Strange Star

Felix is excited for this evening's gathering at Lord Byron's house.  He's hoping for the opportunity to serve the guests because tonight the guests are supposed to tell stories to scare Lord Byron, and Felix knows it will be good. 

But the stormy night is interrupting by a pounding on the door.  When Felix opens it, he discovers a girl collapsed on the ground.  Lizzie has traveled from England to Switzerland to tell her tale and to seek justice. 

It is a tale of lightning strikes, death, and abuse at the hands of a clever, but immoral scientist. 

It is a tale that will inspire one of the most enduring horror stories of all time, the tale of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I really wanted to like this new book by Emma Carroll, and there were parts of it I really did, but it just seemed really disjointed to me.  Why begin the story with Felix, a former African slave and then just go nowhere with that plotline?  Lizzie's story is compelling, but the structure just didn't feel right to me.