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A review by seilahuh
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i'll keep it short. i loved this book. but i'm at the point of seeing how easily reviews can warp a book. like it's different coming at it with a familiarity with other high rated popular "romances", which rely upon the fmc being this weak, fawning, ultimately coerced object for desire to be exerted upon, to seeing angelika headstrong and capable mostly (the story clarifies what this means), intelligent and retaining her choice so much no man satisfied her but the one she would find in her morose profession. this was fresh for me, it was what i hadn't expected, nor really knew i needed to see written just like this.
and it's probably a faux pas to address reviews in my review but (would that be honest to me) i cannot believe how little people actually engaged with the story...over engaging pop, lib. (not genuine; androphilic, misogynistic) feminism. coming from that angle too of knowing quite more about that topic and having a stance more concrete than "it hurts men's feelings to gesture to smaller dicks being less satisfying for an individual woman," in comparison to the harrowing reality of real life misogyny being more than feelings. and being a more stringent (rad) feminist type myself, it's interesting to see how shallow concepts can rewrite entire material. i would've thought the story was so much worse if i had went in off these elements.
it's odd to me that a book where the woman as a contrast to so much popular material takes action, and is desiring and knows what she wants even despite virginal status, is not fragile and fawning, and is not just an object for an mmc to run over and rape, and carves out respect and stitches it even into his very skin and the fabric of his soul. . .would come off this unfavorable to women who have rated actual rape stories quite highly. even among a "dark" romance crew, i would think this would maybe resonate. but maybe it's that really foundationally, the elements that make that genre and type of story favorable make the reading experience incompatible here, because nothing here is actually forced no matter what reviews might say. that's not the actual story, not at all.
i don't believe angelika is unlikable, i have read quite unlikable characters. i think she's just not been given a chance for not being so docile and being sure of herself in many places, and there's a refusal to actually see the landscape that has made her vain in spite, and that makes this story. that makes william love her, and choose such a fiercesome woman who loves him just as equally, fairly, beautifully. it's really so sweet, i wish people, women, other mages would give themselves a chance for sweeter love without patriarchal force or abuse that would make them reject this story so vehemently for those differences.
and it's probably a faux pas to address reviews in my review but (would that be honest to me) i cannot believe how little people actually engaged with the story...over engaging pop, lib. (not genuine; androphilic, misogynistic) feminism. coming from that angle too of knowing quite more about that topic and having a stance more concrete than "it hurts men's feelings to gesture to smaller dicks being less satisfying for an individual woman," in comparison to the harrowing reality of real life misogyny being more than feelings. and being a more stringent (rad) feminist type myself, it's interesting to see how shallow concepts can rewrite entire material. i would've thought the story was so much worse if i had went in off these elements.
it's odd to me that a book where the woman as a contrast to so much popular material takes action, and is desiring and knows what she wants even despite virginal status, is not fragile and fawning, and is not just an object for an mmc to run over and rape, and carves out respect and stitches it even into his very skin and the fabric of his soul. . .would come off this unfavorable to women who have rated actual rape stories quite highly. even among a "dark" romance crew, i would think this would maybe resonate. but maybe it's that really foundationally, the elements that make that genre and type of story favorable make the reading experience incompatible here, because nothing here is actually forced no matter what reviews might say. that's not the actual story, not at all.
i don't believe angelika is unlikable, i have read quite unlikable characters. i think she's just not been given a chance for not being so docile and being sure of herself in many places, and there's a refusal to actually see the landscape that has made her vain in spite, and that makes this story. that makes william love her, and choose such a fiercesome woman who loves him just as equally, fairly, beautifully. it's really so sweet, i wish people, women, other mages would give themselves a chance for sweeter love without patriarchal force or abuse that would make them reject this story so vehemently for those differences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
the ethics of reanimation being mixed with love are actually broached, and i think engaging with this question most of all makes the experience more pleasant or interesting, than thinking "if a man wrote this" or about this story if it were flipped to be reanimated woman to man creator. we already have that and it's awful, cause it's not comparable.