Well, hello.
It's like they can't see you strategically grasping your cup of hot chocolate.
I was grimace smiling. It was...
Listen, hot chocolate brings out
joy in me.
Especially when it's in a Halloween themed mug.
That's so true. I love it when it's at like a sporting event, like a football game. It's like
not great hot chocolate, but it's like outside and it's cold.
Have you attended a sport?
I don't think I've ever been to a football game where it was cold enough.
Oh, I suppose because you're in Texas.
That's so unfortunate.
The only sporting event I've been to that's cold other than like hockey, which in Texas is not frequent,
is like baseball if you go early enough.
The great cultural divide. That's so sad because cold football games are so nice.
But chili, then...
Dang.
I just didn't anticipate you not having experienced that before.
Well, no. That's a lie. High school football games.
Okay, I haven't been to like any major like...
I mean, I assume they... I don't know what like the college... I didn't care about sports in college.
I went to a few football games, but not...
Yeah, we were like D3 and it wasn't great. It was definitely chili.
It was definitely chili because I mean, anytime starting from like October, like fall sports would get...
Chilli.
Okay, so I take it back. It was cold.
But not...
Hot chocolate level cold?
By the... I mean, it got pretty late into this season.
Mm-hmm.
But...
I'm more into the hotter part of the football season.
Yeah, that's unfortunate.
Where it was too hot to wear our marching band uniforms.
Hot football does not compute. It just doesn't sound right.
I mean, it happens obviously like it was like it's now only fall right now.
Every football game I remember going to is...
Like hot.
Ick.
Me no like the hot at this moment in time.
It's finally fall.
Me no like the hot ever, but here we are.
So true.
You would not believe the joy I have experienced at it being like 75 degrees outside.
I could imagine.
I could imagine because it's finally now like we've had like frost alerts and everything.
I'm like hit me.
I know it literally went from 90 degrees to 50 overnight.
And then now we're at frost alerts.
Oh.
Just funny.
Okay, Lars just dropped to like high of 74 and I was like, yes!
I mean, that's what honestly I would love it to be like 65, 70 for a while.
But that's not going to happen.
Like it was like actually cold the other day and I was like, oh.
I may have grown a boss too close to the sun or too far from the sun.
And then it's like you want to not break out your big jacket.
So then you're in like a sweatshirt and that's not warm enough.
But then sometimes it's like hot in the day, but then cold in the morning.
So you're like sweatshirt shorts.
It's a whole temperature regulation.
That's when layering kicks in.
Big fan of layering.
Because layering is good.
Texas isn't really good with cold weather, but when it does start to get cold, it will be hot in the afternoon.
That's the worst.
You will be so cold in the morning and you're like, oh no.
Yeah, or like all the stores will have like the heat cranked.
So then you wear your cute, like cold winter outfit to like go shopping or whatever.
And then you walk in, you're like, I am 99 degrees.
And it doesn't feel great.
And you have to like deal with your heavy coat.
Weather.
So fun.
Well, I don't have a transition.
But.
Nope.
Yeah.
There's nothing really.
They don't.
I don't quite know how to.
Welcome to Romancy TBR.
We do non sequiturs exclusively.
Yes, we do.
I am Hannah.
And I am Caroline.
And we haven't introduced ourselves in so many episodes.
No, no, that's fine.
That's cool.
That's quirky of us.
Our four listeners know who we are.
They know who we are.
Yeah.
And we're like, I'm not totally counts.
Exactly.
And if you're a new, well, you picked an episode.
Sure did.
You picked an episode.
Because I mean, we agree today.
We both enjoyed this book.
But what a wild book.
This is a book that like if somebody reads it and they're like, I really hated that.
I'm like, fair enough.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
I'm not going to argue with you because you either are like, wow, this is so on brand for my like humor and sense of enjoyment, or you're like, that was weird.
And I don't judge anybody who does feel that way.
And there are so many angry reviews of this book.
It honestly, you know, I can read them with a smile because they're funny.
But I'm also just like, ghouls who get it, get it.
Ghouls who don't, don't.
That's so true.
I will also say the title, cover, general vibe of the description, do give enough that if you're like angry finishing it, I'm like, what did you expect this book to be like?
Yeah, I so much agree.
Before we get any farther, we are reading Angelica Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne.
I read it last year around a campfire.
That was a great vibe.
Weather.
It was like getting cool at night.
It's like in the summer.
You know.
Yeah.
Speaking of weather.
So I had read this one last year also.
This is a reread for both of us.
But this time I was like, I should reread Frankenstein.
I saw that.
I was like, ooh, I know what she's doing.
Reading Angelica Frankenstein.
Because like I read it in high school, but that was many years ago.
And also like things I read in high school.
I don't remember.
My brain wasn't fully developed.
I was just regurgitating what the English teacher said.
I don't know.
So I remembered very little of the plot.
By the way, if you have an audible subscription, it's free.
Dan Stevens narrates it.
And low key.
Like I still don't love the book.
I love it.
I'm just like, I don't know.
And then I read the book.
It's like, I'm just interested.
Like sometimes it just got boring and I was like, Mary Shelley.
I respect you.
Oh, I never.
I couldn't get through Dracula.
Yeah.
Because it got really boring.
And I was like,
Maybe I'll get there's an audible version of that one with.
Alan Cummings and Tim Curry.
Oh.
Well, Tim Curry is narrating.
Ooh.
I love them.
So maybe we'll give Dracula a try.
I love him so much.
I might go back because listening to Frankenstein, I was like, I wonder.
If I had figured out audio books in high school,
What those English classes would have been like.
Anyway.
I mentioned this because number one.
Not a lot of.
I was thinking maybe she was like playing on things from the text in this one.
That would be interesting.
No, there's almost no similarities.
They're in England.
That's not the case in Frankenstein.
Their parents are both dead.
Yeah, they're in.
Is it German somewhere?
Like Switzerland, Germany.
They move around.
He's in.
They're in like Germany for part of it.
He ends up in Ireland at one point.
Whatever.
The framing device technically is in like the Arctic.
So.
Yeah.
It's like.
Literally no part of this is accurate to the actual Frankenstein.
I mean, she does play on it because you get to the end with Mary.
We'll get there.
Yeah.
And so it's clearly not supposed to be that.
But I bring this up because the romantics.
Fucking love nature.
And whether is like a huge thing in that book.
Nature and weather.
Because Victor is always going off when he's going crazy.
And then like nature will bring him back to himself and he likes to go to the
frozen mountains because according to spark notes analysis,
he goes to like freeze his guilt, whereas the creature.
Prefers like springtime because he wants the warmth and like.
Sunlight.
There was just a lot.
And there were a lot of just like, let's go talk about the beauty of nature.
And I was like, fair enough.
I feel like we're doing this a lot.
But.
I mean, you can't argue with that.
They were going to the lakes where all the poets went to die.
And they still belong.
They did in fact go to a well, maybe it wasn't the lake.
He gets.
No, there's others.
A lake for a big chunk of it.
He goes out and floats on the lake at night.
Just want to feel something.
Honestly. Okay.
You know, I can get behind that.
Except for muskies.
And he could maybe bite you and I wouldn't like that.
They like the night.
Oh, my.
Yeah. Big fish.
Oh, well, you're in a boat.
So.
I guess I don't know why I was picturing him just like in the lake, like floating.
Like.
No, he was in a boat.
He was like, okay.
On the lake.
Okay, that makes a lot more sense.
He takes a boat out.
And then at one point he does take a boat out to sink all the pieces of the female Frankenstein
monster he was making.
Because the creature has those chapters where he's like, I am miserable and eloquent.
Make me a mate.
Direct quote.
I've never read the book.
My only.
Frank.
No.
Oh, no.
We didn't.
My English in high school, we didn't do a lot of.
You had read it.
English major.
No.
It never actually came up in my college curriculums.
All right.
Let's back up and give a brief overview of Frankenstein in case other folks haven't read
Frankenstein.
All I know is from.
Zoom through this.
Wizards of Waverly Place, I think.
I don't.
And the few Frankenstein movies I've seen and the Scooby Doo Frankenstein.
Okay.
I don't know if you've read it, but I can't rely on none of those because you think for
yourself, I know what Frankenstein is about.
And then you read it.
And it's like a story within a story within a story because you're reading letters from
this guy who's like on an Arctic expedition to his sister.
And they see this giant figure on like a sled being pulled by huskies in the night and it
disappears.
And then the next day they come upon a sled on like a floating ice, you know, turned to
ice and like most of the dogs are dead and the guy is half dead, but it's a different
guy.
It's not the like eight foot guy they saw before.
It's a different guy.
And eventually he tells his story.
So it's this guy writing letters to his sister, recording the letter.
I mean, recording what Victor Frankenstein is telling him about his life.
And then also telling us what the creature says at one point.
So there's a lot of storytelling going on.
So was Victor Frankenstein the half dead one with his dogs?
Yeah.
So he's bringing Victor onto the boat and he's like, beware, you are also a guy in search
of knowledge.
Learn from me and don't follow this tragic fate.
And then he proceeds to launch into like a really long detailed explanation of his life
and his parents and how his mom's dad died and his dad, Rhett took her in, but then he
married her and they were so in love, but they were helping people.
And it depends on the version, because in the original version, Elizabeth is his cousin,
but in the revised version, she's like a random orphan that they take in who's from noble
parents, but she's been stuck with this poor fan.
It's a whole thing.
They bring her in.
Did Mary Shelley revise it or did someone just have the idea?
I think Mary Shelley revised it.
I was like, so somebody's going to revise?
No, I don't think anybody.
I mean, I don't know.
That's why I was like, that's a lot of-
I'm pretty sure it was her.
Okay, that makes more sense.
Anyway, and then he has these other siblings and he grew up and this best friend, he's
important later and he grows up really into the natural sciences, but he's reading like
crack scientists.
That's not true.
Like really old natural scientists who have been very much disproven.
And then his mom dies.
Then he goes to college and at college, he gets really into natural science and mathematics
and chemistry and he has these great professors and he launches into his studies and he gets
super into it and he figures out the secret of life.
And then he sets about to create or animate a being and he succeeds and it opens his eyes
and he is so horrified.
Like he's so scared.
The college to grave robbing to animating corpses pipeline is strong.
I felt compelled.
Well, in Augustus Everett's case, it was, no, just kidding.
He was a grave digger to college pipeline.
Yeah, we've all been there.
So he reanimates this sewn together corpse.
He realizes his folly because he's absolutely disgusted and horrified.
He's like, oh no, what have I done?
He runs into his other room, tries to go to sleep, which is so relatable, by the way,
to just immediately be like, I'm going to go to bed.
That's actually so true.
He wakes up, the creature is in his room, he freaks out, he just goes and wanders around
the town at night.
Boom, his best friend is there.
His best friend wasn't allowed to come to college with him because of his dad.
That's a whole thing.
But now he's here and he's going to college.
He doesn't tell his best friend what's going on, but they make it back to his apartment
and the creature is gone.
And then he falls into like an intense feverish sickness for months, as you do.
And his friend nurses him through it and then he's like, hey, your family really wants you
to come home.
He's like, bet, it's been years, I'll go home.
Then he gets a letter.
Turns out his youngest brother has been murdered.
His youngest brother has been strangled in the woods.
He makes it home.
It turns out this girl that she came to live with the family because her mom hated her,
but then all the mom's other kids died.
So she called her back home.
It was a whole thing.
Now she's back living with the family again, so she was raised kind of with these kids.
She was found with this portrait of the mother that the brother who'd been murdered had on
him at the time.
So she's been accused of his murder, which is wild because Elizabeth, the cousin that
he's supposed to marry, it's like, no way was it her.
Victor goes out to see where they found the body, comes face to face with the monster.
He knows full well this dude murdered this kid.
Does he say anything at the trial?
No, she's hanged for the murder of this kid.
Victor is like, oh, I'm so filled with guilt.
And he was supposed to marry.
Oh, no, no, no, this is a different girl.
He's supposed to marry Elizabeth.
Okay, so that's not Elizabeth.
Justine is the one that was accused of the murder and is hanged, even though she definitely
didn't do it.
Where does the story even go from there?
Truly I don't remember.
He's wracked with guilt.
The creature shows up at random times.
Oh, he felt he felt so terrible that his father is like, we got to get you out of here.
So they go hang out at their like vacation estate.
This is where he boats out onto a lake a lot.
He runs into the monster.
The monster is now eloquent.
He is like, oh, my great creator.
Not great.
Oh, my creator, how could you have created me and abandoned me thus?
I am miserable.
I am lonely.
Come with me to my cave where I will tell you of my life thus far.
And then you get his story where basically he like runs off into the woods and every
time he comes upon people, they freak out because he's terrifying.
So he goes and hides in a hubble that's like attached to this little poor family's house
and like watches through a crack in the wall for months and like learns their whole family
history, which is a whole thing because they're like exiled from France.
And then there's this Turkish girl who they helped her father escape from Pritz.
So that's like a whole other side story.
He learns to read and speak because they were teaching her English.
So he learns how to speak English.
He learns world history.
He steals some books and reads them.
So he's constantly referencing Paradise Lost.
Like he talks about how he is both Adam and Satan in this scenario.
Well, there you go.
So you and the creature have something in common.
Anyway, then he's like, maybe if I go talk to these guys, like the dad is blind, maybe
they'll be nice to me because he just like craves kindness.
They don't.
They aren't nice and they freak out.
Didn't anticipate that.
They move out of the house.
He burns it down.
He's very upset.
Well, I can't blame them.
He swears vengeance on all of mankind.
He murders that kid.
Actually, he might have murdered the kid before.
No, I don't think so because he finds out that he's related to Frankenstein.
So he's like, well, gotta kill you.
He puts the picture from the kid on the girl.
He finds her sleeping in a barn and just like gives her that.
Not really sure why, but he does.
Gets her hanged for murder.
And then he's like, anyway, I told you this whole story and how miserable I am so that
you will make me a female because I will not be evil and vengeful and lonely and murder
people if I have a mate because we can love each other and I will just take her to South
America with me and we will go live in by ourselves.
And Victor Frankenstein is like, I will not be making another one of you.
You are a monstrosity and I hate you.
And he's like, father, why have you abandoned me?
And he's like, no, you, you got to make me a wife because then I can leave.
And Victor's like, you know what, fine, I will make you a wife.
So then he goes off with his friend, Henry, the one that was at university with him, because
he's got to go talk to some other scientists about some revolutionary new research that
he needs to build this wife.
Oh, also, he's going to marry Elizabeth when he gets back.
So he goes off to do this.
He feels really guilty about it because he doesn't want to, but he's like, oh, I must.
He goes off, he starts to build her.
And then when he's part of the way done, he looks up in the monster's been like he followed
him all the way to like Scotland or wherever he was.
And he was like watching him through the window.
And then he realizes he can't go through this because what if she is just as evil as he
is and she didn't agree to go off to South America.
So what if she just like unleashes herself on mankind?
Like what would happen then?
And he's like, oh, I can't.
So he like tears it apart.
And then the monster is like, I will be with you on your wedding night and disappears into
the woods because he's super fast and scary.
And then he rose out into the ocean and like drops all the body parts and stuff in the
water because he's intending to leave with his friend.
And then he gets stuck in these winds and he gets blown onto Ireland's shores.
And the Irish people are like, what's up, my guy?
You got to go talk to the magistrate because somebody was murdered here last night.
And we're pretty sure it was you.
And he's like, I just got here.
So he goes and they suspect him and they're like, here's the body.
Guess who it is.
It's the best friend.
So he falls into yet more months of feverish sickness upon finding the monster has murdered
his best friend.
Eventually, his dad comes and gets him and takes him home.
He marries Elizabeth.
Guess who gets murdered on their wedding night?
It's Elizabeth by the monster.
And now Victor is wandering around trying to confront the monster to kill it.
Also his dad died.
He technically has one more brother.
We never talk about the other brother again.
So now he's wandering around.
He followed him all the way up into the Arctic.
Hence he ended up on this boat.
Then he dies.
Victor just dies.
He's like, hey, my guy, if I die, I need you to take this monster out.
Don't listen to him.
He's very eloquent and will make you feel bad for him.
But he's evil.
And then he dies.
And then the guy comes in and the monster is lamenting over the corpse.
And then he's like, don't worry about it.
I'm going to go build myself a funeral pyre.
And that'll be the end of that.
And then he disappears into the ice.
Monster.
Yeah.
He goes to go throw himself on a pyre.
So natural conclusion.
There's your crash course.
Spark Notes Frankenstein.
There is a lot of very long monologues in there and discussions about nature and mankind
and humanity and what it is to be a monster who has no connection to humanity or any other
being who is not afraid of him.
There are all of these discussions about like he rescued a little girl from drowning in
the stream and the person she was with shot him because he thought he was attacking the
girl.
And so he's like, why am I condemned when all I did was help?
All these things.
Interesting.
However, not even a little bit connected really to Angelica Frankenstein, except that it's
like they put people back together and reanimate them.
And have names.
Victor and then there's Elizabeth.
Yeah, Lizzie.
And then I do think the the Adam.
Adam would be the name.
Like that's a nod to him in the original referencing how he is Adam but also Satan.
How he's Adam but also Satan.
Well that's his whole thing.
That's just a good line.
He was Adam but also Satan.
Have they ever made a Frankenstein musical because that just very much sounds like it
lends itself to like very dramatic singing about being a monster among humans.
Like I don't know of it but I wouldn't be surprised.
I'd be surprised if it didn't exist.
Frankenstein, a new musical.
When?
But when was this?
Premiered 2007.
Yeah that tracks 2007, crazy times.
That was nine.
Wow.
I'm trying to find the creature's tail parts one, two, and three.
There's one song called Why.
Right, that kind of, yeah that fits the vibe.
Why?
Yeah this makes sense.
Why not it's got to be a depressing musical.
Yeah.
Damn.
Well I think Sally Thorne said this was kind of like fan fiction.
Oh yeah.
So like that.
And I know she was very big on being like this is not Frankenstein, this is not a retelling.
Like do not criticize this on the basis of this not being Frankenstein.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it was not.
No.
Does not sound like it.
It sounds like I'm probably just good having listened to your Spark Notes version because
that honestly, that was very compelling.
Yeah, you compelled me but I don't think the rest, like I don't think the monologues of
nature.
Five minute Frankenstein.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't think I need any more, but I enjoyed what I got.
But I do want more of Angelica Frankenstein and I will be so angry if people being upset
about a fun book makes it not happen because Sally is like I will write a second one if
people want it and like Sally I'm people I want it.
A second one what?
Of this, like she'd write it in the same world.
Oh.
Yeah, so it's like she's she was like open and willing but I don't know how the perception
was like critical besides Goodreads because Goodreads is flawed.
The Kindle rating was very high so that made me happy.
So I'm like maybe.
But I would love more in this world because Sally Thorne reading historical is just something
I didn't know would ever exist.
And it was so she's so weird.
It tracks so much like all of her books are just weird.
But this one obviously was the weirdest.
But like it's so her and I'm just like wow.
It makes a lot of sense because she has she has like a giant or I suppose miniature I
don't really know dollhouse and it's Blackthorne Manor which is the manor in the book.
That's how the book was started was from the the dollhouse that she had.
And then I think during COVID quarantine she was spending a lot of time with the dollhouse
and was like why don't I just write a really banging book about this dollhouse and I was
like yeah why don't you and she did.
I just also the narrator before we say anything about the actual plot I loved the narrator
I thought she was great.
Just a fantastic story.
The pacing was so weird but I was like for it nothing in that book did I anticipate.
Well that's true.
That's true and relatable.
Yeah.
I and then I was like sobbing when I first read it and it still makes me emo and I'm
just like I didn't anticipate that either.
It's like what?
Yeah it did make me tear up.
Yeah.
There's the one I think it's when Angelica is like okay we gotta let him go.
I was like who?
Yeah and it's I think it's like the found family a lot of times like gets me and like
she obviously had her original family but like I think like recognizing some of the
servants.
No but the original family pissed me off too much.
You didn't like them?
No no no here's the thing I can see like a certain level of Angelica being you know
kind of spoiled not always thinking about other people but she was never at no point
was I like yeah they're right like she's super spoiled and needs to get she just had to kind
of learn to like look at little be a little bit less selfish but she was never like.
No I agree.
No I enjoyed her transition from like yeah a little less selfish but yeah.
But I was like Mary what is going on here?
I mean Mary I think of anybody is the only one who really has room to talk because she's
stuck like looking buckets of water around but even so I was like okay a little harsh
a little like I always knew you were heartless that seems like a lot and then there's the
part where she's upset anyway and then she comes in and has found Lizzie replacing her
as Victor's assistant and is upset and she's like I gotta get out of here and Victor's
like oh she's just looking for attention like always I was like Victor the audacity completely
unfounded I don't know where you're getting this so that made me mad.
Because I think Victor is supposed to be like likable but also extremely unlikable.
Sure which like the OG Victor Frankenstein the worst.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah because I never like disliked him but I was definitely like on Angelica's side
throughout the book you know like I had fun with it like I enjoyed what his character
like did because other things happened but I was definitely on Angelica's side.
No I didn't dislike Victor.
He was the worst at times but he was funny so I was like okay.
Like any older brother yeah.
But it just the sheer amount of like the shit that Angelica got for not a lot I was like
why are we attacking this girl?
Because she really felt unlovable.
Poor girl.
But then.
He just needed somebody to be obsessed with her.
Well she made him.
He was very open to that.
She was so open.
There's a line, I wrote down a different quote from like every time I read this book now
there's gonna be something else that sticks with me.
Because he asks her at one point what is your ambition beyond spending money and pursuing
the goal of being adored.
And I was like oh my god I'm Angelica Frankenstein.
Like those are my ambitions.
Spending money and being adored.
Hi it's me.
The problem is me.
The other one that gets me is there's a part and this has stuck with me since the first
time it's still my favorite quote is she goes my problem.
No my crime in addition to body snatching is being lonely.
In addition to body snatching.
It takes me out.
That's the best quote I could give to explain the vibes of this book.
Honestly because she's so lonely.
And it's so sad.
And you're just like oh go create your own fated husband.
Go do that.
Go chop up some bodies and do that.
And she did.
Yeah I mean people were so angry that she gave him a different body than his.
And I was like sad for him.
I was like oh that kind of sucks for him.
But I was also like Frankenstein you put things together.
Right that's the point.
So nowhere was I like.
Pitchforks.
When she even addresses she's like she didn't want to.
I'm really sorry.
Well that but then later she's like I really wish that I had not done that.
So I thought it was funny and handled well.
Because she did get him a bigger penis which was hilarious I thought.
Sure.
The second largest.
The second largest because the first largest was just too much.
Too much.
Monster if you will.
I just read one of those crazy Halloween novellas.
You know those Halloween novellas.
That one he had truly a monster dick.
Because I was like oh that doesn't sound like a good time to me.
Was that the double one or was that not the double one?
It was seduced by the pumpkin king.
There was a part where she was standing and his it was like between her boobs.
What just happened in something else that I read?
Was she standing in that one too?
I did not read this seduced by the pumpkin king.
I don't know I just know it was so large.
It also has a slithering tongue similar to you know when we read where he's able to like
kind of lingus but while standing up.
Wow.
This isn't really anyway.
I mean Angelica would be down.
She'd be down for it.
Like that's probably true.
She'd do it.
I think she'd have a good time.
If she could like reanimate a pumpkin.
Odds are she would.
So you heard it here first.
I don't even know what kind of like like you're a furry but not you're like a seedy.
You're a viney.
I think we should move forward.
I think we should.
You're a spicy.
I realized that I introduced the topic but I think we should.
Depart.
Yeah.
We should move past that now because I hate that.
Nearly departed.
I'm sorry I did.
Name that movie.
That's probably too obscure.
Home Alone.
I think a lot about the scene where John Candy is telling her about how he left his kid at
a funeral home.
Which I'm pretty sure that whole scene is improvised.
It was.
Yeah.
And Catherine O'Hara is like.
Just staring at.
Something like you know let's move on and he's like I mean you brought it up and she
goes sorry I did.
What a good good movie and scene.
What else?
So yeah the whole I thought the appended shopping was fun.
That was fun to me.
And I know there were some things that they were like why would she be discussing this
with her brother and I was like I don't know.
Well because they what do you mean why?
Because they live alone.
Yeah like that's like incestuous I'm like well I've read enough incest this year.
Do not be bothered by that one.
The irony is that in the original Frankenstein Wester marries his cousin.
Oh his cousin.
I was like what?
I mean cousin but like.
Yeah.
And that was a question we've had before how how many like how close in the family tree
is a cousin like.
Yeah.
I just read some notes where they married their cousin I'm pretty sure.
Well the one that we read they weren't.
There was one that they were like very very distant cousins.
I think but I think their last names were the same and I was like that's.
That's a little too close for me.
Like if I know that you're related and have the last name rather than like two different
people with the same last name but they're not related.
These are situations I've never encountered in real life just musings.
Relatable.
I don't know maybe I was thinking of an unwilling bride where they're not actually related but.
But they were both like incest.
What else?
Yeah I mean.
I thought she did a good job of like Lizzie would tell her things about her brother and
she would be like stop talking to me right now.
Yeah I mean I I think most people like if they wanted to dip dipped within the first
like two chapters.
And so they really which again I'm not shaming DNF shaming you DNF whenever you want to DNF.
I wish I could more.
But I just think if they would have kept reading they maybe would have been like a little bit
enlightened a little bit closer to God or Satan.
Or Adam.
Making some grand statements here.
Monster statements.
I mean I do think if you if like this dial works for you and you start it you're like
oh this might be taking two lighthearted things that I don't love.
I think those things where it gets more serious as it progresses.
Like it does.
I think they're just kind of like oh silly haha we're gonna build a body out of other
body parts and reanimate it and that's it.
When in reality it's like yeah but then he's in like chronic terminal pain.
And you have the one who's like out in the woods and like the juxtaposition between those
two and him wanting to go back and find his old life and like all of these other.
And there's religion in there.
The religion is a really big thing.
Yeah you're right that's a good point.
Where it starts off like very flippant almost.
Flippant yeah.
And then it's because Angelica is like yeah well and Victor but it takes will.
Hey I am in constant pain and also dying.
And you did this to me.
You claimed to love me but you did this to me.
And I also apparently love you.
Like I feel like I love you but also I hurt and I'm angry at you.
Yeah it was again like just nothing was expected.
Like I just did not expect any of those conversations to go where they went.
And like the plot meanders quite a bit but in like an enjoyable like fulfilling way.
Like you like all these different things were discussed in like different moments because
then if you haven't read the book obviously there'll be spoilers.
But like there are two monsters created or not monster monsters.
But Victor's one he doesn't really pay much attention to like creating it.
He just wants like the biggest like parts and to make it very showy because he wants
to upstage this other scientist.
And then Angelica wants to like create a husband.
And this is their fourth attempt I think.
So like she was like the body of Will like spoke to her in her mind kind of like faded.
She was like do you want to come back to life?
He's like yes.
And so then she like had a connection there and then Victor was like but you got to like
stitch him back together.
Like because he was his body was undamaged.
So they could have just reanimated him that way.
But Victor was like we've committed this far.
Why don't we commit just a bit more by giving him some big muscles and a big was it um oh
no it wasn't the blacksmiths.
It was someone else.
No it came from a they had a collection.
Yeah.
Oh yeah they did have a.
It was the second largest in their collection.
It's just so funny.
Yeah so that happened.
So there were two and then they reanimated Victor's first and then he kind of just ran
off.
Most notably he had the hands of Angelica's corpse.
And so because they cut off his arms to make him more muscular.
And so there was a ring on that which ties in later to the plot.
So then he's running away.
Victor is chasing him and then Angelica kind of like fending for herself.
Like she still has to like animate hers.
And it was like lightning and they put him in placenta.
I mean I will say Sally like thought of the logistics and I was like honestly if you wish
hard enough it could maybe work.
I thought the fix at the end was very inventive.
That one I didn't see it cut like I was like how are we going to resolve this.
And I was like you know what like if that was possible.
Like if any of this was possible I could see that being the correct fix to this.
If we had stitched together and reanimated bodies.
And they were alive.
I could see how a blood transfusion would be.
Although we're not even are they even the same blood type?
I mean that is so they had their faded of course but then obviously there's the atom
who is also getting Victor's blood.
Maybe he's faded there too.
That's a great question that we don't need to ponder.
Father help.
So yeah so they basically have like the their little creations and then Angelica is like
big on like you are your own person.
Like you have a room but she's also like I want you to dick me down really badly because
I'm lonely and you're very attractive.
And your new penis really wants me.
That was funny I thought.
He's like this is not my penis.
And then it wasn't.
He's like but whoever it was was extremely attracted to you.
Yeah again like nothing I just didn't anticipate any of it.
It was so funny.
And then they just like because Elizabeth like shows up and she's engaged to Victor
and then they kind of like do their things.
There's just like a lot of conversations between Will.
You have the whole side triangle love triangle.
And then there's a love triangle.
Square.
Which had me scared at the beginning because I was like what I don't want to deal with
a love triangle.
But I ended up liking Christopher and was it Clara or something that he ends up with.
I thought that was cute.
Because yeah then they were like trying to investigate all the different like paths that
could have been because they didn't know who this guy was Will like in his past life.
And so they're trying to find like who he was like there were like a few hints and like
he had like a huge fascination with plants and then there was like a little bit religious
like he realized he was religious and there were a few other things.
And then they go to like this military academy where she meets the Christopher.
He's like the some guy there and then he's like yeah we just had some a like an accident.
Some guy died and then they go visit his widow and they think it's going to be Will like
his former like his widow but it wasn't.
And then that's how they meet those two and then they become part of the plot like they're
kind of like part of the family.
Like by the end she has a baby.
And then like you said like there's the Mary the maid who is like very old too old to be
doing what they're asking her.
But then Angelica is like why don't you just like stop working.
But she said it in a way that was like we're kicking you out rather than like you just
don't have to work but we'll still like provide for you.
And then that was the whole thing the first time I read it.
I don't know why I just like did not realize until Mary freaked out.
I was like why is she so like I mean I guess you could take it that way on the re-read
knowing that Mary was going to respond that way.
I was like oh you know what she was right.
It does sound like Angelica's like yeah you're too old you need to leave.
Because she because she never said like you can stay here like we will provide for you
and like you will have a home.
But it was just like you're just too old and like we got this new younger one like isn't
that nice.
Aren't you happy.
I also respect that Mary just eats herself out to the woods and stays there and is like
I will be here until she.
And is tormenting the monster.
She's tormenting Adam.
And Adam also like so funny to me because again Frankenstein's creature is known for
being like hilariously eloquent.
Because by the time he shows up he spent months reading like intense history books and Paradise
Lost.
So he shows up and gives these long eloquent speeches about how miserable and lonely he
is.
Whereas this creature doesn't have the benefit of going and like reading all these books
so he doesn't have that but also still managed.
I mean obviously we're not getting quite as far into the like human versus monster like
out.
Yeah all of that.
But he does kind of touch on the like why are you a gentleman why do you get to live
in the house whereas I'm.
Yeah like living out here with Grammy the granny.
I'm so happy that they also like brought him into the family too.
I was so sad for him.
I was like oh he's just so alone and his hands are too and he's being antagonized by grandma.
But then he loves her because he's the only family she's the only family he has and it
was emotional.
Yeah and then there was just.
I mean by the end you're like there are both months or like both creations are like experiencing
like they're very cold they don't eat their joint sees up they need massages they're not
functioning well.
And I think like will like passes out he has a whole he gets kind of like interrogated
by this.
Is he a priest.
Well our father would a priest recognizes him.
It was the priest right.
Yeah.
Yeah because then they go to the place to look if there's any records of him or whatever
and then the priest recognizes him.
The priest kind of like passes out or he like kind of goes a little bit bananas and then
will after that was like talking to that guy and he's like you have to stay here I know
that you're you were dead.
But then because the guy was selling bodies so he's not great either and he was like using
funds to like give himself all this luxurious like jewelry and marble and all of that.
So he's not great and then will kind of passes out which honestly we've learned that when
in doubt faint.
No full on will dies multiple times.
Yeah and then after that he dies.
He dies and she breathes his soul back into him and then he dies some more times.
That does happen.
And then they're like you've got to just let him go like if he comes back and she's like
but he's the love of my life.
Because at that point like they were just so cute.
Took baths.
Yeah I was like I don't know Sally how we're getting out of this.
I was like I don't I don't know what we're gonna do.
But then it turns out that Victor in the 11th hour comes in with a pig intestine and a dream.
And fashions of blood transfusion like needle.
Sometimes all you got is the pig intestine on a dream.
And then Sally's blood is now Will's blood.
And we found that Will's real name was Arlo and that he was the replacement to the priest.
That's why the priest knew him.
Arlo was not on my bingo board of names that he was gonna have.
And I was like forever he is Will to me.
Yeah I will say Arlo not a hot name.
Part of me was hoping that came from Frankenstein.
So I was like Sally what?
Arlo like there's not much saving that.
I would prefer to add him to Arlo.
Because he was also a little virgin.
He was a little virgin priest.
Which I guess makes sense if his name was Arlo.
I don't know what Arlo's are getting into.
It doesn't sound like many.
Because he's a priest.
I mean that too but I feel like it started with the name.
He was destined.
But yeah I mean there was a it's like a surprisingly a hot book for not a lot of detail.
Because like Sally Thorne I think does that really well.
I've read all of her books that she's published which I think is for right now.
She's coming out with a novella anthology soon with like Christina Lauren and stuff.
She has really perfected the kind of like vague sex scenes.
Where they're not vague.
You still know what's happening.
But they're not like crazily explicit.
I don't know they like the scene in the hating game.
It spanned like two chapters.
But it still wasn't very like concrete.
I don't know.
It was a really good scene.
Just side note.
I just love her writing.
But in this book they were a little kinky.
It was funny.
And he was like I was a good virginal boy.
I've never had my fingers inside a woman.
And I was like hot.
I was like okay cool.
Because I didn't know.
I didn't know.
Like I didn't I didn't know what to expect.
Because I was like I could definitely have seen her just doing this like closed door.
And like fully shutting the entire door.
Just sometimes authors transition genres or whatever.
And that kind of just scares me.
Like I don't know what's going to happen.
So I was pleasantly surprised by the love of detail we got.
And I thought it was funny that they alluded to 69 and a lot of other things.
I was like you go you little crazy kids.
You reanimated corpse.
I will say of like I'm as a Catholic will not be reading Priest.
Or the other like no shade to anybody who has or does or enjoys like go forth read what
you want.
Just me personally not a thing I'm interested in reading.
This one took an interesting like take on religion that I thought was handled very well.
It was definitely.
Not the way I was expecting just because Victor was so like we hate the church because they
told me to pray and my mom died instead of like getting a doctor.
But then to take that and have the religious character come in and be like I don't like
that he's forcing that on you though.
Yeah.
Like you should be able to make your own decisions about what you believe.
Yeah.
Because I mean even will slash Arlo but really will.
Like he just turned to the church because like he didn't really have anything else like
his parents.
Right.
Well but I like very cold.
Yeah.
Religious even though he remembered who he was.
It was very interesting person.
And it wasn't like oh I just had to become a priest.
But I actually hate religion and like yeah you're right.
It was like I entered the seminary at eight.
It was not something that I really wanted for myself.
But he does still pray and like believe in God and want.
Because I think his friend died.
Yeah and his friend had died young.
It has something to do with the plant like his love for plants or something.
Yeah I just I that was another term where I was like oh that's really fascinating how
you put him into this like very unreligious family.
Because to where Angelica was like scared to tell Victor that Will was religious and
or going to be a priest.
Yeah I just thought it was handled really well.
I really enjoyed it here.
I thought it was an interesting conversation and it really like I don't know sparked some
ideas and just thinking about things.
Thanks.
Just thinking about things.
Thanks yeah.
But yeah I just really hope she writes more.
I just hope that that happens.
Because I'd want to see it.
Because I get so emotional at the end.
But if it didn't have to end I'd be so happy.
Because then they have their little cottage and they have a little baby who does not look
like Will because he's got different genetics.
Little dark haired baby boy and like oh my god.
And then like the house was like a character.
Because the book starts with like the house being the narrator kind of with like this
kind of spirits of like their parents.
And then that's kind of how it ends too.
And for some reason that really got me.
I was like oh the house.
Yeah I don't know.
This book does it.
And again the narrator was so good.
It's a very good audiobook.
And I believe it's still on sale on Audible right now.
It may not be but I think it is.
Or a chirp or something.
I think the audiobook is on sale.
If you're listening to this and you're like wow I want to listen to the audiobook.
You can get it on sale.
So there's that.
I love a good audiobook sale.
But I mean I don't really have much else.
Nothing to add.
I do feel like it's one of those.
Like I don't know that I would recommend this to people who love Frankenstein unless they
are like I enjoyed Frankenstein from an academic perspective.
I don't know that it's necessarily one that I'm like oh I just want to like dive back
in and reread.
But like it was an interesting read.
I think if you're like I love Frankenstein but also don't take it too seriously.
It's giving you know like the Barbie movie ads where they were like if you love Barbie
this is for you.
If you hate Barbie this is for you.
That's the vibe.
Yeah you're right.
Because yeah you could hate Frankenstein and still have a good time.
Oh yeah because then at the end Mary's niece is Mary Shelley who then writes kind of a
recounting.
Well I think the idea is that she just needs inspiration.
She just writes her book and just writes that one.
Nature.
Honestly again I haven't read Frankenstein but Victor's character he seemed like if
he was transported into the world of Frankenstein would also love nature and just love being
dramatic in it.
Well he is dramatic.
Yeah.
That's true.
Yeah.
Well I think that was a success.
Just like this book.
I don't know.
My brain.
It is as of this episode October 13th.
And Halloween's on a Tuesday like we said last time.
So Halloween TBR and just spooky things.
We've got Gaywick next week and then something.
I just got the audiobook for Bewitching by Jill Barnett.
There's an audiobook?
Yeah it's audible only.
And I had apparently got a free copy of the ebook like a while ago and so I was able to
get the audiobook for 7.49 which was nice.
So we'll do that if it's fun.
Most of the reviews I've seen are good and the narrator sounded pretty good so I'm excited
for that.
And then after that we've got another old school school that I don't remember off the
top of my head.
But that gets us through October which is crazy.
I'm currently reading Cherish Reads first like paranormal horror thing.
And you're just making your way downtown through pumpkins, cursed pumpkins, lots of different
things.
I've only been on one cursed pumpkin so far this year although I have a couple others
up my sleeve.
She's got cursed pumpkins up her sleeve guys.
Got a binder full of cursed pumpkins.
Is Halloween your favorite season?
I mean I love Christmas, I do.
But I don't love Christmas romances particularly but I do love the paranormal spooky but not
scary like that vein of like if I'm gonna read seasonally I'm gonna read those whereas
I'm not, it's hard for me to find a Christmas romance that I really like.
I do agree.
I feel, cause you're not a huge Hallmark fan are you?
No.
Yeah and see I really enjoy Hallmark but that's because it's like a two hour max movie and
like it's a vibe.
But stretching that out for like eight hours sometimes is like huh?
Yeah it's a lot.
I mean I have read today as of recording October 11th and this month I finished my 19th book
today.
Dang.
Quite a few are novellas but spooky.
I know I've read a lot of novellas but they haven't really been spooky they've just been
plenty.
Well spooky or paranormal.
Some of them are just monster smut which isn't restricted to October but I don't really read
monster romance outside of that cause it's just not really my vibe but right now I'm
like yeah he's a snake demon alright.
Sounds spooky to me.
He's literally a little snake.
I'm a snake.
Yeah well we're gonna go continue reading our Halloween TBRs and we shall see you next
week.
Boy shall we.
I'm not ready for this jelly or this gay wig.
So yeah it'll be a time for sure.
Any parting words?
Yabady yabadoo.
You know?
That's it.
That's all I got in me.
That was a lot in you so I'm glad it's out.
It was really putting a lot of pressure.
I needed to be released.
Yeah it was like the weight of the world was on your shoulders.
Yes and now I'm finally free.
I'm always free guys so with that we're breaking free.
She's soaring.
She's flying.
There's not a star in heaven that she can't reach.
That's so real.
So true.