Victor Frankenstein is a brilliant young man studying the alchemical arts, but the scorn and mockery of his classmates drives him to ambitiously pursue human reanimation, no matter the cost. Elias Hilfiker, the
boy Victor chooses to remake into a monster, awakens in agony, covered in scars from Victor’s deranged experiments. Rejected by his family, furious, and fueled by vengeance, Elias chases Victor across the continent as the wayward alchemist searches desperately for a way to repair his greatest misdeed.
Fun fact about me: In 10th grade I won my high school fanfic contest (something put on by the librarians) with a piece of gay Frankenstein fanfiction (between Victor and Henry), so Adam, Mine is pretty uniquely up my alley! I’ve read three other books by K. Ancrum and Adam, Mine has their signature short chapters and dreamlike chronology. It’s maybe more philosophical than their other books, as each of the alchemists that Victor and Elias visit kind of challenge them and their morality in different ways.
The actual narrative is very different from the original Frankenstein since it happens over a much shorter period of time and involves Victor going to each of these alchemists instead of kind of being aimlessly on the run. I have kind of mixed feelings about the structure, just because it ends up being a little fetch-quest-y if you know what I mean, but I did like the different perspectives each alchemist offered. Eventually, it feels less like Elias is actively chasing Victor and more like they’re each on their own journeys to get to a place where they can understand and forgive themselves and one another. I liked the emotion-sharing because it reminded me of the body-sharing in The Corruption of Hollis Brown which is probably my favorite of Ancrum’s book so far, and it’s kind of a way to encourage sympathy in an otherwise very distant relationship.
Unlike Ancrum’s other books, there really isn’t a romance here. Elias and Victor do have kind of a weird nemesis/brother/platonic soulmate thing going on but there’s nothing romantic about it. It’s Romantic but not romantic (a little joke for the English nerds). Still, it’s a very emotional story and I think both the rawness and the intimate-but-adversarial relationship between Victor and Elias do give it some of the essence of the original story while also effectively standing alone as a unique narrative. I don’t know what to make of the ending but that’s also maybe true to the original.
Obviously, I already have my eye on Ellie Ellie coming early next year. K. Ancrum’s stories are persistently unique and I continue to look forward to seeing what they come up with!
Thank you to K. Ancrum and HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Happy reading!
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