apples, puffing up his own chest, and evading the pig that is in love with him, was probably my favorite character. You never know what to expect when Victor is in a scene cause he’s the most straight forward, no filter, historically inaccurate man of all and I love him. He’s a great brother character. Makes fun of his sister, takes her for granted, loves her fiercely. I loved how authentic he felt as a character even though the way he spoke and really everything about what he said did not fit into the historical time period at all. But, what the hey, I’m just along for the historically inaccurate ride. His only flaw being that he’s callous and oblivious to his fiancé at times and his nickname for Angelika, “Jelly.” NO TO THIS NICKNAME. As an Angela and form of Angelika, I forbid this nickname.
🌟Did I mention Belladona the pig who is in love with Victor? I want to read her book about her obsessively pig pining days. I needed more Belladona in my life.
🌟There’s a bit of a mysterryyyy hereeee and I was really curious as to who?! our cadaver really was!!!
🌟This is a Frankenstein retelling but like a Frankenstein retelling in a Fairy Tale genre. I was genuinely terrified of Victor’s creation murdering people the entire book and ruining everyone’s life and was pleasantly relieved when it didn’t follow Mary Shelley’s book so closely.
🌟This book has serious My Lady Jane vibes which is one of my all time favorite YA books but it’s adult so there’s an inordinate amount of conversations about cocks and loud sex that My Lady Jane lacks.
From an entertainment standard, I’ll give this book five stars. It’s definitely the only book in a LONG TIME that has held me captive and I’ve been giddy to get to at the end of the day.
From a *romance* standard………idk. Is it super steamy and swoony? Do I feel the moment these characters fall in love? Do I see the connection and know these two are destined to be together because of ABC? Ummmmm…not really.
This is the most instant of instaloves. In that the dude is a corpse when she falls in love with him. They don’t even lock eyes. They don’t even have a conversation. Dude is revived and screaming and howling in pain and she’s calling him “my love.” The vast majority of the book our cadaver Will doesn’t know who he is. So there’s not a lot of depth and background and getting to know each other happening. Just a lot of, “I made you and we are connected and can you stop fighting feelings, plz?” But for the weirdest reason, it didn’t bother me. I didn’t find myself frustrated with the romance part of this book because of characters like Victor’s fiancé Lizzie who is a duchess but isn’t a duchess, and Clara the poor widow down the lane and her chubby baby Edwin and her soulful puppy eyes at Christopher but also didn’t her husband JUST DIE?!, and Victor and his goal of getting a sperm sample from Will (who aptly refuses.) This book is really about this cast of characters as a group and I really enjoyed that side of it. Angelika and Will in and of themselves are not really it for me. Angelika reaaaaaaallllllyyyy loves Will and I found her changing a lot of herself once she gets to know him. Obvs they’re all good changes, but the fact that she clung so tightly to her brother after their parents died and so much of her personality and achievements are based off of their sibling relationship and camaraderie to THEN clinging herself to Will so tightly and seeing all these rapid fire changes? She’s gonna need some therapy to find herself through all the men in her life, but I believe you can do it, Angelika! 🤣
I have a lot more thoughts but they will waver on the Spoilery side so we will save that for later.
Thanks Avon for the ARC! Review is my own.
August 22, 2022
This book is SO camp and a good chunk of it is really fun (and absurdly over the top). It’s a mix of Frankenstein and the campiest historical romance you’ve ever read.
This is obviously a re-telling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, only in this version Victor is resurrecting dead bodies to find a husband and partner for his sister Angelika. Obviously, resurrecting someone for your personal gain is all kinds of morally wrong but this is a Frankenstein retelling so I digress.
The first 40% of the book I really, really enjoyed. Was it absurd? Absolutely but it was also quite fun and funny. However, at about the 50% mark the book becomes overrun with religious overtones, even making the love interest a Priest. While the Frankenstein’s make clear in the first half of the book they believe in science and fact by the end they are praying and with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein being highly regarded as a critique of religion this felt like a really weird choice and I didn’t really like it, at all. Especially contrasting the ending of this novel with the original Frankenstein.
I’m giving this one 2.5 stars, it had such great potential for a great spooky read but just fell flat and was full of unexpected religious messaging and overtones.
Sally Thorne’s books are a mixed bag for me and this one, unfortunately was on the lower end.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This is obviously a re-telling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, only in this version Victor is resurrecting dead bodies to find a husband and partner for his sister Angelika. Obviously, resurrecting someone for your personal gain is all kinds of morally wrong but this is a Frankenstein retelling so I digress.
The first 40% of the book I really, really enjoyed. Was it absurd? Absolutely but it was also quite fun and funny. However, at about the 50% mark the book becomes overrun with religious overtones, even making the love interest a Priest. While the Frankenstein’s make clear in the first half of the book they believe in science and fact by the end they are praying and with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein being highly regarded as a critique of religion this felt like a really weird choice and I didn’t really like it, at all. Especially contrasting the ending of this novel with the original Frankenstein.
I’m giving this one 2.5 stars, it had such great potential for a great spooky read but just fell flat and was full of unexpected religious messaging and overtones.
Sally Thorne’s books are a mixed bag for me and this one, unfortunately was on the lower end.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
October 31, 2022
if i had made a bingo board i wouldn't have been able to predict the content of this book
September 6, 2022
Title: Angelika Frankenstein Makes her Match
Series: n/a
Author: Sally Thorne
Release date: September 6, 2022
Cliffhanger: no
Genre: gothic, historical rom-com
I had high hopes for this book, though I knew going in that it was a quirky concept that may not hit the mark for me. I mean, a historical gothic rom-com retelling of Frankenstein from his sister's perspective? It sounds either genius or extremely bizarre. Or perhaps both? I'm sad to say it wasn't the success I had anticipated. Angelika and her brother Victor gave me a bad first impression in chapter one which they never really fully overcame. I'm all for flawed characters if they experience natural growth and improvement by the end-however their flaws made them pretty unlikeable for much of the book. I struggled with quitting at certain points, but I wanted to see it through to the end to see if they would win me over. They did evolve from their selfish, spoiled ways (Angelika much more so) but unfortunately I never truly liked Angelika or Victor enough to care what happened to them. Don't get me wrong, Angelika came a LONG way, but I still never felt what I should have for her character.
The book opens as Angelika and Victor are browsing a room of dead bodies for their personal science experiments. Victor wants to resurrect a body back to life for his own personal ego trip. He wants to "beat" his nemesis, Jürgen Schneider who has already gained fame in reanimating people. Victor wants to one-up him by using body parts of different people and bringing that patchwork person back to life. There is no thought about those people being actual human beings and the ramifications of what this act could be. Would they be in physical or emotional pain? What would his actions be doing to these people's souls in a spiritual sense? The only thing on his mind was fame and glory as he blithely cracked jokes with his sister about her own mission-building her dream man out of corpses.
Angelika has failed to meet her perfect match despite the fact that she is possession of the two things that draw men in like bees to honey. She is wealthy beyond imagining, and exceptionally beautiful. She has had plenty of suitors but once they get to know her eccentric personality she drives each and every one of them away.
Whilst she could not find anything overly objectionable in her reflection, and she had indeed been described many times as a beauty, there was something about her personality that was untenable. Unnatural. Unlovable.
Now at twenty-four, she feels close to spinsterhood. Her brother is on the verge of marriage and his fiancé Lizzie will be in charge of the Frankenstein family estate. If feels as if she is being left behind all alone, with no partner to share her privileged life with. All she wants is a man whom she can spoil and who will spoil her in return. As a last resort, she has decided that if she can't find Mr. Right, she will create him from scratch. Like her brother, her only thought is her own needs, never seeing the face she instantly "falls in love with" as someone who should be afforded dignity and respect for their humanity. She even debated the right sized penis to use on her dream man with her brother which seemed in very bad taste rather than funny.
Angelika names her creation Will and is absolutely smitten from the moment he first opens his eyes. She commences swooning, calling him "my love", and treating him like a pampered pet. Her feelings came off as completely shallow and manufactured as there was absolutely no true romance leading up to her feelings. The reader misses out on anticipation, tension, chemistry, and the actual organic growth of deep feelings. All I felt for Will was pity that he woke up to such an outlandish environment, surrounded by strangers, with no memory of his true identity. Everyone just kind of expected him to fall on his knees in rapture at the sight of her, which is an unrealistic expectation to say the least. Angelika was actually annoyed and frustrated quite frequently at how he repeatedly resisted her charms because he was focused on finding out where he came from. Even the possibility that Will could have been engaged before he died only caused a tiny sliver of guilt as she continued to pursue his affections.
He paused, wincing, trying to choose his words. “I am very proud of you, for starting to think this way, and I shall do the same. I think we lost our parents before we could learn the importance of economy.” “And charity. And community.
Another big issue I had was that this was supposed to be a historical book, and these characters came off as completely modern, progressive people who were transplanted in the past just for atmosphere's sake. Their mannerisms, speech, and attitudes about sexuality and social norms were not those of characters from a historical novel. When I read from this genre, I'm not looking for characters who act and sound like modern people. I not only want, but need to feel as if I'm swept away into another time and that was not the case here. Other than mentions of them riding in a carriage or a description of Angelika's old-fashioned undergarments, it was lacking the multitude of small details that come together to form a true, authentic atmosphere. Yes, the gothic mansion was interesting, but you don't really get a dark or foreboding feeling from it. Making the story a rom-com sort of cancels any potential of that out. It never really reached funny or foreboding but somewhere in an odd, murky in-between.
In summary, as much as I wanted to love this book, it failed to win me over. I gave it two stars because the mystery drew me in enough to want to get the answers, so it did pique some of my interest. However, I was quite disappointed with the romance aspect, and the characters did not endear me to them which left me wanting a lot more. Sally Thorne is an incredible author that I have enjoyed in the past, but you can't love them all and this happened to be one of the misses.
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October 22, 2022I don't quite know what to do with this one.
Like, on the one hand, we open with these characters basically shopping for parts so they can reanimate a man that fits Angelika's specifications for what she hopes will be her husband because she's given up on, and has been given up on by, the living. And when, of course, he is brought back to life, you have to kind of side-eye the whole "was dead and now mostly alive-ish" element being sold to you as sexy and romantic when it's really not. But.. vampires are corpses too, you know? It's just the fundamentals of it make it extra icky. So you suspend some disbelief. You lean into the camp and outrageousness of it all and you have a good time.
But unlike vampires, where the power imbalance is age gap between a hundred+ year old dude and a highschooler (predominantly!), this time the power imbalance -- wealthy spoiled woman, undead nobody with no memory, heavily reliant on said wealthy woman -- is also layered with consent issues because he literally had no say with a) coming back to life and b) the parts of his body she kept or replaced. Plus his body continues to betray him in ways he doesn't understand.
But if you suspend some disbelief and lean into the camp.. yeah, I don't know. See aforementioned mixed feelings.
Some of this was so good. Spoiler alert, I cried twice near the end. We get some good character development out of said wealthy spoiled woman. There's a mystery at the heart of who Will, the man Angelika has brought back to life, is. And there's a good sibling dynamic that is complex and does evolve.
Except there are things near the end I did not love, and won't mention due to spoilers, but are tied up in both what the Frankenstein's believe to be part of their foundation and, as it turns out, Will's, and how that all comes together.. I don't know, felt a little strange. But then again the whole book is strange. I'll also admit that Will was occasionally a struggle when it came to his behaviour towards Angelika and not always in the way he should've been. It's hard to explain but him being hot and cold was fine, I just thought there were some inconsistencies mixed in, too.
However, I think you do have to let this book just be what it is and not think too hard about the weird bits that don't quite work. But I didn't get on that until too late in the game, even though I tried to go in with an open mind knowing it had been not very well received with many mixed reviews. But instead I'm just adding to them.
All that to say! Well, nothing really. You'll either read this book, or you've already read it, or you won't.
I'm definitely glad I gave it a chance because I do think Thorne has shown she can do more than just contemporary, and she can be weird, poke around into different spaces, and that's all good. This either works for you or it doesn't or, like me, you're somewhere in the middle. But this is not remotely the nail in the coffin that I expected it to be (everything post-THE HATING GAME has been unpredictable) and I look forward to seeing what she does, and where she goes, next.
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This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
Like, on the one hand, we open with these characters basically shopping for parts so they can reanimate a man that fits Angelika's specifications for what she hopes will be her husband because she's given up on, and has been given up on by, the living. And when, of course, he is brought back to life, you have to kind of side-eye the whole "was dead and now mostly alive-ish" element being sold to you as sexy and romantic when it's really not. But.. vampires are corpses too, you know? It's just the fundamentals of it make it extra icky. So you suspend some disbelief. You lean into the camp and outrageousness of it all and you have a good time.
But unlike vampires, where the power imbalance is age gap between a hundred+ year old dude and a highschooler (predominantly!), this time the power imbalance -- wealthy spoiled woman, undead nobody with no memory, heavily reliant on said wealthy woman -- is also layered with consent issues because he literally had no say with a) coming back to life and b) the parts of his body she kept or replaced. Plus his body continues to betray him in ways he doesn't understand.
But if you suspend some disbelief and lean into the camp.. yeah, I don't know. See aforementioned mixed feelings.
Some of this was so good. Spoiler alert, I cried twice near the end. We get some good character development out of said wealthy spoiled woman. There's a mystery at the heart of who Will, the man Angelika has brought back to life, is. And there's a good sibling dynamic that is complex and does evolve.
Except there are things near the end I did not love, and won't mention due to spoilers, but are tied up in both what the Frankenstein's believe to be part of their foundation and, as it turns out, Will's, and how that all comes together.. I don't know, felt a little strange. But then again the whole book is strange. I'll also admit that Will was occasionally a struggle when it came to his behaviour towards Angelika and not always in the way he should've been. It's hard to explain but him being hot and cold was fine, I just thought there were some inconsistencies mixed in, too.
However, I think you do have to let this book just be what it is and not think too hard about the weird bits that don't quite work. But I didn't get on that until too late in the game, even though I tried to go in with an open mind knowing it had been not very well received with many mixed reviews. But instead I'm just adding to them.
All that to say! Well, nothing really. You'll either read this book, or you've already read it, or you won't.
I'm definitely glad I gave it a chance because I do think Thorne has shown she can do more than just contemporary, and she can be weird, poke around into different spaces, and that's all good. This either works for you or it doesn't or, like me, you're somewhere in the middle. But this is not remotely the nail in the coffin that I expected it to be (everything post-THE HATING GAME has been unpredictable) and I look forward to seeing what she does, and where she goes, next.
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This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
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