Hello everyone! I hope you are doing your best, regardless of your circumstances. I am coming to you (again) with another unconventional summer read. I jumped at this book when I heard it was a bit of a sequel to Frankenstein. Most of my grad school days were spent consumed by Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterpiece so I am well-versed in the novel. I do also enjoy the genre of re-tellings or unofficial sequels to classic novels. If done right, it can be a great time. Let me not ramble on any further and let’s discuss Our Hideous Progeny.

Content Warning: Gruesome Imagery, Some Violence, Some Harsh Language, Loss of an Infant, Discussions and Depictions of Misogyny, Discussions of Racism, Harm towards Animals

Mary has spent her entire life fascinated by fossils and dinosaurs. She wants nothing more than to be acknowledged for her contributions to the scientific community but keeps being dismissed because she is a woman. With her marriage in a rocky state after the loss of her infant daughter, she finds herself at a loss. That is until she stumbles across the records of her great-uncle Victor Frankenstein and his dreadful experiments. Mary is suddenly captivated by the idea of creating life out of death. She and her husband Henry set out to recreate her great-uncle’s experiment but with their own improvements to his methods. Their path to fame and fortune, however, takes a dark turn when their experiment takes on a life of its own and others seek to steal their only chance at success

I did not intend to finish this book so soon but could not put it down. C.E. McGill demonstrates an understanding of Mary Shelley’s original novel while putting their own twist on the story. Our Hideous Progeny is a well-paced, thrilling read that delves into the twisted tale of playing God through science. I loved how intense this novel became and the parallels to the source material which inspired this book. I could go into depth but that would require its own separate post that would be rather lengthy. While you could appreciate this novel without having read Frankenstein, I would recommend it more if you are familiar with the original story. What I’m really trying to say is: go read this gripping Gothic tale and be immersed in the gruesome world of Victorian – era science.