Welcome to David Behavior, a horror book review podcast. I'm Beth.

And I'm Marie.

And today's David Behavior is another lab in which the creation of a perfect life form is attempted. So this book, first of all, support your local bookstore by purchasing this book from them. If you decide to purchase it, you can get a physical copy there or you can go to Libro FM to pick up an audiobook. It's also available on Libby or at your local library.

And which book is this, Beth?

This book is einhallow by Tim McGregor. My tagline for it is it's premium Frankenstein fanfiction. The middle portion of this book, as we'll get into, really gives off AO3 vibes. And to be clear, I'm a big fan fiction girly. I love fanfiction. I do read it in my spare time, so it's not necessarily an insult. It wasn't what I was expecting. We'll put it that way. So the synopsis, without the editorializing is that Agnes is a mother and a housewife living with her husband and her children and a goat on the island of Einhallow in 1797. She is an outsider and only has 19 other neighbors. When a mercurial stranger arrives in need of a cook and a housekeeper with his scientific equipment and weird business, her life has changed forever. And I will say for this one, there are trigger warnings for abuse, pregnancy and child loss. I know that's probably spoilers, but it was kind of jarring for me, at least when it happened.

You can kind of read the writing on the wall when it is coming up, but it is still quite triggering in its. I wouldn't say that it's anything too graphic in the description, but it was emotionally graphic, if you know what I mean.

That's the kind that affects me most. So, yeah, that's why I figured I'd give the warning. So who is this book for?

Oh, I have a hard time with that because I feel like it depends on what part of the book you're talking about. If we're talking about the kind of beginning and build up towards the middle, I'd say that it's for fans of Frankenstein who want a little bit more world building in a certain area of the Frankenstein novel. And also towards the end, I'd say that it's. That in the middle, I guess I'd say it's. If you're looking for romance as well as monsters, you might be interested.

True. Yeah, absolutely. I would say, yeah. If you liked Frankenstein and you are not offended by Variance in canon. You would probably be good with this book and you might enjoy reading it. I did not enjoy the variants in canon. Personally. I think that we, as a sort of spoiler, we both read Frankenstein right before this one as a refresher. So it was a bit fresh in my mind. Some of the aspects of this one where it kind of varied and it bothered me a little bit and we'll get into that. However, some similar media that might appeal if we don't end up recommending this one, which I don't recommend personally, but ones that I would recommend would be Frankenstein. The book itself. I would recommend that one. It's always a classic and I think it still holds up. I would also recommend, just as a kind of a swerve in the way that this isn't a recommendation that has anything to do with Frankenstein. But if you did want something, a book that deals with abuse in a better way, I would recommend the September House. It's a really good book. I really enjoyed it and I don't want to spoil too much, but I think it's a haunted house book and it deals with abuse in a way that I feel like is more sensitive than this one does. Another Frankenstein adjacent book that I would recommend. I haven't read it yet, but it comes highly recommended and I've started it and I really enjoy it. Is a Botanical Daughter. And yeah, those are the ones that I would recommend.

And as for me, I always go movies obviously. And like, in my opinion, if you would like to engage with some better Frankenstein fanfiction or at least more enjoyable, I think overall I would highly recommend 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Or even that ooh, oh, so edgy classic from 2004, Van Helsing, which I will acknowledge. I will acknowledge Van Helsing is not a good movie, but I had fun with it, unlike this book.

Yeah, I haven't watched Van Helsing probably since it came out and I wouldn't imagine it holds up, but it seems like it would be fun, a fun watch.

Oh, I don't think it could possibly hold up at all. I have. I also, I have not watched Van Helsing since probably like 2010. Like I think I watched it again after it came out. So if you watch it on my recommendation and you hate it, that's your own fault for listening to some random person on the Internet. Suggestion.

Disclaimer. Disclaimer.

Disclaimer. I'm not a critic.

Yeah, so as I mentioned, we did read Frankenstein in anticipation of reading Einhallow. And I think it really helped since I hadn't read it since university, since I have an English degree. I wrote this section in the notes before I had read the book. And I had guessed that this book took place in Scotland during the time period where Victor left poor Clerval and went off on his own in. I was correct. Since that's when he went to Scotland, it wasn't that much of a shot in the dark. It was a pretty educated guess.

Yes.

So I'm not. I'm not patting myself on the back too much. Hey.

Hey. I'd count that as a win. After the L that we take in the middle of this book. I think we need all the wins we can get. Yeah. No. So I highly recommend if you've never read Frankenstein or if you haven't read Frankenstein, maybe since you were like, forced to in high school or something, give it another go. It's a great book. Super well written. I love it a lot. And I'm really glad that I got to reread that. So at least that's like a little an extra point for Einhallow for making me read Frankenstein again.

Yeah. It deals with the themes a lot more coherently than Einhallow does, in my opinion.

Absolutely. I agree with that. As you might be able to guess, this wasn't really a favorite immediately for either Beth or myself. And even with more time to kind of mull it over, I would say this is probably not a book that I would really recommend, like, just as a good book to read. Like, if this. If the subject interests you, if you get into our spoilers after this little section and it interests you, like, go for it. But I don't. This isn't one that I'm going to be recommending to any of my friends anytime soon.

Yeah, I agree. I was with it at the beginning. The first half, I was on board. I was having a good time. It wasn't my favorite book. I probably still wouldn't have recommended it, but, you know, I was. It was inoffensive and then we got to the middle and. Yeah. So I think now is as good a time as any to jump into the spoiler section.

Lets do it.

Getting into spoilers. Let's. Let's do this. So we start out meeting Agnes. Who is Agnes Tulloch? She lives on the island Isle of Einhallow in the Orkneys with her husband Robert and four children. I don't want to call him Mr. Tulloch. That feels weird. I don't like it.

It was so awkward to me every time she called him Mr. Tulloch. But when we get into how they met, it makes a lot of sense. But I hate it. It's gross.

Yeah, that's why it's gross to me. I mean, it's gross before I learned about it and after I learned about it. So she. There are 20 people living on this island. As I mentioned in the non spoiler section, she didn't originally come from this island. She is quite large and tall. They call her a giantess. And I think, you know, there's some foreshadowing there. Pretty clear foreshadowing.

Yeah.

And she is prone to looking out to the sea, as we learn. So I had, so my notes on this, I had quoted. She's talking to her friend Kate, who also lives on the island, who is her closest friend, who is pregnant. And at the beginning they're talking and Kate says, yes, another miracle of birth. She drools like, that doesn't happen every day. Don't you wish something different would happen? Something to shake us all up? And the purpose of this quote was emphasizing the cavalier attitude that Kate has about creating life and contrasting that to Frankenstein, where it's so mysterious to him and he's creating life from death. But it's such a difficult process. Whereas Kate has had, what, six children at this point? So it's such an easy thing. And at the beginning, we do kind of have an assault from Robert and Agnes, I would call it Assault.

Yeah.

She says no, and he insists. And then she's like, fine.

Yeah. At the very least it's marital rape.

Like, yeah, yeah.

I'm not a fan. Robert's pretty hateable. From the very beginning.

From the beginning. And she says, you know, don't finish in me. I don't want to get pregnant again. So the idea of it being so easy to just, you know, get pregnant.

Yeah.

And yeah. I had also written down that Agnes is a stand in for the creature as she lacks agency in her life. She didn't choose her husband. She wants a true companion beyond what she has in Kate. So she talks about Jamie, her one true love. And when she's talking about Jamie as well, she's talking about the. How herself and Robert met, as Robert was a widow and was friends with her dad.

Yeah.

And basically her stepmother just wanted to push her out of the house.

I, I find the, the Jamie thing also interesting because, like, he is not only, like, you know, her childhood sweetheart and the first person that she ever loved and the person that she Actually loved when she was, like, you just said, her stepmother kind of roped her into marrying Robert, but also he was her love before she hit her growth spurt. That has kind of defined her as a person since. So he loved her before when she was quote, unquote, normal, and then he also loved her after when she was a giantess. And most people were kind of weirded out by her. So, like, it's pretty easy to see why she's still stuck on this. She left when she was 16, right, to marry Robert?

Yes, I believe so. Yeah.

Yeah.

The other quote that I had written down was, if only I had possessed the brains or the wherewithal to see the clockworks pushing me this way and that. So she's pretty. She doesn't have agency in her own life. And even choosing Robert, quote, unquote, choosing Robert wasn't really her choice.

No. She was pressured into it because it was the Jamie was penniless and motherless and a bunch of other stuff, and it was the quote, unquote, right. Choice to marry Robert instead.

Yeah. And which isn't a choice at all, I guess.

There is one quote that I had highlighted towards the beginning that I think just speaks a lot to Agnes's character and kind of her mental state. She's talking about wanting to get to sleep. But on its own, this quote can kind of encompass her whole life, really down to it. It says, I want the comfort of oblivion, of peace, but concerns over the children or the house, the squalor we endure, nag me relentlessly. And it's just. That's just her life, like, in one sentence for sure.

Yeah. And she loves her kids, but it's clear that, like, she didn't want this.

No. Well, and it's clear, too, that she loves her kids, but, like, wouldn't it be really cool if she had a co parent to help her with those kids?

Yeah. She's a single mom who works two jobs.

Yeah.

She loves her kids and never stops. She is a survivor until the end. Well, I guess she's still a survivor at the end.

Yeah. She survives. Ish.

The other thing I had written down was just how Robert keeps saying, that's a good girl. And it just, like, prickled that little part in my brain. I was just like, I wish there was a real person so I could punch him.

Absolutely, 100%. I mean, good job. Author whose name I immediately forgot.

Tim McGregor.

Good job, Tim McGregor. I hated Robert from the get go.

Yes. So she longs for Jamie that the life she didn't choose, she hopes that he's well. But, yeah, she. And I mean, her life is full of bustle, but I think it's not one that she's chosen. But I think without Robert there, it probably would be easier, certainly. Yeah.

Honestly. Because, like, when he's not being an absentee father who never helps with the children, he is abusing her constantly or cajoling her into sex when she doesn't want to have sex. And it's just. I little baby spoiler. But when she finally fights back later on, I was. I was delighted in that moment.

Yeah. Yeah. Because she just takes it and she talks about his. His rages, that he. He gets angry and drunk and blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, this is like, a lot.

Yeah, 100%. I also. I find her because you mentioned, like, staring out to sea, thinking about Jamie, because Jamie had promised, like, I'll rescue you one day. Like, I'll come out to Iron Hollow and I'll take you away from it. And so she's prone to, like, staring out to sea. She's like. When I say staring out to sea, I mean, girlfriend is out on the beach with, like, a couple of her kids collecting seaweed and, like, loses hours. Like, she blinks and it's evening. Like, it's wild how intensely she is disassociating on that beach.

I mean, honestly, relatable, though. Like, maybe she's got adhd. I don't know.

Oh, my God, that must be it.

Yeah, it's pretty wild. She's like, oh, I gotta pay attention to the kids. It's like you have your children around you. You have four children. Yeah, yeah, four children. Grace, Meg, Kit and Effie. Yeah, just staring out to sea.

Also, I wanna. Real quick, you had mentioned that she has 20. There's 20 people on this island. The majority of them are children. Most. Most of the people on this island are her children, Kate's children, and like, I don't know, I guess maybe another couple has children too, that we don't really get too much into them. But, like, it's mostly like four families and their kids.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Six kids with Kate and then, yeah, four kids with her. So that's half the people on the island right there. Very funny. We also have the goat, Daisy, who we love.

I love Daisy.

And there's one horse on the island. So my proposal is to introduce a section called Horse Watch, where basically the segment is just. I just point out the horses. And for this one, there's one. And it doesn't have a name, but I love it.

It's a good horse.

It's a good horse.

And pulls that wagon. So this. Yeah, I believe at this point in the podcast, then that would put us at a three out of three score for horses, because David very clearly states that the Neomorph is like a horse, therefore it's a horse. And in Final girl support group, is it Dani?

Yeah.

Dani owns a ranch where she rehabilitates horses.

So, yeah, we had lots of horses there. Lot of them.

Are books gonna get, like, a negative if there is no horse?

No, I don't think so. I think it's just disappointing for the segment.

That's fair. That's fair. All right.

I think I'll just be. I'll just be sad that there's no horses.

That's so valid. Although this horse makes me sad.

Yeah, yeah. Later on. Yes. But I think if there wasn't that horse, we still have Daisy, so that kind of. It does help.

Yeah. And Daisy, like Beth mentioned, is a goat, but Daisy's basically a dog. Like, she follows the kids around. They ride around on her back. She loves to be in the house, and Agnes is constantly telling her not to be. She's a very good goat, and I love her.

Daisy has done nothing wrong. So, speaking of people who do wrong things.

Yes.

Victor Frankenstein arrives on the island. And at this point, I was sort of thinking, okay, so we're gonna keep, like, a distance from Frankenstein. We're just gonna, like, be in the story and sort of be in the periphery of what's happening, and maybe, you know, we'll get to see what happened in more detail from a different perspective, and that'll be really interesting. And I was totally in on that. I was like, okay, so we're in a slice of life, and we're going to experience the horror and the impact this guy had on this small island. And in a way, I was right, but not in the way that I thought.

Yeah, same. I will also say, Beth, I have to correct you. Frankenstein doesn't arrive to the island. Firken von Lederhosen arrives to the island.

Oh, my God, you're so right.

Because apparently nobody on this fucking island can say the name Frankenstein.

Yeah. I don't know what it is. I am not from Scotland, and Tim McGregor is not from Scotland. So I don't know if this is some sort of inside joke with maybe his friends or family that Scottish people can't pronounce things. It seems mean. I don't know. I. Yeah, I don't know. It's a mystery.

I have multiple quotes highlighted where people don't know how to pronounce Frankenstein. And it's. It's fun. It's fun and it's funny because, like, at one point, like, ooh, tiny spoiler. We're moving ahead a little bit. Agnes starts helping out Frankenstein around the. The old lab, and he literally says, hi, I'm Victor Frankenstein. And she goes, victor Franken, sir. Anyway. And, like, just doesn't say, I'm like, girl. He just said it.

Yeah. It's not that hard. I don't know. We'll have to find somebody Scottish and make them say it and see if it's a challenge for them.

If. If you listener are Scottish, please send us to our. Our show email, which is in the show notes. You saying Frankenstein.

Yeah. Or join the discord and just put it in the chat. Just put a voice note in the chat.

Join our discord. That sounds a lot easier than sending it to the email. So definitely do that instead.

Yeah, yeah. And we'll still play it.

Yeah.

If anybody does it, for sure. Yeah.

But, yeah, so sorry. Frankenstein's here. He's here and he's socially isolated because he's a stranger, an outsider, and he's rich.

I mean, we know he's rich, I guess.

Yeah.

But he's throwing money around. Everybody's pretty happy that he's throwing money around, but he's also an outsider, so of course there's gossip. Yeah. So Agnes helps out. She becomes his cook and housekeeper. In that sense, she's still taking care of her kids, so she doesn't really want to do it, but she basically brings him dinner from what she's made, and she just sort of sweeps up the house while he's there because he's too busy doing science, unfortunately, and being sad, which is accurate to the book, the original book. He is sad and does science a lot.

So far, I'd say that it's a pretty accurate portrayal of Victor Frankenstein being depressed and doing some science and also being sometimes angry and throwing stuff at walls.

Yep.

I will say that this is when I got my first hint that this was gonna be a romance, was when Robert, without asking Agnes, first of all, Volin tells her to be Frankenstein's housekeeper. But the way he phrases it is he says that Victor needs a. Oh, yeah. And as soon as he said those words, I was like, oh, it's gonna be a romance.

I was still in the horror mindset. I have read a lot of romance books, but I don't know, it blindsided me. I didn't expect it, and maybe I should have. I feel like you're right. The hints were there. I just. I was naive.

You didn't want to see them. And it's so valid because I actually really, really enjoy Frankenstein, Victor and Agnes getting to know each other and becoming friends and him, like, giving her a book and, like, all this stuff where she feels like she's had no choices in her life. She has three books in her house, and one of them is the Bible, and the other two sound boring. And he gives her a new book, and it means the world to her. And I. Every time I go into a book, I just desperately want them to allow male and female characters to be friends. And I guess I saw the writing on the wall, mostly because I'm used to having that hope broken every time I read a book.

That's so valid. I guess I just had higher hopes for this book. Yeah, I don't want to rant too much about it, but I had this book recommended by a particular horror book influencer, and I'm kind of mad about it because she rated it so highly and all the ratings are so high on Goodreads. And I was like, okay, maybe this one will be good. And I was just disappointed.

Yeah, I will say I. This was entirely, like. I had never heard about it when you brought it up as your pick. And I intentionally. I didn't read anything about it. I just. I read it all in one sitting. And then I went and I looked at the reviews on storygraph to see what other people are saying, because I was. I still don't know a hundred percent how I would score this, just because, like I said, there are parts that I really enjoy, but there's so much that I don't that it. It's hard to decide on that. But I looked at other people's scores. They're all so high. They're all like four star reviews at least. And one of the first ones I read, I was like, wow, I feel like this person read an entirely different book than I did.

Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like. I think my problem going to Goodreads is that there are a lot of arc reviews on Goodreads, and I don't trust those. Sorry to arc reviewers, but I don't think that they are accurate a lot of the time.

Yeah, it's. It's hard for people to be, quote, unquote, mean to something that they got for free. And I think what people need to. To work on and I I mean, this is probably reflective in myself as well. I have a lot of things where I'm like, oh, it's fine, whatever. But it. It's not mean to be critical of something. Like, you can be critical in a mean way, but you can also be critical in a just normal way that sets up realistic expectations for a book I'm about to read.

Yeah, absolutely. So with that all being said, the next plot item I have is that the creature is spotted while Agnes attends Katie's false labor. So Agnes is up at the house with Frankenstein, I believe, and she's summoned to Katie's side, and Katie is going into false labor. And Agnes sees the creature on the isle. And at one point, Katie sees him as well, I think not at this point, but I don't think I had it written down. But Katie does see him as well.

So Agnes had seen it. She went out at night to the beach, and she saw something at the beach, and then it got really tall, and so she realized that it wasn't. She thought it was Victor at first, but it was too large and lumbering to be Victor. And once again, I don't know if you guys know this, but Agnes is a very tall woman. She's extremely tall. So if something is tall to her, it's very tall. And then, I believe, yeah, Katie, before her false labor started, I believe she had spotted a figure, like, up in the hills. And at first she thought it was Agnes because it was very tall. And then she realized that it was too large to even be Agnes because.

Agnes is so big.

She's so tall. She's like a giantess. She can thatch a roof from the inside.

Oh, my God. Crazy.

I know.

The amount of times it's mentioned. I guess I should have known it was a romance book. Mentioning one of the main character's features so often.

Oh, my God.

Should have been a hint to me that it's a romance.

You're right. And, you know, just. Sorry. We'll get back to Katie's false labor in a second. But did you notice a lot of, like, repetition in this book? I felt like things were repeated a lot.

Yes, a lot. So the story I mentioned about Jamie is repeated almost word for word twice. So the first time we learn about Jamie, and then at the beginning of one of the chapters, he says it again.

Yeah.

It's not even like it was an elaboration. It was just the same thing. Again, we don't get any more details. Yeah. So I didn't understand that. It was very confusing.

Yeah. I agree. There's. And there's just a lot of things where I'm not a writer. Like, I'm, I'm not here to be overly critical of people who have published work when I have nothing. However, you know, there's like, they always do tell you, like, oh, yeah, you need to like repeat your themes. Like, you know, make sure your themes get in there. This isn't like themes repeating. This is like literal. The same thing happening again that's already happened or being said again that's already been said. And it's. It's a little weird.

Yeah, it's. It's a little strange. And again, it's a very like romance tropey thing to just sort of continually repeat the same physical features that a character has. And also the fact that she's so big. It's like, yes, obviously, obviously, we got it.

Yeah, it's. It's a lot.

Yeah, it's a lot.

And one. And that's what gave. Like, I will say this for this book. It did kind of divert my expectations at one point because, like, as soon as we read this and the book was like, did I mention that Agnes is extremely tall and also extremely strong and pain resistant? I was like, oh, she's the bride. Like, obviously she's gonna become the bride. And then it kind of diverts. And we'll get to that in a little bit.

Yeah.

So good for you book. You divert. You successfully diverted my expectations once.

Yeah. So her smallest child had been sick for a while and Victor gives her some sort of medicine, some sort of thing, whatever.

I don't know why, but the way it was described, I was just like, oh, he powdered up some aspirin. Like it's. I don't know why, but that's like what it felt like when he got it.

It was very. That, yeah, he gave her some mystery powder and was like, here, give this to your kid. And yeah, it very much felt like it was like aspirin. It was very weird, but it helped. But anyway, yeah, it helped. To his credit, he did cure her of the fever, which is great. And I did tear up a little bit at the. When Fe gets better, she says, now you rest and I'll take care of you. And I like teared up a little bit. That really got me because it's clear that Agnes is work to the bone. And even this four year old wants.

To help 100% outside of one thing that one of the kids does that we're gonna get to in a bit. I loved these Children. They all felt very real for children who have lived in a household where there is abuse and where one of the parents is more involved with their lives than the other one. So, once again, credit to the author for that. Like, they. These kids were well written. Sometimes kids can be annoying in media, in books, or in movies, but these ones, I felt like they were very well written, overall.

Yeah, I would agree. Yeah. So after that, we get a bit more bonding with Victor and Agnes, where he. Kind of a weird scene where he draws her anatomy, but also gives her a new book. And it's so. Again, I feel like I should have seen the writing on the wall, but he draws her nude, but it's like, anatomical drawings. So I was like, okay, yeah, this is friend stuff. Sure. I could see this as friend stuff. I feel like, listen.

No, no, no. Listen, listen. I'm with you. Normalize being naked around your friends. But also. Also her internal dialogue during this part, I was like, oh, she's catching feelings. Like, I can already see it.

And I will say this doesn't excuse it, but also, I wasn't romantic with anyone or anything until after high school. So I feel like I don't take hints very easily. It's not my forte.

I get it. I get it. I 100% understand, and I totally get where you're coming from. I just. Like I said, I just. As soon as he was like, hey, Agnes, let me draw you nude, I was like, okay. Romance novel 101. Like, I see what's happening here.

So you're saying I have no excuse, and I should have realized, Beth, how.

Much romance do you read?

Like, a lot.

So? So I kind of feel like maybe if you were fresh out of high school, I would. I would be like, yeah, that's understandable, Beth. But, like, girl.

Yeah. No, you're right. I should have realized maybe it was my, like, hope clinging on.

That's so valid.

But it wasn't that. I was so. I was so hopeful that it wasn't a romance. I was so hopeful that this was just another, like, slice of life. And we're getting these two separate worlds.

Yeah.

And we would continue to see the two separate worlds, and we'd see the story unfolding well.

And. And I agree, because I feel like there is a world where this scene could have been just platonic, just him being interested in her unusual anatomy. Because, did I mention, she's incredibly tall and strong, but, like, this could have been that, and it could have been a outsider for the first time since, you know, she was A child, like seeing her and not thinking that she was some weirdo freak for how she looked, but just being like, wow, like, you're really tall. That's so cool. Can I draw your musculature? Like. And I, I would have loved that as a step towards self acceptance and, and, you know, a little bit better view of herself. But instead, of course, because it's a man and a woman, it's a romance.

Yeah. And you're absolutely right. I think maybe that's where my hope came in too, is that I was hoping that this encounter would help her to self actualize and it would help her story not so much. You know, the two coming together. I think that's where my brain was going and that's where the hope was because, you know, of the themes of the original book, I was kind of hoping that there would be a bit of a mirror there.

Yeah, I feel like there wasn't a. We'll get to that towards the end, I feel like, with the. Yeah.

So, yeah. I also had a note here that Victor measures Agnes. And to me it kind of paralleled the beginning of the book where he asks. She says no. And then he asks, Asks again and she says yes. I don't like that so much.

I, you know, and you saying that now, like, obviously you're talking about the, the scene in the beginning where Robert.

Yeah.

Insists upon having sex is this clever setup. So that we know maybe that, you know, even though Victor might seem better than Robert, that he is still an entitled man. Like.

Yeah, that's for sure. I think that's part of it. Which is also why I was surprised by the romance. But anyway, Yes, I absolutely think that's part of it. I was sort of drawing that parallel between the two scenes and it kind of bugged me a bit.

No. Yeah.

Because she's still not choosing. She doesn't. She still doesn't have that agency because she works for him. She's his employee, technically.

Yeah, yeah, 100%. I agree. I agree with that. That's a good parallel to draw. I had not thought about that in that moment. I was just upset about it because it was clearly going towards romance.

So she gets this book also from Victor and we get a scene, the first sort of physical violence scene in the book, where Robert beats Agnes and then throws the book in the fire. And I just thought it was kind of, I don't know, not funny in a funny way, but just kind of funny. She reads a part in the book where it says misunderstandings and neglect occasion More mischief in the world than any malice or wickedness. And I'm just like, okay, okay.

Themes.

Okay.

Yeah.

After this, like violence that she's experienced.

Yeah. This scene was rough for me, especially when she talks about. I'm not going to find the specific quote, but she has talked about her high pain tolerance before and she brings it up again in this moment and is just like, I'm just going to wait for him to be done because I have a decent pain tolerance. And so she doesn't defend herself at all. And it's heartbreaking because you can tell that she has been beaten probably many times and she knows that it's easier if she just doesn't fight back and lets him wear himself out basically. And I hate it.

And the casualness with which him spitting on her, as mentioned, was also very haunting to me. Yes. Did not like that. And again, just that, like, just the casualness with which she mentions it and the fact that clearly it's happened many times before. It's awful. Did not like it. Didn't like it at all.

Yeah. For me there's a scene later that almost made me stop reading for a while, but this scene was close to that. And I guess despite, you know, the setup and obviously Robert being an abusive individual, I guess I wasn't really expecting scenes of violence to be like so like thoroughly described in this book in that manner. And also the fact that the kids are like right there.

This is a two room cottage. Yeah, they're right there.

Yeah.

I guess I just see everything.

I wasn't expecting this kind of horror when I picked this book up is what I'm trying to say.

Yeah, same. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think my note here is, Jesus, I didn't think I could hate Robert more. And then it happened. So the other aspect of it is the scene later on Kit or Christopher, but he goes by Kit, imitates his father where he starts to beat his sister Meg and tells her that she should get in her place and that she deserved it for speaking back. And Agnes kind of sees red at this point and grabs Kit and throws him off of Meg. And she obviously hates herself for enacting that violence on her son, but hates Robert more for showing her son that that's how he should behave. Yeah, that was also a really affecting scene for me.

Absolutely. It's just that generational learning. Yeah. I completely understood Agnes's anger and like her grabbing him and like kind of roughly tossing him away. But I also understood her like instant anger at herself for reacting that way. Like, she's trying so hard not to be a violent individual in a world that has been violent towards her way too much.

Well. And she's also so strong.

Yeah.

So I'm saying in a joking way, in a sarcastic way. But also, realistically, she is a very strong person physically. So it does take effort for her to be peaceful and calm. In a sense, 100%.

She could very easily fight back against Robert and win every time. He's like a full foot shorter than her and he is less strong than she is, but she consistently holds herself back in order to not be a violent individual, even though she so easily could.

And he's much older.

Yes.

So I feel like I made some sort of comment about old people in one of the other episodes. I swear, I'm not ageist. It just seems like it.

Sure, Beth. No, but it. Well, the reason we bring it up is because he. She was 16 when they got married, and he was in his late 30s, I think. Like, he's significantly older than her and has been in a position of power over her since she was a young girl. So, like, her not fighting back against him and just kind of laying back and accepting it in almost every aspect of their marital life is something that has been trained into her from a young age. And I hate it.

Yeah, absolutely. So after that, Victor's cargo, quote unquote, is lost, and he almost drowns. So.

So Victor is like, I need to go to the mainland to pick something up. I'm gonna rent your husband's rowboat. If my. It was a rowboat. And Agnes is like, the tide is really rough around here. And, like, the waves get pretty big on the shore. They get choppy. Cause there's lots of rocks. You should hire my husband to, like, just not just his boat, but have him go with you and Victor. Little rich boy. Victor is just like, clearly, I am skilled at manual labor, and I will get this giant crate into this rowboat by myself and row it back.

Yeah, it's silly. It's very silly. And also doesn't make any sense because if we go back to the text, Victor has no problem hiring people. He hires people all the time.

Exactly.

All the time.

Exactly.

Constantly.

I'm like, homie, they're not going to get in your crate on the rowboat ride back. Like, just. Just have someone who knows how to captain a boat go with you, you idiot. And guess what? He falls out of the boat and almost drowns and loses his quote unquote cargo.

Yeah. And it's coming from a University. So the cargo is obviously a body. Yeah, yeah. This was one where one of those points where I was like, the canon does not match up with what's happening here.

Well, and I feel like, too, it. Even within the text itself, even if we're not bringing in the original, within the text itself, we've seen that Victor hires people consistently to help him with stuff. He hired people to help him move all his crap off the boat. When it dropped him off, he used the town wagon to get it up to the house that he rented. Like, he's obviously not above paying people to help him. So, like, it makes no sense. It makes absolutely zero sense.

It's one of those romantic comedy tropes where it's a ridiculous situation that acts to put them together.

Oh, yeah. Because, of course, she. Upon hearing from her husband that Victor rented the boat but did not rent his services, she runs out to the beach immediately and sees Victor in this rowboat with a giant crate struggling against the waves. And of course, what happens? The boat tips over and he goes under.

Yeah. And I think at this point, my notes were still pretty positive. I actually liked how this book added more of the logistics to actually, like, getting a body and having to bring a body out here. Because the original text sort of glosses over that entirely. He's just like. He does some science on a remote island and it's like, well, how.

Agreed.

I'm interested in that. How do you get a body out here?

It is very interesting. Well, and it's like. But see also, though, like, with the logistics, he gets a letter that tells him that the body is ready, which means that someone comes to the island on a regular basis to bring mail, which means that there's yet another person that you could hire to bring you a freaking crate.

Yes. There are so many ways that he could have done this. And it's that, you know, that meet cute or that glue in the romance trope that is supposed to bring them together, right?

Yeah. And it does. It does. She's. She jumps in the water and saves him.

Yep. So, yeah, she. Because she's so strong and so big, she jumps in the water and gets him, brings him back to her house, warms him by the fire, and he meets her children. Which I also noted was very sweet. I really liked it. And it also was a callback to how young William was when the creature killed him, his younger brother. So it was a nice scene. I really liked it. Despite the contrivance of it.

I agree. It's your typical, like, oh, no, get out of these cold clothes and next to the fire and under this blankie type thing. But also her kids are there. So it's not as overtly, you know, romantic y and horny as it normally is. But yeah, I agree though. I think Victor, like, talking to the kids was very sweet. Especially him talking to Kit.

Yeah.

Because he notes that like, your mom just saved my life basically. And Kit hearing this and realizing that like his mother just like single handedly rescued a man from the ocean, is like immediately so proud of her and is like talking about how strong she is. He's like, oh, she can lift nine stone or something like that. And she's like, not that much like, but it's just, it's really sweet. And I think it's, it just really shows that like his earlier behavior is just that like echoed learned behavior. And he has potential to be a sweet person and like a nice person.

Well, and hearing him defend her after she was violent towards him is also a really great indicator that he didn't, it didn't affect him as much as she was afraid that it did.

Yes.

The next night, Victor is attacked by the creature. Victor and Agnes grow closer at that point because she sort of helps to clean his wounds and nurse him. I still didn't see the writing on the wall. I'll say at this point. I still didn't. I was still blindsided later.

Anyway, Beth, I've given you a lot of benefit of the doubt in this. Are you sure that you read romance.

Books like Mr. Policeman? I've given you all the clues.

100%.

Oh yeah. This is where the repeated phrases come in as well when talking about Jamie. So she, she. It's. I will say it's clear that she has a crush on him. I'll say that I didn't. I wasn't ignoring that. I did see that she had a crush on him and she was like, oh man, this is so bad. Like I shouldn't have a crush on him. And I get it. Like that part I got. But I was like, well, still though it can still be salvaged the platonic relationship.

I love, I love how deep in like the denial that you were at this point. Genuinely though, I do enjoy the scene despite the repetition of her, you know, Jamie's story and everything. I enjoy once again, like in my ideal world this just like friends getting to know each other better and him opening up to her more like he doesn't fully open up to her. Obviously he's not going to be like. And then I created an abomination against God, like. But he does open up, like, a bit more to her about what's going on in his life. And I. I like that. I like it when characters are able to, like, prop each other up and help each other out during emotionally difficult times.

Yeah, absolutely. I like the scene, this section a lot, despite the repeated story, repeated phrases and repeated words in that chapter.

Yeah.

So this is where Victor and Agnes kiss. And now it really is Frankenstein fan fiction. And I got so mad at this point. I was livid. Absolutely livid. If only you could see the paragraph that I wrote. It's so long.

It is, I think, the longest portion of our show notes, overall, is. Is this beautiful rant and totally earned rant. I fully agree with every point that you make in this.

I was in it up until this point. I was so in it. I had positive notes. I had written a lot of positive things about it. Despite the copied and pasted stories, despite the repetition, I thought this was going to be an interesting perspective to explore some of the themes that Mary Shelley wrote in Frankenstein, in the sense that she was a woman writing from the perspective of a male character writing about female autonomy. And I thought it would be interesting having a male author writing about a female character exploring the same things from a modern perspective, because obviously, despite being set in 1797, he's writing it from modern times. So I was like, okay, that's a new spin. That's a new perspective. Maybe we'll see that. I don't love hearing from men more often, but it's fine. It seems like it'd be interesting. I wish I had known it was going to be this ahead of time. I truly can't capture the same anger that I felt after this. I put the book down and I didn't pick it up for several more hours because I was very mad about it. The author introduced another love interest that it could have been. It didn't have to be Victor Frankenstein. It could have been Jamie. It could have been anybody. It could have been some other rando. I don't know. It could be anyone.

I personally like. So I could see the romance writing on the wall, obviously. But I also, like, at the same time, I love, love, love, love, love, love Agnes. Friendship with Katie. I thought that that was a beautifully written female friendship from a male author. That was excellent. He did a great job with that. And there are some. We kind of glazed over it because obviously it's not the main focus, but there's some weirdness going on with Katie's husband, where she's talking about how he's becoming, like, weird and distant and stuff. And I sort of thought that they were moving towards Agnes and Katie, planning to, like, run away together to get away from their, like, abusive husbands or something. It comes to nothing. Her husband's fine. Like, there's nothing wrong with him.

I think it's just him being nervous about the pregnancy. I think he's just, like, trying to take care of her.

Yeah.

The other thing I want to say is that there could have been no love interest. I think we've made that clear.

Yeah.

And just, again, female friendship, or even just male female friendship, 100%. Like, that would have been great.

We're gonna get to this, obviously. Because obviously we'll get to this. But Victor basically promises to help Agnes and her kids, and he could have easily done that as a friend and not just as a love interest. And I would have been perfectly content with a story where she is escaping her abusive husband and finding her independence versus where she is now, once again, relying entirely on another man to.

Yeah.

To help her and to get her away from this. And it still. She, at this point, still does not have control over her life.

Exactly. And I think that it would have interfered less with the canon of Frankenstein. Not that this is adding to canon, but it would have interfered less with my, I guess, immersion. Because if this had occurred, there's no way that Frankenstein wouldn't have mentioned Agnes. There's just no way. Even despite the bad things that had happened, he still would have mentioned Agnes de Walton because he's so verbose about his friendships. He spoke so glowingly of Clerval and so much about Elisabeth. And like all of his relationships, he spoke so in so much detail about. And there's just simply no way that he wouldn't have mentioned this significant person in his life during this time. And that kind of brought me out of it. It's just, like, I could accept that he maybe would ignore or that he wouldn't mention somebody who was a housekeeper. I could accept that because he's a rich bastard. Maybe he just didn't, like, see her value, but becoming a love interest and, like, boning her on this island, there's no way. There's just simply no way that he wouldn't have said something about it to Walton, Especially with what happened. Because he's confessing his sins to Walton in the book.

Exactly. And I would argue, too, that even if this had maintained, like, remained a platonic relationship at this point, like, before they. Before the kiss, if everything happened except for the kiss and what came after, I still don't think that Frankenstein would have never mentioned it because this was obviously, she had become a dear friend at that point, at the very least.

Exactly. And again, because he. In the book, he tells Walton all about his friends and definitely would have mentioned Agnes, and it still would have been her choosing. Again, if we're going back to Agnes's story, it still would have been her choosing herself in this moment. Even if she hadn't have chosen the kiss and this romance, she still would have been choosing something for herself in this friendship with Victor because he's an outsider like her. And in a similar vein to Katie, it just would have been an enriching relationship in her life.

I agree.

But also, I understand also, in terms of theming the description of sex, she gets very rough and she says something inside me snaps and that she's a boulder rolling downhill. So in terms of, like, the narrative place this has in the story, I do get it. I just think it could have been accomplished in different ways.

I agree. Yeah. The sex scene, if the sex scene has to be there, it was a decent sex scene. I enjoy that she has autonomy during this sex unlike any other sex that she's ever had in her entire life, which is just with Robert, obviously. But she, like, she's on top. She takes control. Like, she does not let him do what he wants. It's all about her satisfaction. And I'm like, I'm happy for her for that. I don't think that a sex scene in which she has control was the only way of getting her to that point in characterization, though. And I don't think that it is the most fitting way for her to get to that point in characterization. But I acknowledge that for what it is and for what we are getting, which is Frankenstein fan fiction with a hot, tall mommy romance for Victor is.

It's fine.

It's okay. Yeah, it's fine.

It's fine.

I think if I had known going into this that this was gonna be more romance heavy, I would have been fine with it. I think the issue is I didn't really know anything about this, and I love romance novels. I own so many paranormal romance novels, y'all don't even know. But I go into those knowing that I'm getting into a romance novel and that's what I want and expect to read. My issue here is that I wasn't expecting that and it wasn't what I was currently interested in reading. I thought I was reading some cool Added Frankenstein lore.

But I did not consent to this romance.

Exactly.

I. Yeah, I totally agree. I didn't expect it, and I didn't want it. I just feel like it was a clumsy way to establish her independence. It was a clumsy way to establish her realizing her value in her own right, because it's through a man still. And there are so many better ways to do that. And I just think it could have been a lot better. So by this point, I'm out. I'm, like, pretty done with this book. I didn't want to keep reading, but I have fewer points after this. I just kind of was writing down as a matter of rote. So we have directly after this, like.

Agnes is still naked.

Yes, it's a choice to have this happen directly after, but we get the labor of Katie, and the message that is given is that the mother must survive over the baby. However they do both die. It's described in detail the cleaning of the bodies of both bodies and the loving way in which they're arranged. And all of the women of the island come together to clean her and take care of her and the baby.

Yeah, it's a rough section, and this is the part that I had to take a little breather after I read this book almost entirely in one sitting. But this scene is very difficult. And a lot of what comes after it is also very difficult because, like Beth was explaining, it is incredibly touching to see the women of this island come together to ready Katie for burial, because these women have been nothing but assholes the entire time to Agnes. But, like, in this moment, in this task, they are kind of united because it is. It is very much touching on that theme of the miracle of birth, but also the danger that every woman goes through when she gives birth, that every person who gives birth goes through. And it's heartening a bit because it's so hard in this book overall, because Agnes is just like. Nobody is nice to her ever, except for Victor for a really long time, and her kids to an extent. But, like, this is the first time that the other women are kind to her. And it's so heartbreaking that it's. It's because of the. The grim task ahead of them.

Yeah, it's the. The care that's taken with this body is also, again, life and death. So in death, there also is care and it's accepted. And it's something like, for example, in Frankenstein, he doesn't accept death at the beginning, obviously. Later on, he, you know, decides that he can't do it anymore. But it's something that he is very cavalier about. It feels like. And is not, obviously not careful with bodies that he's taking. He's very careless with the rowboat and the cargo, quote, unquote, that he has, which is clearly a woman's body that is from a university. And he doesn't see it as a person anymore. And it's very clear that this community does. And that's a normal way to look at death, 100% so. And that's, again, something that's missing from the original novel. But I think that that's an accurate way that a scientist would view a body and view death a cadaver. So, yeah, I don't think it's a flaw. I just think it's just something that's missing.

And also, not to dwell too much on this scene because it's a hard scene to read, but you mentioned that the message that they give is that the mother must survive over the baby. And I will note that is specifically Agnes, like, saying that because she has her daughter. Go get Victor because she's like, well, he's almost a doctor. He can help. And he immediately suggests basically a Caesarean. But back in the day when it was not a safe process. And Agnes knows that that will mean that Katie will likely die. And she immediately pushes back against it and is like, no, Katie has to live because she loves and cares about this woman so much. And. Yeah, no, I had to take a break. I had to take a break after this. It's rough. It's super rough.

Yeah. Which is the reason for the trigger warning at the beginning, because I feel like I wasn't prepared for this going in and even recapping it. Think I would like to take a very Short break.

Yes, 100%.

So right after that is Katie's funeral. And the community kind of comes together at Katie's husband's house, Tom. And it's. It's also kind of a nice scene where they're celebrating. However, Robert, of course, gets too drunk and she can see the kids are trying to go to, like, are trying to go to sleep. The kids are tired. So she wants to take the kids home. And Robert judges her. He kind of scoffs at her and basically accuses her of not wanting to be there for Tom.

Yeah.

And Robert fucking sucks.

Robert fucking sucks. And I will note, even before this, Victor. Victor had, like, showed up at the burial and he, like, volunteers to stay behind to fill the grave.

Yeah, of course he takes the body, which obviously.

Of course he does. But we don't know that yet. Agnes doesn't know that yet.

I was gonna say, we know that.

We know that. Agnes doesn't know that yet. And then he also shows up to the funeral, to the service. You know, they're all gathering to drink and eat and remember Katie and Tom. Robert is immediately like, what the fuck is this guy doing here? Because he hates him, right? And Agnes, in a very, like, rare occurrence in this book, talks back to him and is like, oh, just let him stay. And Tom luckily speaks up and is like, yeah. Like, he. He was so kind to help fill the grave, Tom. Bless your heart. But he's like, you know, and he tried his best to help, you know, and he lets him stay. But, like, Robert is. He's not fuming. And then she is like, I'm taking the kids home. And he's. Oh, he's even madder.

Yeah. He's like, stay and have fun. Okay.

So fun. Meanwhile, she's, like, carrying around two of her kids that are already asleep. And, like, the other two, even though they're older, they're getting there. Like, dude, yeah.

Let your kids go to bed. Yeah. So, of course, he beats her again, but she fights back this time. And Robert finds out about Victor because she's already packing her bags, isn't she?

Yeah. So when she gets home from the funeral, she starts packing because Victor is basically like, I'll be done with my mysterious work that you can't know about tomorrow morning, and we can leave, like, first thing in the morning. And so she starts packing her bags. This scene, also very sad. She has, like, this trunk that she's putting stuff in, and it's like a quarter full. And she's like, well, that's everything that means anything in my life. Like, it's so. It's so sad.

Yeah.

But Robert comes home, and at this point, she's just like, I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm done with you. And this. I'm leaving the island and I'm taking the kids. And he starts to beat her, and she slams his head against the wall.

Yeah. I thought she was gonna kill him. And I was gonna be like, yes, girl. Same like, murder this man.

But she sees her kids, so she refrains herself.

That's right. So Robert finds out about Victor because he finds the portrait, I believe, doesn't he?

No, the daughter finds the portrait. Later, I think he just put one and one together. Finally, I think Robert did basic math for the first time in his life.

Yeah, that's right. So Robert makes the connection and kicks her out. Walks her out.

She goes to sleep in the shed with the goat. With Daisy?

Yeah. And then she sees lightning coming from the. From Victor's house. So she goes to investigate and she sees Katie's body.

She goes into the forbidden room. There's always that room in every, like, horror book where the guy is like, you can go wherever you want, but never this room. Well, she goes in there, and there's Victor and there's the creature. And there's Katie.

Katie's body. And the baby.

And the baby.

So the creature is demanding that he do it. And he's like, it didn't work or whatever. He refuses to do it. And the creature's like, hey, what about her? Which. Okay, first she's alive. Like, what are you doing? What are you talking about? Yeah, so this, the whole deal is that Victor wants to create life. And the whole deal with the monster is that he wants somebody who is monstrous as him to live with, but also he. The whole idea is that he's a new person. He is like a new life. Is that what they're trying to create? So, like, to be like, what about her? So then, like, kill her and then bring her back. But, like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? I didn't understand the rules. I didn't get the internal logic of this. Because she keeps her memories and of course she does.

100%. You're so valid. Yes, I. This part. This part, this. This whole scene, I hated it. The monster, the creature had revealed himself to Agnes a little bit before this too. Like, yeah, he's like, hey, fuck off. Victor's an asshole. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, he kind of is. And. But, you know, do whatever you want, but for now, leave him alone because he needs to finish his work or whatever.

His work?

Yeah, but yeah, no, like this part, like, even so, maybe this is just me being stupid, but, like, the whole thing with the creature is that he's basically like this new, new species. He's a new thing because he's. He's. He's assembled from multiple corpses and, like, multiple bodies. And he was born when Victor created him and gave him life. Even with Katie, I didn't understand what they were. Like, wouldn't that just bring Katie back?

Yes, that's what I'm saying. None of this makes sense. It's all weird. And I could see, like. I don't know, maybe I'm just extrapolating, but I could see like, a cadaver from a university or something being dead long enough that maybe, like, the. You know, the soul, she wouldn't have her memories because the soul is. Yeah, sure, I could see that maybe.

But, like, I. I don't. I don't agree, though. Like, that's my thing is, like. And that's the thing is because, like, okay, obviously in the original. In the original, like, he gets a brain of some, like, you know, criminal or whatever as the brain, but it's not that criminal. Like, the creature is not the same person of the brain. So obviously the implication is that this is a new living entity with its own soul that came from somewhere who. Who fucking knows?

Yes. And maybe the. I don't know, maybe to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe the cargo wasn't like a body. Maybe the cargo was like a bunch of different parts. Like, that's entirely possible as well. And then he had to improvise on the fly.

But still, like, I can't remember in the original text. In the original text, does it ever give any specificity as to, like, how he creates the bride at all? Okay.

Nope.

Because my assumption when I read the original was that it was the same idea. It was like, get different body parts, assemble them into a person, and find a brain to put in the head.

Yes.

So, yeah, I just. Yeah, I. I don't think that this manner of assembling a bride for the creature would result in the same sort of creature.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. Is that the. I could see. So, okay, so this is what I was going to say before. Maybe to give the benefit of the doubt, maybe the cargo that was arriving was a bunch of different parts from the university, and he was going to assemble the bride and do it, but then he lost it. And then he was despairing and he was like, what am I gonna do? And then he was like, sweet. A fresh body. I'll just use that as an improvisation. And he didn't know if it was gonna work, but the creature was hassling him for something, so maybe that's what happened. And then.

Yeah, I see that.

So I'm like. I'm like, okay, I'm with you so far. Sure. Benefit of the doubt. I don't think it was gonna work. Which it didn't. Okay. But then he's like, give me Agnes. And it's like, what are you talking about? She's still alive.

Yeah.

This is like a bridge too far. I don't get it.

This is also the thing where I feel like in this moment, Victor Both fits his original characterization and is the complete opposite of it at the same time. Because, like, him acquiescing immediately to what the creature wants. Yeah, totally. Definitely. He's a. Ah, yeah, he's a little coward, baby. He's gonna do that. But him immediately betraying a friend and letting her get killed, like, right there in front of him. Baffling. Completely baffling. Also, Also, there's like this weird. There's this weird thing where they say that Katie wasn't strong enough, like, to come back.

That's right.

And then they say that that's when the creature's like, well, what about her? She's. She's. Look how big and tall and strong she is. What about her? I'm like, what does physical strength have to do with the life giving?

Like, yes.

Procedure.

Also, you don't know. You're like a month old. Like, what are you talking about?

What the are you talking about, Adam, Whatever you want to call yourself. Like, what are you talking about?

So then, also, that's part of this book too, is that the creature, like, knows the procedure at this point, and it's like, how. How does he know? Victor barely knows.

Why don't you just go do it yourself then, bro? Like, obviously your creator's a dumbass in a lot of ways, dude. Like, did you see him drop that cargo box in the ocean? Like, do it yourself.

He's a. He's dumb. So then, okay, so then the creature offers. At that point, she, like, wakes up and she's undead or whatever, she's a zombie. And the creature approaches her and says, like, hey, we can be together. And I'm like, this is where my. Anyway, this is where my rant came in about keeping her memories and stuff. And it doesn't make any sense. And he's. So what was his plan? Did he think that she would lose her memories or something? Because, like, if she didn't want you when she was alive, why would she want you now? But at the same time, I do understand in the context of the narrative that, like, having this choice from the creature is part of that narrative where she's choosing not to go with him because she's, you know, chose. She didn't choose to go with Robert. She didn't choose to. Like, Victor offered to take care of her, and she. That was sort of like a choice in choosing Robert. But at the same time, you know, we learn it's not because he's a dick and a coward. And then. So in the context of the book, this is the third thing, and her refusing this offer is that, like, choosing herself and not choosing, you know, a man. Which. Okay, but also. But everything up until that point didn't make any sense. So I'm. I'm less likely to give you that story moment because it doesn't make any sense.

No, a hundred percent. And, like. So here's. Here's the thing with this and what I. So obviously I said. This book got me, like, oh, it pulled a faster on me. Agnes big, big and tall and strong, obvious the bride. Katie potentially being the bride that threw me. I was like, oh, snap, there's a body right there. And then it loops back around to Agnes. I legitimately thought that what was going to happen was the creature was going to be so upset that Katie was not successfully resurrected that he was going to kill Agnes to, like, fuck with Victor again. Because that's what he does. He kills people because Victor won't give him what he wants. And then I thought that Victor was going to be like. I thought he was going to try to bring her back out of grief or something. Like, I am so upset.

Okay, so here's what I would have accepted. Here's what I would have accepted in that scenario is if the creature killed Agnes, because that's what he does. That's his entire MO Is killing everyone around Victor that he's close to. And he, like, knew that they boned because Agnes was confessing it to Katie at her grave, where she wasn't. Obviously she wasn't there, but the creature knew, so he knew that Victor was close to Agnes. So he would kill her. This is my, like, new story.

Yeah, yeah.

He would kill her and then Victor would leave. But somehow, in the, like, context of her being killed in this science lab, maybe the lightning happens and she gets brought back because of, like, the chemicals or something. I don't. I'm not gonna. I'm gonna give as much detail as Mary Shelley did, but, like, maybe I would accept that. I would suspend my disbelief for that. Where she, like, accidentally comes back because of, like, that stuff. Because it's also not Victor's MO to bring people back because he didn't do it for Clairval. So why would he do it for her?

Because he wasn't fucking clear of all.

I mean, we don't know that.

We don't know.

But also I would accept him because he does just leave. That's also. His Frankenstein's MO is just fleeing. And I could see that. I could definitely see that because in the letters, he's like, Somebody from a nearby cottage came and I could see that being the thing that he mentions as part of his story that she died. And it's like, okay, great. Maybe he still thinks she's dead. And maybe the creature does the offer thing. The rest of the book happens.

Yeah.

Like she comes back and blah blah blah. That I could accept. But him killing her. You're completely right. It doesn't make any sense. It's so weird.

It's completely weird. Also, we kind of skimmed over it. I mean we mentioned that the baby was also there. Agnes hears a baby crying as the creature like strangles her.

Yes. Yeah.

Which is the. Is the implication that Katie was weaker than a newborn baby. Like I.

What is this? JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Right. I just. I don't know. It's.

I'm so tired of the weak mom trope. I hate it.

Yeah. It's really sad. Well, and like that's the thing is like obviously they're not talking about physical strength in that. So what are you saying? Are you saying Katie was like weak? Spirited? She wasn't. She was a super tenacious lady. Like she.

Yeah.

I. I don't know. This whole scene frustrated me. And like this following after Katie's death and everything. Like it was. It was so hard to make myself keep reading at this point.

Yeah. And I will say also in the sense of like weakness. Jotaro's mother is also not weak in spirit.

Yeah.

She's also a strong lady. Anyway, that is besides the point. So after this. Yeah. I have so few points. Because I wasn't. And 100%.

100%. She. She tries to go back to her family first.

Yeah. So she goes back to her family and she watches them. She haunts the island. She watches Grace fall apart trying to take care of the family.

It's so sad.

And she talks to Effie.

Yes. Because Effie found that picture.

Effie found the picture. So she ends up talking to Effie and basically says you can't tell anyone. But of course Effie does. She's four. She tells everyone. And Robert thinks that he's being haunted. And he also thinks that she left with Victor because Victor left the island.

No, that's a lie though. That is an active lie on his part. She comes back the same night that she gets resurrected and goes into the house. And Robert sees her like full on in the house dead as fuck. And he's like that bitch ran off with Victor Frankenstein.

Yeah. I don't to that point though. I don't know if he Necessarily put together that she was dead. I think that he could conceivably he could be like, well, she left in the morning or something, or left at some other point. Like, I could, I could sort of see that.

I, I, it's just because of their reaction to her. Her appearance, though.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I could also see him gaslighting himself into thinking that it's not her, but it's some, like, other spirit or something like that. So, yeah, she continues to haunt. She talks to Effie. Effie tells the family that she's still alive. And he and Robert gets upset or whatever and isn't a good parent.

She haunts them again. And basically it tells Robert, you better fucking take care of these kids or I'm gonna kill you.

And that's right.

So he leaves the island with his kids, hopefully to take slightly better care of them. I don't trust that guy at all.

But they leave pretty mad that he lived.

I'm, I was honest. I wanted him to die so badly. Like, yes, obviously it made the kids orphans, and that's sad, but, like, a better orphans than children of that guy, honestly.

Yeah, Tom could take care of 10 kids. He seems good.

I. 100%. Tom was a good guy. Also. They leave Daisy, which is heartbreaking. Daisy's like, standing at the beach watching them sail away. I'm like, you didn't take your fucking goat. Like, are you kidding me?

So Daisy follows Agnes around. Yeah, everybody eventually leaves the rest of the families. At this point, it's kind of unclear as to how much time is passing, because I think Agnes is immortal. She doesn't need to eat.

She tries to kill herself because she, like, goes active haunt mode. And then as soon as everyone leaves, she's like, well, fuck, what do I do now?

I guess the implication is that she also doesn't need to eat, which isn't how Frankenstein's creature works, but that's fine. But she doesn't need to eat. She breaks her leg, and then it doesn't heal. So for the rest of the time, she's just got a limp, which kind of sucks. That sucks a lot. So time passes. She's haunting the island with Daisy. Daisy grows old.

She keeps hearing the crying of the baby, too. This is before Daisy dies.

And then she finds the baby because at first she thought it was her imagination. And then she actually does find the baby in an alcove in a cave. And she realizes that the baby is also mortal. So she burns the baby alive, which is so fun. And Great.

To be fair to her, she does try to, like, snap its neck to give it a quick death first. And it doesn't work. And that's even worse.

So bad. So then the fire makes people aware that there's somebody on the island. Some people visit and she hides and then they leave. Daisy dies. She just grows old. So we get sort of time passing. And it sort of also mirrors her looking out to the ocean, right, where she loses herself for a long time.

And we revisit that because that's all she's doing at this point is just like kind of staring out into the ocean. She's forgetting things from her life. Like, she vaguely remembers names, she vaguely remembers the events that happen, but all she knows at this point is that she's waiting for someone.

And at this point, Hugo Frankenstein visits the island after Victor's notes. And he goes back to the house that Victor was using. And despite the fact that Agnes set a fire in the house, he does find some notes. And Agnes realizes that he's not going to stop, so she tells him that Victor was a coward and. Or, no, she says he was scum and then breaks his neck.

So something I don't think I've mentioned yet is the tonal inconsistency in this book. A lot of it feels very serious, very. You know, we're handling heavy topics and we're talking about it seriously. And then there's other parts, like when bumbling ass Hugo Frankenstein shows up and he is acting like a cartoon villain. Like, not like a scary villain, but like a. Oh, I'm so rich and my daddy has so much money.

Like, yeah, like, very pul. Like, I would call it, like, from, like a pulp magazine sort of thing.

Yeah. And he's just rattling on about how great and smart and wonderful his Uncle Victor was. And I don't know if I was supposed to be taking it seriously or if this was supposed to be like a joke.

Yes, completely. It was. It was so weird and comical. And then. Yeah, she just says he was scum and then kills him. And then his corpse rots.

And then not before she eats his heart, though.

Oh, that's right. She does reach into his chest and eat his heart.

Yeah, she roasts it over the fire and just yum, yum. I. Yeah.

Which again, tonally, is weird.

Yes.

Like, mismatched.

I will say this. Like, we're kind of, you know, perusing through it because not much happens at this point, obviously, aside from these, like, this visit. But tonally, I really enjoyed the ending. I Enjoyed this lonely creature haunting this island. And I genuinely feel like the author came up with this ending and then went on from there. Like his thought was, what if the bride hadn't been destroyed? And then everything else was built off of that.

Yeah. I also like the ending in terms of being contrasted with the beginning, where there's this cavalier attitude about life and how life just happens on this island. And despite there only being 20 people, most of them children, life is easy and is overlooked. And at the end of the book, she's the only thing there. And I wouldn't call what she's doing living.

Yeah.

So there's that contrast happening.

Yeah. So what do you score this book on the OL storygraph scale of 1 to 5?

I hadn't scored it yet, but probably I would give it based on the end. I would say, okay, I would give it a 2.5 purely based on the end. If I'm only judging it by the middle, it's probably like a 2. But because of the beginning and the end, I'm giving it a little bit more. That's how I feel. Yeah, I.

I'm right there with you on that. Actually. I feel like a two and a half is a decent score. Like I said, the beginning and the buildup I really enjoyed. Even getting into Agnes's friendship with Frankenstein, I really enjoyed. It was just the middle section that really brought it down for me. So, yeah, I would say that a 2.5 is a fair score for this book.

Agreed. So let's choose our next book. Let's leave this book behind us. Let's choose the next one. Let's spin the wheel.

Oh, my goodness. It's time to spin the wheel. All right, I am going to spin the wheel to choose our next book that we're going to cover. And as a reminder, our wheel is divided into several categories, and those include just our regular TBR list. Trending recommendations, Seasonal or thematic revisited. Favorites revived from the DNF Graveyard Movie Book Movie, which is still my favorite of the categories, and of course, the one that we just got a book from, Modernized Classic. So here we go.

Ooh.

Interesting trending recommendation is the Wheel slice that has been selected.

Incredible. That's exciting.

That's gonna be interesting. I don't have that many of those in mind because I don't really follow any, like, bookish accounts on most things. I've started more recently just so that I have, like, kind of a finger on the pulse of what people are checking out. So all of mine are probably a little bit older and not trending right this moment. But I think that the one that I would love to read is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia.

Oh, I love that. This one I have read. Oh. So it'll be a reread for me. But that's okay. I love it. I think I have it marked as a favorite perhaps. I don't know. So that's really fun.

Awesome. Yeah, I'm excited to check it out and see what's going on. I've heard a lot of good things about Ms. Moreno Garcia's writing so I'm excited to see for myself.

Okay. So thanks for listening. If you want more from us, our social media is in the show notes as well as a link to our discord where you can join the conversation, suggest books. So get out there and commit some David behavior.

See you next time.

Bye Bye. So Katie lit it.