Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As a classics fan, there was much about this novel I enjoyed. I liked all the little things this novel taught me about the Shelley's life, particularly in regards to their writing collaboration. It was clearly meticulously researched, and I enjoyed the author's end note discussing their writing process as this project morphed from a more academic piece to a full fledged historical novel.

Unfortunately, the writing style was not for me, largely because it was written in present tense. For whatever reason, using present tense and full names for the characters for the first few chapters made the novel feel impersonal and difficult to visualize. However, putting aside my personal biases, this novel is clearly a formidable feat, both academically and literarily, and I'd like to give a hats off to Harker Shaw for all the work they put into this piece.

Publication Date: May 7, 2024