Somehow, this book takes an enormous amount of elements (and three genres! This is a gothic victorian sci-fi!) and balances them perfectly. It's slow-moving, but deliciously so. Mary is a fabulously nuanced protagonist on a journey of grief, reflection, ambition and awakening, and the way McGill wrote her inner world had me scrambling for a highlighter. Maisie, Mary's sister-in-law and love interest is a really delightful character and, from my limited perspective, a refreshingly honest and sympathetic portrayal of someone who lives with chronic illness. Henry, Mary's husband, is one of the most frustrating characters I've come across in a while... but realistically so. I've met many a Henry and at no point did I question why Mary had been drawn to him in the first place, or why she's pulling away from him now.

This is an eARC that I was able to read in exchange for my honest thoughts and review, with thanks to Random House Transworld Publishing and NetGalley.Mary wants to be known for her scientific mind, but as a woman in the 1850s, this is going to be so much more difficult than it would be for a man. She works alongside her geologist husband, Henry, but without money or connections, their options are limited. Content warnings: misogyny (challenged), homophobia (challenged), sexual assault, murder, racism (challenged) The pacing of this novel did the story a huge disservice. While I enjoy a well done atmospheric ‘vibes over plot’ storyline, I still require thematic contemplation to occupy my mind. Almost 60% of this book was dedicated to simple day-to-day recounting. Various scientific presentations, diner parties, conversations occur to hound in the fact that the 19th century was deeply misogynistic and racist. I did not need that many chapters to explain to me why exactly Mary was so angry. Our Hideous Progeny is a masterpiece of literary writing. The style makes me want to compare CE McGill to Charlotte Bronte - the words just flow so easily as if CE McGill could write a story in their sleep. C.E. McGill's Our Hideous Progeny is a brilliant, necessary reworking of the Frankenstein trope. In it McGill explores and questions relationships across the gender binary and documents the ways that equivalent actions by men and women can be viewed in completely different (and damning) ways.

McGill's prose is rich and atmospheric, perfectly capturing the eerie and foreboding tone of the Gothic tradition. The characters are complex and layered . . . Our Hideous Progeny is a masterful work of Gothic horror that will leave readers on the edge of their seat. GLAMOURI was in absolute awe of just how immersive the descriptions were and loved that it really delves into the inequalities of the Victorian era and the classist, sexist and racist attitudes which were prevalent and still very much relevant today. Historical fiction with a dark twist in the spirit of Circe, Ariadne, and Mexican Gothic, Our Hideous Progeny is a brilliant revisiting of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein that unfolds with a fresh, provocative, queer twist.

She knew she had a great-uncle who had been a scientist, went mad, and died in the arctic, but knew little else about him. When she uncovers the notebook kept by that great-uncle, Victor Frankenstein, she proposes to Henry that they build on his work.I think the main problem is that I went into this story expecting something that it was not. Frankenstein as a character is deeply unlikable, morally ambiguous and his descent into madness is fascinating to read about. Mary, however, is meant to be likable. She has a strong head on her shoulders and the reader is supposed to sympathize with the hardships she faces. And unfortunately that does not make her very interesting to me considering this is a gothic novel. I wanted to root for an unhinged female character who was difficult to defend. I wanted so much more gritty darkness than what we got. But after uncovering clues to her great uncle’s disappearance, Mary devises a plan to realize her ambitions. Like Victor Frankenstein did long ago, she and Henry will create life. No one will be able to ignore their achievement—the scientific community must accept them if they succeed. For fans of queer fiction, imaginative historical fiction, admirers of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (of course!), and readers fascinated by dinosaurs and paleontology. BOOKLIST

But on the precipice of success, Mary begins to question the ethics and morality surrounding their creation and the love that she has developed for the creature. Readers of science fiction will find this title a "ripping good yarn," but readers looking for something more substantial than entertainment will find in Our Hideous Progeny a wealth of ideas—and it's those readers who will, I think, most appreciate this title. A wonderful book; dark, passionate, multi-layered and rich with enticing detail. JOANNE HARRIS, author of CHOCOLAT and THE STRAWBERRY THIEF

Besides previous scientific discoveries and paradigms, the story was also centred around the position of women in science, featuring Mary in an almost activist-y role. It was aggravating to see how her knowledge and intelligence was constantly undermined, ridiculed and shoved aside, and how her position became more and more vulnerable each day. It was maddening to see how men were favoured in high societies, just for gender reasons, and although I myself have not experienced this first-hand, I felt the rage in Mary’s narration, and it has been long since I lived through a fictional character so vicariously.