'Mary Shelley' with words and art by David Vandermeulen is part 2 of a historical fiction graphic novel. I enjoyed the first part about poet Percy Bysse Shelley, and I was looking forward to seeing how Mary Shelley's story was going to be told.

Percy and Mary are in love, but Mary's father disapproves. He's probably right. Percy is a womanizer and really bad at managing money and travel. When travel mishaps with the couple and Mary's sister Claire lead them to Switzerland and Lord Byron, we read the events leading up to the haunted Summer where the novel Frankenstein was born. Then the story takes a weird abrupt turn.

I liked the first graphic novel and the first half of this one. Historical fiction can take some liberties with events and this one does, but then it heads off into apocalyptic territory and I didn't hate it, but it just left me scratching my head. I like the art well enough. I just wish the author had stayed true with the work previously done in the first book.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I really enjoyed the first graphic novel in this series, so I was excited to pick up number 2. The story was fine until it when off the rails into a crazy dystopian mess. I thought this was supposed to be semi autobiographical but wow it's not. Won't be continuing.

Thank you to the creators and to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this comic.
I started reading not knowing exactly what I had in my hands, I am a Romanticist, so I was obviously excited to read about my people, only to realise there was little of the real them at the core of this book. The story begins with the first of the Shelley-Wollstonecraft-Clairmont European tours, which made me think this was a biographical account. I couldn't be more wrong! The authors have used certain biographical elements to create their own story: and, in my opinion, it is not a very good story (it is not original, it doesn't bring anything to the table*, it is not entertaining). The writing isn't good either (which might be an issue with the translation) and the characterization is poor at best: the male characters are given some archetypical features that vaguely resemble what has permeated popular culture of their actual character (Byron is a dick, Shelley a naive idealist), the women... are empty smiling vessels. [SPOILERS AHEAD] *I have several issues with the idea of the surviving (civilised) people starting anew in Versailles. This is 1816, how... dare you...? Everything from this point onwards just goes downhill: Allegra Byron is a boy in this story, only because they needed Byron to, at one point, call her/him "the heir apparent". God forbid the baby were a girl! We don't want a new world where girls can be heirs apparent! Which brings me to my next point: civilisation is decimated and you... establish a constitutional monarchy? Which then the c18 most famous republicans (and an anarchist) fully support and integrate? And that's not even the worst thing! There are "groups of primitive uncivilised people" called "monkeys" that contrast with the elevated, pure surviving aristocrats in Versailles.

Just... no.

The true story of the Romance poets and Mary Shelly and her ilk makes good fodder for a great story, so I was looking forward to this second book in the series.

It starts off well, with Mary follow Percy to France and then to Switzerland, where she will write Frankenstien.

But then, the story goes off the rails, from based on actual fact, to putting Mary into her other novel, The Last Man, where the plague wipes out civilization. We see her wandering around the world without people.

Why? Why do that? The real life of Mary Shelley is fascinating, the characters quirky, and it could have made a great second book.

So, no, I can't recommend it. It isn't what it says on the tin.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review

Unfortunately I must say that I didn't enjoy this book. It was fine in the first part because it mostly followed the true story and events of Mary and Percy Shelley but then things started to get weird. I don't why but at one point the story morphed from reality to fiction and Mary, Percy Shelley and Byron became the characters of <i> The last man </i> by Mary Shelley herself. The second half of the book had many similarities with the plot of this novel. I didn't like this choice.