The only way I can describe this book is a cross between the Addams Family and Downton Abbey! I would have liked a bit more spice in the story as there seemed to be a lot of chemistry between the two main character. Overall, a fun story.

Meet Angelika, sister of Victor Frankenstein. The two siblings live together in Blackthorne Manor, a huge house owned by the Frankenstein family for generations, just outside Salisbury village. Orphans and with only the elderly grumpy maid for company, the two siblings are very close. By night, they visit the morgue to buy corpses that nobody has reclaimed and then they try to bring them back to life in their lab. For Victor, his experiments are all about science and beating his competitor, but Angelika is looking for love, for the man who will never leave her. Beautiful and wealthy, Angelika has no problem attracting men, but then they are discouraged once they get to know her.

Tired of being alone (and in need of sexual respite), Angelika decides it’s time to create her own man, so when she finds the perfect corpse at the morgue, she brings him back to her lab and back to life. Will, as she names him, has no memories of his past and, even though he is clearly attracted to Angelika, he is determined to discover the truth and Angelika promises to help him, even if it means giving up on him.

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is one of the funniest, weirdest, and most unexpected novels I have ever read. I LOVED IT! Angelika and Will are fantastic characters. She is smart, competent, and resourceful. Will is sweet, caring, and adorable. They are indeed a perfect match and their romance is both steamy and slow-burning.

I laughed so much at the easy and witty banters between the characters and I loved the sexy and spicy romance and the quirky and incredible characters, and the setting of Blackthorne Manor gave a gothic atmosphere that fit perfectly with the story.

I enjoyed Sally Thorne’s previous novels, but I must admit that this new one is my favorite. Even though I knew how it was going to end, there were many unexpected surprises that kept me on the edge until the end. Highly recommended!

I was unable to read the book due to issues with the formatting of the ebook. I am excited to purchase my own copy and be able to read a functioning copy

Angelika Frankenstein Makes her Match. That’s a pretty self explanatory title. She literally makes herself a boyfriend out of sewn together bits of dead bodies, a placenta bath and some well timed lighting. Sounds straight forward enough. And it is. Science happens somehow. Not one but two patch work men are brought back to life in the house of Frankenstein and one of them is super hot! But can one love a dead man, can a dead man with no memories love and how long will he stay undead?
This was a riot. It’s not complicated, don’t over think it, just enjoy the ride. It’s basically fanfiction in the age of COVID but it’s Sally Thorn so it’s funny. Its basically Bridgerton does Frankenstein. Bridgerton gothic. Leave authenticity at the door but have a jolly good time all the same.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this one and had to DNF at 20%
Something about it just wasn’t flowing right for me and some of the language felt a bit stilted

A totally mad but brilliant idea for a story. A perfect “Halloween season” read with a romantic twist. The creativity was brilliant and I really enjoyed reading something so different.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

BOOK REVIEW: Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by @sallythorneauthor

4.5 Stars

I was very excited to read this book and I knew from the first page that I would love it and I certainly did!

This story is rather crazy! It is obviously based on the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and it does a great job of using the novel as inspiration but also is perfect at being it's own independent story. It is rather whacky and inventive and filled with wit and personality. It is a highly addictive read and I could not put it down!
The characters are the stars of the show. Our lead female Angelika Frankenstein makes a wonderful protagonist. She is a clever woman who has views before her time but she can be a little shallow and often speaks before she thinks. Despite this she has a heart of gold and is desperate to love and be loved. I absolutely adore her character and loved her growth in this book. Her brother Victor is also a very quirky, interesting character who added a lot of humour and fun to the story. I won't go into the other characters as I don't want to give anything away, but they all play their roles brilliantly and add so much to the story.
There was an abundance of romance in this story and it was done so well. I loved the softer scenes as well as the sexier ones as well. Sally Thorne never fails on this aspect!
The writing was perfection! I felt swept away with this tale and constantly found myself grinning at the book whilst reading. It is a true joy to read!

If you fancy a romance that is highly quirky and wonderfully weird then read this! It is definitely one I will be reading again and again!

Please note that I was #gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

Quirky, bittersweet and utterly enchanting

Angelika Frankenstein is the sheltered younger sister of Victor. In this reimagining of the classic tale, our heroine, having run out of suitors willing to accept her modern ways, reanimates her ideal man (Will), alongside her brother, Victor's creation.

I'm generally not fond of historical romance, but with the wit and talent we've grown to expect from Sally Thorne, this was such an unexpected delight. It possibly won't be for everyone, but if you like your tales multi-layered, a little kooky, with strong female characters, and lots of humour, this one is for you. I guessed 'Will's' origin almost immediately, but that in no way stopped me from enjoying this story immensely. I found his and Angelika's chemistry both palpable and incredibly moving. Chapter 33 wrecked me, as did the final chapter. I really appreciated Angelika's development from a spoilt, selfish heiress to the charitable and caring woman she becomes.

Mary, Clara, Lizzie, Christopher, and of course, Victor and his creation added so much depth to this often bittersweet love story. And, of course, Belladonna, the enamoured pig.

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match addresses the ethics of reanimation, as well as themes such as wealth, class, faith, duty, and feminism. Thought-provoking, whimsical, at times irreverent, but above all else heartbreakingly beautiful. An absolute triumph.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥
Emotional Rating: 🤦🏻‍♀️😬🙈😂🥰😢💔🥰

I love Sally Thorne therefore was SO excited to read this. And let me tell you this is the weirdest historical romance I have ever read but NOT IN A BAD WAY.


Angelika Frankenstein wants a husband, but she's a little weird so many men shy away from her. She decides to take a page out of Victors book and build herself the perfect man, she is successful and when her perfect man comes to life she quickly falls for him but unfortunately he does not fully feel the same way as he needs to find out who he was first before committing to Angelika.

Overall I really enjoyed the weirdness of it all, I wasn't a huge fan of the love triangle (but when am I ever) it is also very instalovely but I guess that makes sense since she kinda built her perfect man. I don't know how this managed to end up being a quirky romance book but it did and I was pleasantly surprised.

It is funny and has some phenomenal quotes which Sally Thorne is GREAT AT. Victor, the older brother is a great character and I absolutely love when side characters are developed and truly add to the story. I loved the weird pig side story line (you're gonna have to read it I'm not spoiling it) it really made me chuckle at the ridiculousness of it. I liked the aspects of mystery where Will was figuring out who he was in his past life, that was a nice sub plot. Overall it was such a unique book I have to appreciate it.

The romance isn't my favourite ever but it didn't bother me all that much, it is still present and explored but honestly I just loved going on the ride of everything that was happening and I didn't find like I was missing the romance at all ( don't get me wrong Angelika finding her match is of course the main plot but the book is so weird and quirky you kinda end up being even more interested in the peculiarness of it)

Overall a great way to lightly kick off the spooky season so thank you Netgallery, Avon and Harper Voyager with the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with an addition of a sister for Victor; Angelika. Who is our MC. The story begins with the siblings looking for cadavers for them each to bring to life for different reasons. Victor for scientific achievement and Angelika for a romantic love interest. As you can imagine, nothing goes quite as planned.

I enjoyed how weird this book was. All of the characters were well written and rounded for me. I loved how quirky and individual everyone felt. I also loved the writing and the whimsy of it.

The story however just didn’t really take off at any point in my opinion. The plot was wobbly and just kind of reads like a series of events. I wanted more of a romance between Will and Angelika. But it just felt like Will was just out here trying to make Angelika a better person as opposed to loving her for who she was anyway. He also felt very hot and cold for a love interest. There also wasn’t enough smut for me, sorry!

This would definitely be great for Halloween or if you just really love Frankenstein, this is a really fun take. But unfortunately not for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review.

Angelika is convinced she is unlovable by normal men, and so builds her own, with the help of her brother, Victor Frankenstein.

I found Sally Thorne's writing style and turn of phrase charming, but the narrative was occasionally uncomfortable. There's a confusing blend of things that work - the characters, the dialogue, the style - and things that didn't work quite so well for me - character's motivations, elements of the plot, the tone. It's more of a comedy horror than a romcom!

I spent the first third of this book wondering what on earth I was reading. Then I got sucked in and no longer cared how weird it was. Brilliantly nuts.

"Are you ever afraid that they cannot survive the things we have done to them in the name of science, and love?" [loc. 2494]
Angelika Frankenstein is quite as brilliant as her more famous brother Victor, but he's engaged to be married, while Angelika's suitors are generally discouraged by her intelligence, or perhaps by her habit of quizzing them from a prepared list of questions. At 24, she's almost given up on the notion of meeting a man she can love, so she takes matters into her own hands. Literally. 'Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match' opens -- after a prologue from the viewpoint of the neglected family seat, Blackthorne Manor -- in the local morgue, where Victor and Angelika are selecting body parts for the men they wish to make. Victor's aim is scientific one-upmanship, but he jokes (rather creepily) with his sister about penis sizes, and demands for his own creation the hands of the handsome cadaver she's selected. Back to the laboratory they go; it is a dark and stormy night; their experiments are successful; Victor's resurrectee takes one look at Angelika and flees screaming into the night; and Angelika's creation ... well, at least one part of him is attracted to her, as evidenced by his instant erection.

Angelika tends her new companion, and attempts to unravel the secrets of his past: he has no recollection of anything before waking in the laboratory to see Angelika leaning over him. He seems, at heart, a gentleman, but he insists that he doesn't and can't love her. Angelika names him Will, because of his strength of character and stoicism in the face of constant pain. She is guiltily aware that the hands once belonging to this body are attached to her brother's nameless creation, who's terrorising the neighbourhood. Angelika's investigations into Will’s past lead her to the local Military Academy, site of a recent tragedy: there she meets handsome and charming Commander Keatings, who makes no secret of his romantic interest in her. Yet it's Will who stars in her fantasies ...

If I'd read this novel with rose-tinted glasses, I'd have liked it a lot more. It's written in a light-hearted and humorous style, and the characters are, at heart, kind, pleasant and well-meaning -- though Angelika in particular is oblivious to the oppression that surrounds and supports her privileged life. But, but, this is a novel about issues of consent: about a man being resurrected to suffer agonising pain, unwanted desire (Angelika's chosen 'second-largest' penis being incompatible with Will's brain and having a will, haha, of its own), dismissal of his religious faith, and the expectation that sooner or later he will succumb to the charms of the woman who's forced all this on him, and who continues to lie to him in the name of 'love'. This to me is a scenario of horror, not of humour.

With my rose-tinted spectacles on, there’s plenty to admire here. Angelika is an intriguing heroine, intelligent and self-aware and in charge of her own sexuality, and confident enough not to care what the villagers think of her wearing trousers: she's sheltered and privileged, but does strive to be better when she realises the extent of the deprivation in the local community. Her friendship with Lizzie is charmingly intimate, and Lizzie herself -- a playwright, of Russian and Spanish heritage -- is a fascinating character. (I'd love to read the story of how she and Victor met and fell in love.) Victor, while not as arrogant as his literary inspiration, is somewhat misogynistic, and he's only too ready to 'promote' Lizzie to Angelika's role of lab assistant without any consultation. His creation, eventually named Adam, turns out to be quite a nice fellow, and there is an amiable pig named Belladonna.

But I'm still disturbed by Will's torment, and by Angelika's overweening selfishness in playing Pygmalion and assembling a sentient being, to her own specification and for her own use, from assorted spare parts.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date (15 SEP 2022). Thanks, too, to the anon reviewer who used the term 'dick'n'mix'.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Beautiful, witty, crazy and charming

I absolutely adore this book. It is pure gold. it’s everything I hoped for and so much more. Already ordered the physical copy and can’t wait to read it again. 10/10 would recommend

Thank you

I wanted to like this, but I couldn't get into it at all. One of the early scenes when Jelly and her brother are in the morgue and picking out 'ideal' men was a bit...much for me.

This book is weird! Not weird in a bad way just different. I have always been looking for a new spin on a romance story and my goodness I have definitely gotten that with this one!

Angelika wants a man and since she can't find a suitable one she decides to create her own using spare parts! This is such a fun and enjoyable story. I do have a bit of trouble getting my head around some aspects of the plot but I didn't find it took away from the overall story.

Highly recommend!

Oh, how I needed this book. The Frankenstein story, humour and a romance that you can’t help but become entranced by…all add up to a fantastic read.
Our focus is Victor and Angelika Frankenstein, orphaned at an early age, but determined to pursue their scientific endeavours. Thorne borrows heavily from the Frankenstein story, but with the addition of Angelika and a cast of characters (including Belladonna the love struck pig) this becomes - dare I say it - the story that Shelley might have told if she were writing much later.
Angelika is twenty four, passionate and unorthodox. She wants a husband, but those around her think she’s strange. So, instead of reconciling herself to a life of spinsterdom under the care of her brother, she helps him in his experiments…and makes herself her ideal man.
Fourth time lucky, Angelika and Victor manage to resurrect their experiments. Unfortunately, Victor’s creation runs away and a goodly part of the book focuses on trying to get him to return to their care. Angelika, however, is shown to be just as capable and her experiment survives, stays with her and is cared for.
Will, as he is named, enters into an unorthodox relationship for the times, but the spark between them all was wonderful. There were so many moments between these two that I couldn’t pick a favourite. Even the love triangle served to strengthen their bond. There were worries as Angelika and Will try to uncover the truth of his previous identity, but even this encouraged deeper thought about the role we play in our community and how religion serves us.
I’d started recommending this before I’d finished, and now that I have I shall be even louder in my praise. Huge thanks to the author for this, and to NetGalley for granting me access prior to publication.

This book was fantastically bonkers from start to finish and I loved every second of it.

Angelika is Victor Frankenstein's forgotten sister/assistant and if you had open access to a morgue and a difficult love life, what else would you do BUT build your perfect man and bring him back to life? That's exactly what Angelika does, and it brings forth a lot of development for her as a character as well as general excitement in her life.

The cast of side characters was great, and Sally Thorne's characterisations were amazing as always - I could easily picture everyone in my head and I knew who they were. I'm usually not a fan of instalove , but Sally makes this work in such an original way in this book - the hero is literally a corpse when Angelika "meets" him and decides he's The One, and for once in a historical I could buy the idea that the beautiful heroine was a spinster with failures at love behind her as she is fairly obnoxious at the start of the story and grows throughout the story.

There are constant twists and turns throughout - without giving too much of the story away, I was on the edge of my seat throughout wanting to know how it would end!

I'm not really sure what I just read. Angelika Frankenstein (sister of THAT Doctor Frankenstein) is using her brother's scientific advancement to make herself a physically perfect man that she can then resurrect and marry. What ensues is a madcap race to find answers by several weirdly over the top characters. I think they are supposed to be funny, but they really just come across as trying too hard, and it made the whole book uncomfortable and difficult to get through!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

So.…I mean. I guess let me just start this by saying that I have nothing but admiration for authors who are willing to take risks. And, well, the extravagant weirdness of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match seems like it might be a risk? For me personally though, it was maybe more weird that it was … um. Successful? But please let me emphasise that your mileage is very likely to vary here: as a purveyor of extravagant weirdness myself, I think it’s the sort of thing that can speak very deeply to you if it’s your kind of extravagant weirdness. The fact that AFMEM was not *my* kind of extravagant weirdness is as much about me as it is about the book.

Okay. How to begin. Mild spoilers. More significant ones later, but I’ll flag them up so you can exit the vehicle if you need to.

Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the basic premise of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is that Angelika and her brother Victor Frankenstein are a pair of wealthy, hyper privileged Regency orphans. As one might expect, he’s obsessed with Science!, most particularly the Science! of re-animating the dead, though mostly to spite his never-on-page rival. She just … wants to get laid. Despite her beauty and wealth, Angelika’s intelligence and independence have alienated her every suitor, so she and her brother have hit on the solution of making her one.

So far this is, y’know, a tale as old as time. I mean who hasn’t wanted to build themselves a bf at some point. Of course, it’s an inherently problematic premise because it’s hard for it to be anything other than objectifying but I think where I ran aground, almost immediately, with AFMEM is that it leans super heavily into the objectifying angle? To the extent that its objectifying in ways it, um, kind of doesn’t have to be objectifying—in that sense that this version of Victor can already successfully reanimate the dead, but he specifically wants to reanimate someone composed of sewn-together parts to one-up his rival. All of which again, I think, could probably have been navigated. But then the book kicks off with what is an honestly uncomfortable obsession with, like, the penises of the deceased?

As in, Angelika finds a dead bloke she thinks is hot stuff but then, encouraged by her brother, she decides she’d like him even more if he had bigger muscles and a bigger dick. And I think this is meant to be … maybe … comedic? And probably it is comedic and I’m having a sense of humour fail. I don’t want to play the gender reversal card because, obviously, nothing is that simple, and men and women exist in very different contexts: but I do kind of feel we’ve reached a point culturally that we accept that Pygmalion impulses (especially if they involve fixating on chopping and changing female body parts around to meet specific cultural ideals, like boob size and leg length) are not okay. And I know there is a school of thought that derives empowerment from taking a form of oppression that generally belongs to those in power and applying directly TO those in power, but I have to say I find that very complicated. I mean, I don’t want to deprive straight people of their rights, I just want the same rights. I don’t want straight kids to feel scared at school, I just want queer kids NOT to feel scared at school, y’know? But, again, that’s my perspective: I’m sure, to some women, objectifying men right back is important. And that may well be the case for you and the, uh, whole dick ‘n’ mix situation.

Although I will add that, whatever your position on playing pass the genitals, the fact that Angelika’s brother has strong opinions on how dick size relates to his sister’s happiness might give you the ick regardless. He actually makes several gross comments about Angelika’s sex life over the course of the book but, while he is deservedly called out for treating Angelika like a replica of himself, in terms of how she thinks and feels, his “way too interested in sister’s vagina” behaviour is just left to slide. Which made me feel this was meant to read as “oh Victor, you so wacky” rather than “oh Victor, fuck off out of your sister’s business.”

Anyway, once the body parts have been settled, Angelika and Victor proceed to remix two men from their assorted bits: Victor’s huge lumbering, more traditional Frankenstein’s monster type creation, immediately runs away screaming in horrible anguish and Angelika’s Now With Improved Penis model, also in terrible pain, and confusion, remembering nothing of who he is and finding himself in an unfamiliar body, ultimately allows himself to be bathed and soothed by Angelika. Who has immediately decided he is the love of her life—and actively disappointed that this man who has literally woken up in an unfamiliar body with no memory and a cock he can’t control doesn’t immediately want to make sweet, sweet love to her.

To be fair, as the book progresses both Victor and Angelika are, a little bit, forced to reckon their privilege. They admit to each other that they’re terrible people who’ve done terrible things, and Angelika explicitly tells the man she made that it was wrong of her to blend him like a Spotify playlist. But I never quite believed in either their understanding or their remorse, not least because I don’t think the book itself ever really grappled with either the fact its heroine is Warren from Buffy or the fact that the hero (Will) is living in some kind of perma bodyhorror situation because it’s too busy making jokes about his penis.

Seriously, there’s about eight distinct references to it between the moment he wakes up reanimated at the 6% mark and the moment he goes to sleep at 11%. This includes a servant woman commenting on its erect state. And part of the deal here is that Will’s penis desires Angelika and keeps getting erect around her which, I think, is maybe meant to be cute somehow? But imagine waking up in physical pain, with no memory, with your head sewn onto a body that is composed of bits of strangers, and you don’t even have agency over your own desires.

I, honestly, can’t imagine much more horrifying. Like, to me, that is a Black Mirror episode, not a … not a romcom?

From here the story sort of spirals out in multiple directions: Victor is still chasing down his subject, his wife (who does not get horribly killed by a monster) moves in with them, Angelika is being pursued by Another Man while trying to find out Will’s past for him and navigate her relationship with Will. It feels simultaneously like a lot and not very much at the same time, and the whole book—in the end—had a disjoined quality for me (a veritable Frankenstein’s creation in fact) as it spun from this body-horror-esque, phallocentric romcom to … um. Everyone praying to God? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for faith to play a role in romance outside of the whole inspirational romance thing, and I’m sure you could write a faith-centric romance about sewing dead men together, but it was just the last thing I was expecting. It felt like the end of a Shakespeare play where, like, everything is complete carnage and then the highest-ranking character comes on stage, be it the Duke or the King (or the next King) and is like AND NOW ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED EVERYBODY BUY AN ORANGE AND GO HOME. Only. With God?

On top of which, the trajectory of Will and Angelika’s relationship felt almost completely random to me. Like he’s saying things like this to her:

“I permit you to sleep next to me, but I should warn you . . .” He trailed off, lost the thought, and his eyes closed. Then they opened again, with a startling intensity in them. “I’ll tell you now, before I forget. You’ve seen all of me. I want to know your body in return. I’d touch you everywhere. I want to pick you up, to feel your weight. I want to test my body.”

about half an hour after he’s told her he hates her (probably fairly?) for the fact she’s sewn him together from bits of other men. I love relationship arcs that start from unprepossessing beginnings (and you can’t get more unprepossessing than ‘I chopped your dick off because I wanted a bigger one to play with’) but I never understood what was drawing them from moment to moment: the point that Will decided that his body’s desire was his personal choice too, when he decided that he didn’t, in fact, hate Angelika, what made him see the value in her when all she’d done was lie to him and hurt him, what it was specifically that overcame what was holding him back (no spoilers) from accepting her love initially. Mostly he just did a lot of gardening.

Meanwhile Angelika’s thoughts are going like:

“The pain is hard to bear. Imagine a wooden stake,” he said, touching a finger to her shoulder joint, “pressed deep here, and here”— he touched her elbow—“ here, here, here”— wrist and two knuckles. “I feel every bend and every joint. Every movement is an agony, and I’m very cold.”

She ignored the pleasure she took from his fingertip. “Would you like more laudanum?”

Girl, this man is telling you he’s in terrible pain and you’re mainly focused on how much you want him to touch you. And, listen, I am not here for condemning heroines in romance—I love me an unsympathetic heroine or a heroine with a significant maturation arc—but I think maybe “my actions are causing a man to live in emotional and physical torment, but ooh he gives me tingles” might be a line in the sand for me? To be honest, I’m coming to the conclusion that Angelika’s personal arc suffered in much the same way as the Will/Angelika arc suffered: she decides she wants to be a better person because Will urges her to (okay, good) but I never felt I got to see her grow and change in meaningful and consistent way. Although, actually, let me make extra extra clear that I didn’t have issues with Angelika because she was horny or selfish or made some bad choices. It was more the way I never felt she was truly held accountable for the worst of her actions, either by herself or by anyone else.

Urgh, this all sounds like a lot of negativity. I think it’s fair to say that this book didn’t work for me but, equally fair, to note that the ways it didn’t work for me are probably quite personal and it will probably work for others. Probably the book lost me somewhere around the point it had turned into an episode of Trading Places for penises but I kept going on the assumption the book would take me somewhere I wanted to go. But. It ended up not doing that.

Obviously, it’s ST, so the book is really well-written, there’s some wonderful moments of sexiness, banter and pathos, and I felt she adapted her voice super successfully to an irreverent histrom style. Will is certainly a devoted romance hero (to the extent he’s telling a woman he’s in awe of everything she is a day or two after she’s regrafted his penis) so he might hit the spot for people who particularly enjoy those kind of dynamics between protagonists. Angelika, too, has a lot going for her as a heroine who feels genuinely alienated and love-needy, while also being smart as fuck, honest about her sexual desires, and determined to get what she wants. It’s just … did she really need to chop someone’s dick off to get there?