I loved Waldherr's THE LOST HISTORY OF DREAMS so I was super excited to get this arc. I really enjoyed it! It didn't quite hold my attention like DREAMS did, but I still really enjoyed the story of the women behind FRANKENSTEIN. Waldherr is a talented writer and storyteller and always brings great depth to her work.

A stirring feminist take on the classic Frankenstein tale, with elegant prose, a dark gripping narrative, and characters you won't soon forget, including the mother and bride of scientist Victor Frankenstein. Prepare to be awed and shocked by this story perfect for the Halloween season.

Waldherr’s Unnatural Creatures tells the story of three women in Victor Frankenstein’s life in this compelling and thoroughly enjoyable work of historical fiction. Caroline, Victor’s mother, will do absolutely anything to protect her family. Elizabeth, a rescued orphan brought into the Frankenstein household at the tender age of 4 feels the only way she can repay their kindness is to wed Victor. Justine, a young girl with an abusive childhood, is devoted to Caroline. When tragedy changes her life irrevocably, her fate sets her against Victor’s monster.

Unnatural Creatures is beautifully written, meticulously researched and you can really see how the author ensured a true connection to the original story by Shelley. This book is the perfect companion book to Shelley’s Frankenstein with three perfectly written female protagonists who bring the story of Victor Frankenstein to life for a new generation of readers.

Full of heart-wrenching moments along with plenty of shocking episodes, this story is powerful in its depiction of the strength of women to endure and to protect those they love.

This is one of my favourite reads of 2022 and Waldherr has brought about a beautifully gothic, atmospheric story which will resonate with the reader long after they have finished the book. A stunning masterpiece! And let’s take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this cover!

Unnatural Creatures is out now. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc.

Semi-spoiler alert!
For the most part this book follows the story and events of Frankenstein very closely - a little artistic license here and there but not really enough to change the events of the original work. Until the end... which kind of threw me. I liked this ending, but considering how faithful the rest of the book had been until that point, it was a bit of a surprise. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it.
However - since the one-dimensional feeling of the women in Shelley's original work was my least favourite aspect of the book, it was fantastic to really flesh them out and make them feel like real characters.

Unnatural Creatures: A Novel of the Frankenstein Women by Kris Waldherr

368 Pages
Publisher: Muse Publications LLC
Release Date: October 4, 2022

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Horror

Caroline Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Justine Moritz are the three women in this story. Caroline is the mother of Victor Frankenstein. She is a lovely woman and wants nothing more than to have children. She sees Elizabeth as a young child begging in the streets and adopts her. She raises Elizabeth with the hopes that she will one day marry Victor.

One early morning, Elizabeth was missing from the house. A search begins and she is found curled around something under an oak tree. The something turned out to be a young girl with silver hair and eyes. At first, they believed she was severely injured but found she was a hunchback. Caroline insists on bringing the girl, Justine, back to the house and caring for her. She is infested with lice and her hair is matted. Justine’s father was the gravedigger and is recently deceased. Her mother approaches the family and is given money for Justine to live and work at the Frankenstein’s’ home.

This book is a masterpiece. It is written in the style of the classics. It is written from three different perspectives in the third person point of view. If you like classical fiction or books similar to the original Frankenstein, you will love this story.

A truly wonderful book, the Frankenstein women telling they're side of the story.

It had all the right elements: gothic, loneliness, civil unrest, lost loves, heart-wrenching, shocking moments and adds to the original.

The dark nights are coming in, buy this book and get cozy under a blanket.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

LOVED LOVED LOVED!!! Perfect for the season, and I loved the focus on the women of the Frankenstein world. I never read the original, but I enjoyed this version anyway. Recommended for spooky reads and strong women!

Unnatural Creatures was a beautifully if not horrific tale woven through the stories of the Frankenstein women and I honestly loved how the author told this story through 3 different points of view. This book was gut wrenching at times but worth the read! This is an awesome spooky season read and a different take on the Frankenstein story readers will love.

Be prepared for my swooning and possibly ‘Cooing’ words in this review.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you how exquisite and beautifully written Author, Kris Waldherr’s Unnatural Creatures is.

For lovers of the Frankenstein novel or anyone who always wanted to meet the three women who orbit Victor Frankenstein’s world: his mother, Caroline Frankenstein who fights to protect him from his inner demons. Victor’s bride, Elizabeth Lavenza who repays the family by accepting Victor’s marriage proposal. What happens when she loves someone else? Lastly, the maid, Justine Moritz is rescued by Victor‘s mom from an abusive family. Fate sets Justine on a course against the Frankenstein’s.

UNNATURAL CREATURES is a book that will stick with me. It is such a thoughtful representation of the female side of Frankenstein, which adds so much depth to the original story. Maybe it's just my professor side talking, but it would be really fascinating to have a classroom read the original and UNNATURAL CREATURES side-by-side and do a comparison discussion! Well-written and compelling.

Fascinating and compelling story of the three women closest to Victor Frankenstein -- a dark reimagining of Frankenstein myth will join the cannon of books that relook at classics.

A reimagining story of Frankenstein. The story tells the tale of three women, the Servant, Mother and the Bride. The is a great retelling of a classic story. The author does a wonderful job with this story, bringing these characters to life. A well written gothic story.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Muse Publications LLC for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved this book! I was so excited when I saw the cover and title. The story was beautifully done and hearing the different point of views kept me hooked. I am happy to have found another favorite author. Thank you Net Galley for this ARC.

I loved this book! It is a most unusual story about Frankenstein's monster by explaining many of the gaps in the original Mary Shelly's masterpiece of horror. And to this author's credit, she adds more horror as those gaps began to be filled in with the back stories of each. What a total delight!

Unnatural Creatures is the lyrical and atmospheric spin on the classic tale of Frankenstein. Focused on the women that surrounded the budding scientist and their relationships with him and his unfortunate creation, the story is beautiful, heart warming, heartbreaking, and emotional. I identified most with Elizabeth and her sense of loyalty and feelings of obligation and the need to repay the family who took her in and saved her. All of these women saw the red flags that Victor showed, but failed to respond accordingly. Therefore, they ended up at odds with his unfortunate creation. I was especially moved by the author's dedication, setting me up to enjoy this book from the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Muse Publications LLC for providing me with a digital copy for review. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the author or publisher.

This is the book that I never knew I needed but that I waited for my whole life. It was so well written with characters that were really well developed and an absolutely riveting stoeyline. The book is full of rich imagery and vivid descriptions. I loved it.

I adore the writing style in this story. Its written so beautiful. Almost poetic. But unfortunately I couldn't get into the story. I don't know if it was just wrong timing. But I kept starting this book then ignoring it.
I loved the idea of what this was about. I sadly had to give up on it.

I'm a fan of Frankenstein and was very excited for this one, as I love books told from the women's POV, but i couldn't get into this one.

If you love gothic fiction and don't mind the slower pace, you'll probably enjoy this one. The writing is great but I just couldn't fully immerse myself in the story as the pace was too slow.

With Halloween just around the corner this book is definitely for the spooky season. Atmospheric, gothic and creepy. I was completely immersed in this tale. I loved how the author tells the story from the perspective of the Frankenstein women. A different take on the classic Mary Shelley. Beautifully written and thanks to his writing I was immediately transported back in time and became an innocent bystander witnessing first hand what was unfolding. A new classic and highly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

When Elizabeth’s chapter (Vol2) begins, her guilt at having perhaps contributed to Caroline’s death becomes rather over-repeated.
I did not like how the monster warns Elizabeth that he will visit her on her wedding night- or Elizabeth’s reaction to that.
Not sure how I felt about the end, but as the book is an ode to Mary Shelley, I appreciated the creative twist.