Scan barcode
A review by maniikoi
Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Stephanie Hemphill
5.0
I got this book directly from the publisher for no cost as part of the Goodreads First Reads Program.
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this book to start reading and realized that the story was told in poetry, which is quite fitting since Percy Shelley was a poet. The two opening poems were a perfect way to start off the story of Mary Shelley. The open poem, ‘I Am Mary’ is very easy to relate too, and I can admit that I have thought and felt the very same many times in the past. While the poem, ‘My Mother’ was very endearing; it brought me to a deep, vulnerable part of my soul when I read that one.
The whole story is about Mary Shelley’s life, before and after she met the love of her life, Percy Shelly. It tells the story of a young woman who leaves her life behind and forsakes everything in the name of love and free will to live life without social restrictions. Percy Shelley, at the time is married to another woman, Harriet, but falls in love for Mary and they end up eloping despite her family’s disapproval and rebukes.
It is equal parts sad and inspiring, and altogether something someone can relate to in at least one way or another, and that’s what’s good about this novel - It connects with the reader on so many different levels. The story of what happened to her mother was sad, along with what happened to her first child. “My own mother died eleven days after my birth, and my baby lived only eleven days.” It grieved me to read that she ended up losing her first three children to illness. No mother should have to bury their child; no mother deserves to see their little one taken before their time.
I envy that Mary Shelley got to go out and see the world; she got to see so many amazing and beautiful places. It is very inspiring to read a story like this one. Even with the grievances and the tragedies that she faced she strived to carry on despite those dark days. That is something that is very hard to do, and I commend her for that; she is a very strong woman to have gotten to where she is and keep going no matter what.
Stephanie Hemphill did a remarkable job writing this amazing story about the life of Mary Shelley. It was a very interesting read, it definitely did its job of keeping me intrigued. And it definitely inspired me to try to get my hands on a copy of Frankenstein.
Hideous Love is very much like a biography, but not so. Stephanie Hemphill wrote the story in such a way that it was as though Mary Shelley herself was writing this, in a journal. The emotions, the events, it told of everything and anything that was happening, as one would do when writing in their journal. It was great. It definitely appealed to me in that aspect. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this, it was just great. I really enjoyed reading this one.
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this book to start reading and realized that the story was told in poetry, which is quite fitting since Percy Shelley was a poet. The two opening poems were a perfect way to start off the story of Mary Shelley. The open poem, ‘I Am Mary’ is very easy to relate too, and I can admit that I have thought and felt the very same many times in the past. While the poem, ‘My Mother’ was very endearing; it brought me to a deep, vulnerable part of my soul when I read that one.
The whole story is about Mary Shelley’s life, before and after she met the love of her life, Percy Shelly. It tells the story of a young woman who leaves her life behind and forsakes everything in the name of love and free will to live life without social restrictions. Percy Shelley, at the time is married to another woman, Harriet, but falls in love for Mary and they end up eloping despite her family’s disapproval and rebukes.
It is equal parts sad and inspiring, and altogether something someone can relate to in at least one way or another, and that’s what’s good about this novel - It connects with the reader on so many different levels. The story of what happened to her mother was sad, along with what happened to her first child. “My own mother died eleven days after my birth, and my baby lived only eleven days.” It grieved me to read that she ended up losing her first three children to illness. No mother should have to bury their child; no mother deserves to see their little one taken before their time.
I envy that Mary Shelley got to go out and see the world; she got to see so many amazing and beautiful places. It is very inspiring to read a story like this one. Even with the grievances and the tragedies that she faced she strived to carry on despite those dark days. That is something that is very hard to do, and I commend her for that; she is a very strong woman to have gotten to where she is and keep going no matter what.
Stephanie Hemphill did a remarkable job writing this amazing story about the life of Mary Shelley. It was a very interesting read, it definitely did its job of keeping me intrigued. And it definitely inspired me to try to get my hands on a copy of Frankenstein.
Hideous Love is very much like a biography, but not so. Stephanie Hemphill wrote the story in such a way that it was as though Mary Shelley herself was writing this, in a journal. The emotions, the events, it told of everything and anything that was happening, as one would do when writing in their journal. It was great. It definitely appealed to me in that aspect. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this, it was just great. I really enjoyed reading this one.