Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

31 reviews

megbert21's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Sexual violence

aksmith92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Setup: Our Hideous Progeny is a unique blend of gothic fiction, feminist themes, and mad science, creating a darkly atmospheric reimagining. The novel delves into the exploration of ambition, obsession, and the consequences of scientific pursuit. The protagonist, Mary, is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. Along with her husband, Henry, Mary discovers remnants of her great-uncle's forbidden research. Desperate to establish themselves in the scientific world and escape financial strain, they continue Victor's controversial work of creating life from dead matter.

The novel not only delves into the technical aspects of their scientific endeavor but also raises thought-provoking moral and ethical questions. Mary's character is driven by a complex mix of ambition and defiance, challenging her time's patriarchal and imperialistic limitations. Her relationships—both with Henry and other characters like Maise, Henry's sister who becomes her confidante and ally—reflect themes of power, gender, and betrayal. The strong character development in the novel will make you feel connected and invested in the characters.

What I Liked: This was a great ride. I loved the prose, the plot, and, of course, Mary, who C.E. McGill depicted as a flawed and unique character who was also someone you wanted to root for. There were pieces of actual scientific historical context in this novel, but it wasn't like you needed to know it in depth to get it, but it was a lovely touch. Mary was brilliant, and I had such a great time reading about her researching things, figuring out the scientific community, and her beautiful relationship with Maise. I also completely loved her throwing wine in the face of someone ANNOYING [read to find out]. Overall, this was a fantastic book. Exploring Mary's relationship with the Creature was also done phenomenally well.

What Could Have Been Better: This book was slightly slow at the end of the day. I put "medium" for the pace because I think it evened out by the end; however, the beginning, even up to the first half, was a tell, not show, building the scientific piece of the story. I didn't mind it, but you might. Additionally, as much as I enjoyed Mary, she made some more questionable decisions near the middle/two-thirds of the way through. I get what she was doing, but as a reader, you just knew it was a bad idea. 

However, I loved it! It was a great take on a popular book (that I still haven't read), and I think the feminist and non-heterosexual elements were a nice touch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Medical content, Death of parent, and Classism

heather_harrison's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

✔️ Frankenstein retelling but make it Frankenstein’s great niece, and her paleontologist husband. 
✔️ Gorgeous gothic vibe 
✔️ Even more feminist than Shelley with a spotlight on misogyny 
✔️ Queer slow burn romance 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

thewolfishgal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Death, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I find it fascinating that based on this book and its category, the thing that makes the original Frankenstein horror is that it's human. Cutting up and rebuilding animals doesn't hit that same squirm factor, I suppose (not to mention the death count is about 1/6). These characters hit on a lot of topics that build the overlapping challenges they face: chronic illness and not being believed, being a poor woman or a person of color in a field completely run by rich white men. Not to mention the passages about how when a woman is passionate about anything, it is perceived as replacing or biding time until they achieve what they should be passionate about: children. Overall a fantastic read, I love comparing Mary to her great-uncle as well as his creature, a lot of us have that experience growing up as the monster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

meagan_young's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

hihicass's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Gore, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mothmania's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

hiddenfallacies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Our Hideous Progeny is a delight of a novel, bathed in the essence of Victorian-era science and all the opportunities it held - if you were the right person. It follows Mary Frankenstein, great-niece of that Frankenstein, as she struggles to realize her place and purpose in the world. Her anger and sorrowful past leads her to an idea - one that most would find absurd: bringing a dinosaur to life.

From its real-world details (that had me pausing in my reading to look up the historical context) to its richly expressed environments, I found myself lost in this story quite easily. The narrative often made me feel as if I was experiencing the world alongside Mary, sharing her sorrows and triumphs and everything in-between. Perhaps that was one of my favorite things about this novel - all of the characters felt real. 

The only thing preventing this from being a five-star read is that I felt the story ended right as it was truly beginning for Mary! I would love to see the follow-up the author joked about in their note at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Vomit, and Colonisation

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation