Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is a letdown compared to The Hating Game. They’re both supposed to be rom-coms. Angelika Frankenstein is on the shelf, rich, and the younger sister of Victor Frankenstein. While Victor tries to create his monster to beat a scientific competitor, Angelika is piecing together her perfect beau. After the surprise success, Angelika deals with a fully realized person, and not everything is sailing smoothly.
I enjoyed The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, a cute workplace rom-com with quirky characters. I expected more of the same light banter and silly situations from Angelika Frankenstein’s blurb. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to expectations. There was a lot of repetition; Angelika was wishy-washy and vapid, and the banter felt flat.
I was conflicted with Will. His interactions with Angelika felt exploitative and manipulative. It gave me the ick. Angelika has romanticized a relationship with a man that doesn’t exist. When Will comes onto the scene, he has no memories or anything that makes him “him,” but he still has a distinct idea of who he is, and she presses him to conform to her expectations. He often expresses so much hesitation and doubt and isn’t listened to. The attraction between Will and Angelika never feels substantial and is out of sync with the plot. Will would be reluctant during one day, then profoundly protective or intimate the next day. It didn’t flow together nicely. I don’t get why Angelika and Victor used local corpses. Wouldn’t they be concerned someone would recognize the being once it returned to life? I found the treatment of the other creation troubling as well.
The competition with Christopher felt weird too. How does he get so fixated on Angelika? Why isn’t he more skeptical of Will? How does he have the time to search when he’s responsible for a military base?
The second half of the book got into religion. It, too, was weird. The current priest and his relationship with the congregation are awful. The replacement is sent and what happened to him is terrible. I am very upset with the treatment of the replacement priest. He is pressed into behaviour that is against his beliefs while he is vulnerable, and it gets glossed over so lightly. The ending came out of nowhere and wrapped everything up nicely, but again, it glossed over many issues.
So much in Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is ripe for a great book. Angelika is intelligent and independent, knows what she wants, and can advocate for herself. Will is kind-hearted, handsome and generous. The concept is so good. Ultimately, I couldn’t get over how it made me feel like I was party to violating someone’s autonomy for giggles.
