Audiobook Review: Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match

Author: Sally Thorne

Narrator: Moira Quirk

Audiobook Length: 11 hours 43 minutes

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!

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match follows the 24-years-old sister of Victor Frankenstein in this unique and very loose Frankenstein reimagining. The two of them live at Blackthorne Manor on the hill where Angelika is helping Victor with his experiments. As this story takes some liberties from the Victor that is usually depicted in other works, this was something I needed to keep in mind while reading. In this case, Frankenstein’s monster is Will, who wakes up with no idea who he is and anything else about his past.

Although Will was created as a suitor for Angelika as she cannot find one around her, Will wants to first find out about his past. The novel then centers around Will and Angelika discovering the mystery behind Will’s death. When Angelika builds Will, she makes sure he has her standards of beauty. I can see how many readers, myself included, can find this problematic in the way that it is written. For me, I, unfortunately, read it as a double standard as it was okay for Angelika, but would not for a male lead. For me, I would not enjoy the obsession of the number of times it was brought up no matter the gender of the main character.

Will’s manhood is a huge piece of the story as it is brought up a lot, so this would be something for other readers to keep in mind as they may see it as a positive or a negative. For me, I can see how it was meant in a lighter tone, but it did not come across as enjoyable. I am not sure if this is how I read it, how it was meant, or something else, but it came across a lot that Will was physically attracted to Angelika against his will, especially with no direct control over his manhood. While the two characters do get to know each other over the course of the book, it does have the best beginnings as Angelika was bordering on obsessed with Will before he was even brought back to life and Will’s lack of control over his own body.

There is a semi-love triangle introduced as Angelika enlists the assistance of Christopher, a local military commander. I rarely a fan of love triangles, so I am not the best unbiased opinion of how well this is done usually; however, it felt very underdeveloped where I feel like he was introduced just to throw in some drama. Other readers may feel a lot differently, so it is highly recommended to read this and decide for yourself. This goes for everything I did not enjoy with the novel. I found Angelika unlikable although I did enjoy the attempt at a campy-type romance, so there were some pros and cons with my reading experience. Overall, I commend Sally Thorne for attempting to write something different and I will read more in the future, but this one was, unfortunately, a miss for me.