Our Hideous Progeny: A thrilling Gothic Adventure

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Our Hideous Progeny takes inspiration from Mary Shelley’s masterpiece along with the Victorian fascination with scientific innovation and the prehistoric world. This wonderful debut evolves into a gripping Gothic tale of grief and ambition, passion and intrigue.”— Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship Mary wants to be known for her scientific mind, but as a woman in the 1850s, this is going to be so much more difficult than it would be for a man. She works alongside her geologist husband, Henry, but without money or connections, their options are limited. A very tightly-written creative spin off of the tale of Frankenstein that beautifully captures the themes in the original, while adding more that will delight readers of historical fiction. Without a doubt, this is one of my favourite reads of the year. FANTASYBOOKCRITIC.COM

The tide begins to change, however, when Mary finds old documents belonging to her Uncle Victor. After reading them, she decides to follow in his footsteps, thereby devising a plan to create life. She and Henry, in time, construct a patchwork creature, made from pieces and parts of deceased animals; a creature that will ultimately drive the couple apart due to Mary’s love for it and Henry’s desire to exploit it. I have three words for you: queer, feminist, Frankenstein. Let that sink in for a minute and then go run to grab a copy of this one. This is a multi genre book and manages to pull them off seamlessly. The author does a superb job of portraying the blood boiling way in which women were treated in 1850, especially while trying to work in a field that is dominated by men.

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Our Hideous Progeny also so desperately tried to be feminist and anti-racism that at some point, I stopped seriously taking it as such. Sure, it critiqued the classism and elitism of academia, but there are only so many "oh-this-is-so-unfair-I-don't-understand-why-it-can't-be-changed-and-made-fair" you can shove down my throat before I start feeling as if I'm treated like an idiot. "Subtlety" is something this book would truly benefit from. All five of the Court of Thorns and Roses hardcovers with the new series look in a luxe box set perfect for the holiday season.

Sarah J. Maas's sexy, richly imagined series continues with the journey of Feyre's fiery sister, Nesta.Plot: As someone who really wanted to like Frankenstein but just couldn’t get into the writing style, I appreciated the way the plot both took inspiration from the source material while adding a commentary all its own! Having the central story revolve around the great niece* of Frankenstein was so interesting, and a huge strength of this book. This book is filled with science - which may sound boring, at first mention, but proves itself to be anything but. Long words and terms may sometimes go over my head, but the passion and intelligence of Mary, a woman who yearns for far more than she is able to have as a woman in Victorian society, is infectious. Since she was a child, she found herself fascinated with geology, paleontology and fossils. Professors and scholars and scientific societies are abound in this tale, with the discovery and vast interest in dinosaurs at the centre of it all.