Non-Review: Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match
By Sally Thorne

Published By: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Date Abandoned: October 31, 2022
Genre: Adult – Paranormal Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 384

From Goodreads:
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.

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!

I had such high hopes for Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. I haven’t read any of Sally Thorne’s books prior to this one, but I do own a few of them. When I heard about this book, I immediately raced out to read it, and I was so damn excited to dive in. When I read the blurb and the premise of Angelika Frankenstein who can’t find a match, so like her brother created Frankenstein’s Monster… she’s going to create herself a boyfriend/husband, I thought… this sounds so hilarious and cute and just a really fun Halloween-y read. I wish I could say that that was the case. I honestly cannot put into words just how sad I am that I didn’t like this book, but for me it was far too problematic. It was not cute. It was not fun or hilarious… it was weird. And not in a weird – good for Halloween way. Weird in a creepy, kind of predator-y way! I tried to give this book a real chance, but after I got to page 70 I just couldn’t continue anymore!

Warning, from here there is going to be slight spoilers from the first 70 pages of this book. Continue with caution.

The first few chapters of the book, I did really enjoy. Angelika was a little strange, but she’s a single 20-something year old in a Victorian era so I guess that was to be expected. My issues with the book came after she has created her ‘guy’. After creating the boyfriend it became very clear that he did not share Angelika’s feelings, but certain parts of his anatomy seemed to like her… if you get what I mean. There was a lot of page space dedicated to explaining this… multiple times. And it was freaking weird. But I let it go, and tried to continue. But as we got further in, Angelika became kind of predatory in a rape-y way. There was a lot of her thoughts dedicated to the fact that she has created this man, and so that meant her belonged to her and his body belonged to her! This was the point where I was like NOPE I’M OUT! It was horrible. And all I kept thinking was if this was a male author, writing about a female character and female body like this… this book would never have been published. Or if it had, it would have been cancelled the minute ARC readers got their hands on it. So… can someone explain to me why it is apparently okay the other way around? I did not feel comfortable reading this. It was horrific for me, honestly, and made me feel a little ill. It has 100% put me off trying any more of Sally’s work in the future. I’m sure a lot of this was meant in a tongue-in-cheek way, for humour… but I did not find it funny and I didn’t think it worked. It was creepy, it was predatory and I have so many issues with this! This was 100% a DNF for me. Sometimes when I DNF books, I debate trying it again in the future, but this one… no! There is no way I will be attempting this book again and honestly I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

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