Customer Reviews

Angelmonster

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a well done historical novel for young adults which focuses on the passionate but troubled real life of Mary Shelley. Bennett does not sugarcoat the suffering and social exile that resulted from Mary's love affair (and later, marriage) to Percy Shelley, the scandalous atheist, radical, and poet. We see, however, how Mary harnessed the many demons of her life to create a timeless masterpiece, the novel Frankenstein. Funny that in her lifetime she would be thought of as the wife of that scandalous poet, and now he is discussed as the husband of the brilliant author.

This novel is perhaps best for middle to upper teens, as the subject matter is a bit mature and hard to understand for younger readers. At points, the writing is memorable in re-creating the wild passions and obsessions of Shelleys. portraying them as rebelling against the traditions and dogmas of their time but never quite managing to forge a workable moral code of their own. It is essentially about a beautiful but imperfect love affair, but is also a fascinating portrait of perhaps the first truly modern woman.

I'm a grad student in literature, and I've studied Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein many times. I looked forward to reading this book because I liked the idea of a fictionalized history of Mary and Percy's "courtship" and marriage.

*Some degree of spoilers ahead*

I was greatly disappointed. Without spoiling the book too much, I felt that it cheated Mary Shelley. Veronica Bennett drastically changes the timeline of Shelley's life in order to use Frankenstein as an allegory of the Shelley marriage. Their marriage was sensational enough--there was no need to make the drastic changes Bennett makes in this novel. All in all, I felt these changes diminished Mary Shelley as artist and intellectual. According to the introduction to one of my copies of Frankenstein (the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition), in the years that she took to write the novel, she read nearly 100 books a year--in many different languages. Bennett makes only passing mention of Mary Shelley reading--and then it's just "horrid" novels like Gothics. (Which she may have actually read. That's not what bothers me. Bennett thoroughly ignores the fact that Mary Shelley also read philosophical texts and was well versed in all of the major thinkers of her time.) In this novel, her stepsister reads Jane Austen, but she does not.

Bennett completely cuts out all evidence of Mary Shelley's intellect and diminishes her accomplishments as a writer.

I don't mind the idea of fictionalizing the life of a famous person, but in this book, Veronica Bennett has reduced Mary Shelley and made her a far less interesting person.

By Kinsey

I'd like to start by saying WOW, what a story. I stumbled upon this by chance at a 5-below store in my area for a dollar, and I thought, "Huh. A book about Mary Shelley? Why not?"

It was all I hoped it would be and more. This is a historical fiction recounting of Mary Shelley's rather troubled young life. Historical fiction is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards, but Mary Shelley is one of the most famous and well-known horror writers ever, so I decided to give it a shot, and I was totally astounded.

Mary is a rebellious sixteen year old girl, playing host to several fantasies with her stepsister: flirting with a nobleman or two, plotting marriages, and heck--perhaps even wooing the affections of a dashing young poet! Mary teaches Jane, her stepsister, all she knows about the art of flirtations. After all, the lessons and discomfort that courtship entails could one day pay off!

And indeed it does when Mary happens to be in her father's shop one day when a very interesting man comes calling. Just as Mary imagined, it's a poet, Percy Shelley! Despite his other marital agreements, Shelley is quite taken with Mary, and whisks Mary and Jane away--to her father and stepmother's great displeasure--to Europe, where they live in secret happiness.

The happiness, however, does not last, and Angelmonster becomes a chilling tale colored by Jane, Mary, and Shelley's distress. Readers follow the trio throughout Europe as they run from rumors, despair, and lost passion, and as they struggle to find trust, happiness, and a family together.

On the trip, Mary learns of an alchemist whose fanciful belief in making life from death inspires the now-famous novel, Frankenstein.

Something I quite like about this book is that, despite its romantic nature, the scenes are not at all graphic, descriptive, or steamy. The reader knows that romance is happening, but only because subtle hints are given, and then the author moves on.

Also, Angelmonster is quite accurate in many of its facts about Mary's life. For instance, all the characters are based on real people; none were made up as composite, plot-filling people. The time frame is correct for the story, and it is obvious that the language is well researched, because it is well executed.

A major inaccuracy featured in Angelmonster is the date that Frankenstein was penned. I won't say too much about this, for fear of giving too much away, but Frankenstein was in fact written in 1818, just a year after Mary and Shelley eloped.. Ms. Bennet admits in the author's note that she took creative license with Frankenstein's publication date-one of the benefits of writing historical fiction.

This book is so gripping that I stayed up until one in the morning to finish it. The characters are researched and developed well, and the plot has you begging for more. It is a thoroughly great and unsettling read--not quite a horror novel, as I'd first expected, but it is worth every moment spent reading it.

My English class read Frankenstein last year, so I was interested in learning more about the author. This book certainly did not disappoint. I thought it was well-written and fascinating. It was also fast-paced. While the characters would occassionally be a bit over-dramatic, I figured most of this was due to their "romantic" natures. The author did a good job of making the characters, especially Mary, seem like people. It was easy to see Mary as a young girl falling "in love" with the poet Shelley.

All in all, this was a good read. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in history and literature or who simply wants to read a good young adult novel.

which captures our attention & imagination right from the start! I couldn't put this book down and read it in 2 days. I truly enjoyed this work work of fiction... It is more of a historical romance using historical figures from the past (mainly Mary & Percy Shelley) and interweaving fictionalized events/interactions between them.

I was amazed at how much of the novel paralleled Mary & Percy Shelly's real life events..... This book is written from Mary Shelley's perspective and one truly feels as if one were reading Mary Shelly's personal memoirs, diaries, or letters on the events going in her life and how she may have felt about all that was going on in her life. Definitely an interesting read for sure & highly recommend.

I am just going to come out and say that I though this novel was terrible. Not because it was written poorly or because it was unbelievable, but because it just made one feel depressed and dark reading it.

After reading the description, I was excited to read a fictional novel about how Mary and Percy Shelley cam e together, and how Mary received her inspiration for Frankenstein. From page one, however, it was hard to push through the pages. It wasn't until Percy came in around the second chapter that there was any real reason to be interested. At first, their relationship starts out romantic and ideal for any woman searching for love. However, the novel quickly turns sour after that. Everything turns so dark and negative, that reading the novel actually put me in a dark mood.

Mary and Percy were constantly at odds, stuck with each other and pining for the love they once had, but not actually loving each other. They only seemed to care for each other like old friends who are stuck with each other. It was very depressing to read.

Not to mention, the only straight forth explanation for Frankenstein's inspiration lasts only a couple of sentences. Of course, the entire novel explains how Mary came to write the novel, but one does not necessarily pick up on that until the end, which is probably the darkest part of the novel.

No happy ending for Angelmonster. I will admit that it was a new and different take on the Shelley's life, for me anyway, and was interesting to read. As long as you do not expect any optimism or positivity.

I picked up this book at a bargain place for $1.50 but it would have been worth the cover price. Very well written with so much historical fact that it felt very real.

The story follows Mary Shelley from her life at home to her time with a married Percy Shelley to their marriage until his death.

Your heart aches for this young girl who had so much tragedy to deal with in her life.

It is an easy read and one that I think would make a great movie. From the historical facts one can conclude that the great poets of yesteryear were for the most part very rebellious and troubled men.

I highly recommend this book.

In 1814 poet Percy Shelley seduces young Mary, who flees with him to Europe against her family's wishes. With family and society against her actions, Mary becomes haunted by visions - and finds them evolving into her all-too-real world in ANGELMONSTER, a complex and original story recommended for advanced teen readers.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch