Sally Thorne is definitely at her best when she lets things get weird (the truly nuts energy of THE HATING GAME is what makes it stand out among workplace romances) and after her previous two more steady (and therefore not quite as successful, to my mind) romances, this one finally lets things get weird again. Having Angelika Frankestein literally MAKE her match--as in, build him from a corpse--is such a weird premise for a romance but Thorne rolls with it in a way that makes it work.

That said, this novel has a really stilted relationship to its own morality. It never quite figures out how to reconcile having an HEA with the idea that Angelika's creation...didn't really want to be created. He faults her for playing god, and is in constant pain. The novel never really seems to come around to what makes this acceptable, in the end--yes, the power of love, but the book wavers on whether or not this is enough--and instead turns its attentions to a class consciousness that supposedly corrects Angelika's character flaws from the beginning...except those weren't necessarily the problems apparent in the beginning of the text itself. Plus, there's a love triangle that's a bit halfhearted and so doesn't really work.

Ultimately, it's the times where Thorne aims for realism and groundedness where this novel is least successful--it would have been better as just as weird romp! (The idea that Victor is just...constantly eating apples is just so bizarre, and the fact that it's never explained really just makes it work. Be weird, Sally!) Ultimately this book doesn't hit its mark for me, but does show where Thorne is really most capable of creating a memorable romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: death, death of parents (past), grief, attempted assault, violence, fertility concerns

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f historical romance
-paranormal? elements
-insta attraction
-mutual pining
-sloooow burn
-amnesia

This book was bonkers in the best way. The thing I love best about Sally Thorne is, with each book you pick up of hers, it's unique and yet so different from her prior works. This one follows Angelika Frankenstein, Frankenstein's sister, unlucky in love, lonely, and just looking for her place in the world. And what do you do when you stop trolling the bars, you troll the morgue of course. And build yourself your perfect man.

I adored Angelika. Feisty, spoiled, definitely not perfect, and so very lonely and isolated. My heart hurt for her as she looked for love in a lot of different places. And sweet Will. Parts of him were instantly pulled to Angelika but with the added amnesia plot, these two both grappled with who they were and who they wanted to be. so many almost moments, that had me screaming for these two. I loved how soft Will was with Angelika how they both read each other's love language and took care of each other. I won't spoil the twist but it had me screaming.

But I also adored the secondary characters in this book. How Angelika didn't just find someone in Will, but friendships, found family, I loved her growth from the beginning of the book to the end and how much her life had changed. All of the medding, this book had a lot of laugh out loud moments. I would pay so much money to read a novella of how Lizzie and Victor fall in love. Sally Thorne called this Frankenstein fan fiction and this was entirely that in the best way. A bonkers yet soft love story, and the escapism I needed. I really enjoyed this and can't wait to see what Sally writes next.

Steam: 3

Oh I wanted to love this book so badly - I generally love Sally Thorne’s wit and weird humor. And while parts of the book still shined - what didn’t quite work for me was the romance that “couldn’t quite be” - Angelika makes her perfect man and his body doesn’t end up working quite right because he’s different pieces of different bodies - Will comments at one point that “these aren’t my hands” and Angelika doesn’t actually ever tell will she picked and chose pieces and mutilated his in the process to make the “perfect man”. There’s an overarching theme of Angelika maturing that is very akin to Jane Austen’s Emma - and I’m just not a fan of the rich girl learning to grow narrative. I would still recommend Thorne fans to read the book, it just wasn’t quite for me.

Angelika Frankenstien Makes Her Match follows Angelika who brings a man back to life. She names him Will because he can't remember his old life. She is determined to help Will find out things about his old life. There is just one problem: Angelika and Will are very attracted to each other. While they try to find out things about Will's old life the two become closer and start getting feelings for each other. And maybe they were meant to be together. 

I have read all of Sally Throne's books and I have loved all of them. And I loved this one as well. Loved all of the call backs to Mary Shelley's Frankenstien. I thought this was such a cute and different plot, than most other romance stories. It was honestly a very weird historical fiction romance but that is what I loved about it. I just really enjoyed this one. The only thing that would have made it better was reading it during spooky season. I would suggest this one. If you are a fan of spooky things I also think you would like this one, Thank you so much NetGalley, Sally Throne, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this one.

This is the most ambitious of Sally Throne’s works, therefore it is the most unique and weird and wonderful. Frankenstein fan fiction but make it slow burn romance with the mad scientist we don’t know from the primary source, Victor Frankenstein’s, younger sister Angelika at the center of it all. I didn’t know what to expect from the author of The Hating Game and Second First Impressions, but I loved it. Enjoy the ride, all the fundamentals of a Throne book are here: banter, sexy kissing, and a satisfying end.

This was a fun read that was different from Thorne's past works, but enjoyable regardless. The story was very creative and an interesting twist from the traditional story of Frankenstein.

Pros:
The character growth in this book was phenomenal. Angelika started as a very vapid heiress who, along with her brother, were very caught up in their own world without a care for anyone else. By the end of the book, and throughout the book, you could see Angelika change and grow as a character. While Will did help prompt Angelika to grow as a person, it was refreshing that her growth was not only because of Will and was rather something she discovered on her own as she realized she wanted to be a better person.
Angelika's character was very easy to empathize and sympathize with. Even though the whole idea that she created her perfect match is fantastical, her feelings, thoughts, and reasons for doing so are very relatable. While Victor's character had the urge to simply show-up a colleague, Angelika was lonely and was unable to find someone who appreciated her as she was. I also liked that Angelika felt remorse for the work that the Frankenstein siblings did.
I thought it was fantastic that the main conflict in the book was not about Angelika and/or Victor hiding secrets that would've led Will to figure out his identity. Thorne could have easily made that the main conflict, but rather chose to have Angelika be upfront with Will when it came to the clues and information she had about his identity. It made the final conflict of the book more bearable to read and more practical as Thorne kept building up to it throughout the book.
I liked the tidbit in the epilogue that tied in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I thought it was clever and a nod to the original story.

Cons:
While I liked Christopher's character, I thought making him another love interest for Angelika was unnecessary. Angelika made it clear every step of the way that she didn't have any real interest in Christopher when Will was present. I thought it was unfair to Christopher who seemed like a really nice guy all things considered and it just made me dislike Angelika enough that I felt she was still being selfish. I also thought it was short-sighted of Lizzie to force Angelika to keep treating Christopher as a potential suitor in order to get that cabin, when Angelika was very clear that she didn't want Christopher now that she had Will.
It was a little unclear as to what position the Frankenstein's held in their town and in aristocratic England. While this book is a historical romance because it takes place in the 1800s, it doesn't have any of the characteristic features of a Regency romance that you find in other books that take place during the same time period. One of those things, is that it is obvious that Victor is some type of aristocratic figure, but aside from calling Lizzie his future duchess, there is no other explanation for why the family has so much money and seeming prestige.
Lizzie and Victor's characters were a little annoying at times, especially Victor who thoroughly used his sister when it came to his professional endeavors and then would act like she was the problem when she had human emotions. Victor's main redeeming quality was that he worked on his own to figure out the solution for Will/Arlo and Adam.

Overall, I liked this book. it was a quick read and the pacing was mostly good. I give this book 4/5 stars only because of the cons I mentioned above and the fact that it felt like the story dragged just a little at some points in terms of getting Angelika and Will together. However, I think this is a great book and another win for Sally Thorne.

I have to be honest here. This book was weird.

But a great kind of weird. The best kind of weird.

Nothing could have dragged me away from this story. I was hooked. There were so many times laughed out loud while reading. The book can be described as a mix of romance, sci fi, historical and gothic? I literally cannot put it in just one category.

Sally Thorne has definitely proved that she can write any genre and put her lil spin on it. The writing was fabulous. I can’t wait for her future books!

This one was a DNF for me. It made me feel so uncomfortable and I only made it 4 chapters in. In the very first chapter, Angelika and her brother are looking at dead bodies to find her perfect man and he calls out a male form for its huge "package." She then asks her brother if it's "too big." That is not a scenario I ever want to read about between siblings. DNF.

I will follow Sally Thorne’s writing off any cliff - in this case into a freshly dug grave or amidst the stench of the morgue - and am never left disappointed. This novel is so imaginative and a complete departure from her previous three modern rom com titles - and is absolutely (and delightedly) uncategorizable! The burn of historical romance, with a healthy dose of horror/science fiction, suspense, and comedy. The character of Angelika Frankenstein is among my favorite protagonists to date - direct, unfiltered, and unapologetically pursuing what she wants. I am still recovering from Angelika’s choice for the second largest penis!

I love The Hating Game so I had high expectations for this book and Sally Thorne did not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an eARC of this novel! I am deeply obsessed with Sally Thorne's other books, so I was very excited to read this one. I think the concept is so fun - who hasn't thought about what their perfect man would look like. I also thought the tension between Angelika and Will was really well done in the beginning of the novel. My main issue was that I have no idea what Christopher brought to the story, especially because him and Will "competing" for Angelika was never really a competition. She just always wanted Will. There wasn't very much plot to this story, but I still found myself enjoying it overall.

Summer goths, take note of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. Sally Thorne sews a gothic horror retelling into a rom-com. In a Victorian gothic manor lives the witchy sister of Victor Frankenstein. With her brother newly married, she feels an even larger distance between them. Angelika Frankenstein does good work as his laboratory assistant, sewing a creature into being, but deep down she desires love. Thorne brilliantly pens a hero as the damsel in distress and a heroine as the rich, sheltered suitor of a gothic manor who seduces him. Blending horror with comedy, Thorne begins with a tale about orphans, the death of their parents, and how the wounds within are too painful to acknowledge. I immediately fell for this deadpan goth brother and sister. I loved that they would die for each other, even if they struggled to verbalize their feelings. Thorne's neurodivergent themes made this a tender read. Angelika Frankenstein's desire to dress Will up in her wealth, like a very rich and gallant suitor, shifts the gender roles. It's a very sexy mixture of the Addams Family if written by Young Frankenstein’s Mel Brooks. Sally Thorne writes a bold, seductive gothic heroine.

wow is this book truly bonkers! and the most horny sally thorne book yet. I really enjoyed how she mixed together the supernatural with historical fiction. buy buy buy! you will not regret this book

As a Flamethrower, I will absolutely read anything Sally Thorne writes. Which is why I was thrilled Netgalley let me have Sally’s third book early.

What an interesting premise of taking something tangible (in this case, Sally’s creeped out Victorian dollhouse, Blackthorne Manor) and merging it with a classic to create something new, a little weird, and also very lovely. If this is how historical romance was written more often, I’d read more of it.

I don’t want to give away any details, but if you’re a fan of romance, Sally Thorne’s previous books, a good spicy scene, or sci fi, I say this book is for you.

I was really hoping this would turn out okay.. I was very disappointed. I love Sally and all she writes but this was so far fetched and even a bit creepy. Im sorry to have such a mad book review on someone I love so much!

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match may be one of the weirdest mish mash of books I have read in a long, long time. I got about halfway through and didn't care for the characters, the story, or how the book would resolve so I didn't finish. Even the time period was weird for me, it didn't fit. The characters are hard to like, I'll be honest. The story was confusing and didn't make much sense. I'm sorry but this one was not for me.

Well, this was an absolutely delightful slam dunk of a book! I would never have guessed that it was written by the same author as The Hating Game (although I did love that book too). This book was so hilariously dirty and perfectly written, I cannot even begin to digest my feelings about it. I loved reading every single moment of this book. I'm not a big historical fiction reader, so I was a bit nervous going into it, but do not be deceived. This is a romance book through and through. It was perfection. The most off-beat, quirky, and ridiculous book! I loved it an obscene amount.

This was a unique idea for a romance novel, but I was definitely expecting a more historical feel. It didn’t feel that way. I love Sally Thorne’s books and I was super eager to pick this one up. It’s not my favorite of her books. I do like the snippets that feel like pieces of the original Frankenstein, but it didn’t really do it for me. I wanted to like it more. Sally has beautiful prose, though, so I did appreciate the solid writing.

This was definitely different than any other books by Sally Thorne, but in a good way. I really enjoyed this spin on Frankenstein. As per usual, Sally Thorne crafted a descriptive and fleshed out story.

I loved the premise of this book, I'll say that right off the bat. It's a clever idea, Victor Frankenstein having a sister who studied with him, worked alongside him, and used her talent and knowledge to try and make herself a suitor.

However, the execution left something to be desired. If you pick this up thinking you're getting an historical romance, think again. While it is set in 1814, it feels contemporary disguised as historical, which I think is part of Sally Thorne's charm, but was somewhat distracting.

I love Frankenstein - it is one of my favorite pieces of "classic" literature, and I appreciated the nods to the source material throughout the reading of this book. It certainly added to the story, I'm glad that we didn't get the darker bits of the source material, but that we saw a more human side to both Victor and his creations.

The love triangle element/competition for Angelika's hand (???) didn't work for me. I was never convinced that Christopher had any feelings for her other than dislike for Will. It added unnecessary drama to an already dramatic story.

The allusions to Mary Shelley visiting at the end were cute, that made me smile after a last few chapters that made me question whether or not I was reading a romance. I was happy to see Angelika finally stand up for herself and show her brother her worth and everything that she'd done for him up to that point. She needed that moment, and it was a long time coming, however she had these moments of self-assuredness and then was telling us how awful and selfish and spoiled she was. I found myself, more than once, wondering about the narrative choices.

There was a lot that worked for me, and there was a lot that really didn't.