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milesjmoran's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Animal death, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Pregnancy
sproutedpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
- Maise: migraines, asthma and lung issues, heart issues, history of childhood illness.
- Mr. Jamsetjee: tremors (likely Parkinson's) referred to as “shaking palsy”.
Graphic: Child death, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Gun violence, Animal death, Racism, Gore, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Discussion of phrenology (challenged) and racism in science, description of animal corpses and their decomposition (not overly graphic), description of surgical procedures on animal corpses, use of laudanum to treat chronic migraines, infant death/stillbirthellekiriel's review against another edition
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death and Miscarriage
the_lesbrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Child death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Misogyny
Minor: Classism, Racism, Death of parent, Addiction, and Colonisation
n0elle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Now, while I do know the author tried hard to make it appear historically correct, I found it absolutely exhausting to read hundreds of pages of men dictating the protagonist’s life, telling her what she can and can’t do, how she should behave, what (little) she’s worth.
I’m all for women in STEM, driven by ambition and scientific ideas that lead through breakthroughs. BUT if her ideas and success are always overshadowed by a man or even taken by a man, while she just sits idly by.. that’s infuriating, historically correct but still infuriating. And while the main character did get mad about these things, she always stayed quiet. In the rare moments she didn’t, she was belittled and reprimanded so much, I felt the shame of being a woman bleed through the pages.
Maybe the writing was just too good and too real and it made me feel so many emotions, some of which I could have gone without.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual harassment, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, and Terminal illness
random19379's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Sexism, Miscarriage, and Racism
fromthefoxhole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Frankenstein is one of my all time favorite books, and when I heard "queer feminist retelling" I could not sprint to Libby faster. Having finished Our Hideous Progeny, I would term it more as a sequel - our FMC is Mary, the grand niece of Victor Frankenstein, who only knew of him through the letters our dear Captain Walton left behind. Luckily for us, that voracious curiosity that once consumed Victor very much also has had its claws in Mary since she was young. While she was barred from a formal education as a scientist, she makes up for it with force of will and wit, an insatiable desire for knowledge, and tenacity shaped by a lifetime of exclusion and rejection.
The plot for the first third of the novel is largely to allow us to get to know Mary. We get to see flashbacks of her past alongside instances in the "present" that give weight to her frustration with the scientific society as well as her love for paleontology and natural history. I feel like this slower beginning pace can be frustrating, but it lets our impatience mount with Mary's until finally we arrive at the exciting bit - actually moving forward with attempting to recreate Victor's experiment.
The pace picks up from here for us as the reader as well as for Mary, and things start to spiral out. I won't spoil anything, but relationships take turns, altercations occur, and I ate. it. up. McGill does a phenomenal job getting to the heart of Mary's motives, focusing on her grief, queerness, and living as a woman in a society that regularly demeans women. I found myself getting riled up right alongside Mary, especially in every instance with my new nemesis, Finlay Clarke.
I LOVED the real world references, that the author rooted so much of the story in real and period accurate science. Mary and Henry speak with and are referred to scientists whose work we can still read and those dinosaur sculptures are still up at the Crystal Palace!! The absolute nerd in me couldn't get enough.
Especially for a first novel, I think Our Hideous Progeny hit every target it intended to. I personally cannot wait to see what else McGill writes.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Animal death
Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, and Blood
lunarmagi42's review against another edition
- 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
While the story takes some time getting into the whole "Frankenstein" aspect of the book, that time is well spent setting the stage for the fascinating tale to follow. We see how, despite being the mind more or less behind her husband Henry's scientific discoveries, Mary is only ever credited with "And many thanks to M Sutherland for the illustrations." We see how the people who should be her scientific peers look down on her for her gender. We also slowly learn of Mary's discovery of her great uncle, Victor Frankenstein, the Creature he created, and the story of that creation left behind in letters.
Mary's journey to creating her own Creature is fascinating and deeply frustrating, both for Mary herself and for the reader. Over and over she runs into the hurdle of needing a man for something, usually simply due to the fact that women are not allowed in many of the circles she needs to be in to continue her work. Due to the society she lives in, this is not simply a hurdle she can overcome, she must work with Henry and the loathsome Mr. Clarke to bring her discovery to life.
I thought the story was very well written and engaging as well as surprisingly touching at points, especially for a story with as much gore as this one has. Mary's relationship with Maisie is sweet and very natural feeling and her moments of introspection over the loss of her child a year prior are deeply touching. C.E. McGill uses very poignant and eloquent language in a way that feels smooth and nicely poetic to describe a rather gruesome thing: the creation of a Creature, stitched together from the sum of the parts of others.
Our Hideous Progeny is definitely worth a read if you like gothic horror about angry women fighting for their place in society and finding love and solace in an unexpected place. 4.5/5 Stars
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Alcohol, Death, and Homophobia
Minor: Infertility, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
katrinepoetry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Filled with fury and ambition, Mary turns to her great-grandfather Victor Frankenstein's research in order to claim her space in the 1850s scientific community.
Not only is the novel beautifully written and well-researched, but I'm in absolute awe of its viceral nature. It is a true homage to the birth of science fiction.
Minor: Miscarriage