From USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game Sally Thorne comes something a little unexpected... a historical rom-com that imagines Victor Frankenstein's sheltered younger sister, and her attempts to create the perfect man.
ANGELIKA FRANKENSTEIN MAKES HER MATCH
by SALLY THORNE
Series: n/a
Publication date: September 6, 2022
Published by: Avon
Genre: gothic, historical romance
SYNOPSIS
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!
Purchase your copy now!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sally 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.
REVIEW
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally ThorneMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
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 anythingoverly objectionablein her reflection, and she had indeedbeen described many times as a beauty,there was something about her personalitythat 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 couldlearn 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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