In the sequel to the critically acclaimed The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and the rest of the daughters of literature’s mad scientists embark on a madcap adventure across Europe to rescue another monstrous girl and stop the Alchemical Society’s nefarious plans once and for all.
Mary Jekyll’s life has been peaceful since she helped Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solve the Whitechapel Murders. Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein, and Mary’s sister Diana Hyde have settled into the Jekyll household in London, and although they sometimes quarrel, the members of the Athena Club get along as well as any five young women with very different personalities. At least they can always rely on Mrs. Poole.
But when Mary receives a telegram that Lucinda Van Helsing has been kidnapped, the Athena Club must travel to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to rescue yet another young woman who has been subjected to horrific experimentation. Where is Lucinda, and what has Professor Van Helsing been doing to his daughter? Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, and Justine reach her in time?
Racing against the clock to save Lucinda from certain doom, the Athena Club embarks on a madcap journey across Europe. From Paris to Vienna to Budapest, Mary and her friends must make new allies, face old enemies, and finally confront the fearsome, secretive Alchemical Society. It’s time for these monstrous gentlewomen to overcome the past and create their own destinies.
Going back to the Athena Club felt like coming home, and even though I enjoyed this book a little less than the first, I still had a wonderful time with it.
This instalment leans much more into travel and adventure, and at times the plot feels a bit meandering, almost like the characters are getting lost in side quests. It is still very enjoyable, but it feels less tightly cohesive than book one. That said, the characters and the tone once again do most of the heavy lifting, and they carried me through even the messier parts without much effort.
One of my absolute highlights was the travel itself. Following the group across Europe, on the famous Orient Express and through places like Germany, Austria, and Hungary, was an absolute joy. It all felt well researched and thoughtfully woven into the story, adding texture and atmosphere while also giving the characters room to grow and react to the world beyond England.
I also really appreciated how the book handles relationships. There are sapphic vampires, casual relationships, and emotional connections, but this is still very much not a romance novel. Romance exists on the edges, not at the centre, and it never takes over the story. Women get to have lives, goals, agency, and messy feelings that have nothing to do with finding a man, which still feels like such a rare and refreshing thing in female-led fantasy.
This book is noticeably darker than the first. It tackles harder topics and does not shy away from grief, loss, and the uglier realities of the time. Servants are expendable, women are locked away for “hysteria,” and the past weighs heavily on several characters.
“For the first time, Mary understood the attraction of coffee. If you have been up all night, escaping from a burning mental asylum or fighting men who refuse to die when you shoot them in the forehead, or both, coffee is the perfect beverage.”
There are important deaths, and moments where the story genuinely hurts. And yet, despite all of that, the heart of the series remains intact. It is still charming, often silly, deeply hopeful, and grounded in the idea that survival is easier when you face life together.
“You are too kind and generous,” said Justine. Irene smiled. “Or really, really mad at those bastards. When I shoot a man, I expect him to die!”
The side characters, secret plots, spies, and twists do get a bit over the top at times, to the point where even the characters admit they are no longer sure what is really going on.
“DIANA: Well, how was I supposed to know that?
MARY: Maybe because we mentioned it over and over again?
DIANA: You’re assuming that I listen.”
For me, that tipped from fun chaos into slight overload now and then, but it never fully broke my enjoyment.
A special mention has to go to the audiobook narration. The narrator does an impressive job with the many foreign languages sprinkled throughout the story. German, French, and even Hungarian sounded surprisingly natural to my ear, which is rare enough that it really stood out and added to the immersion rather than pulling me out of it.
The book also continues its thoughtful engagement with women’s rights and expectations of the time, often with humour but always with intent.
“One does not have to dress in a way that is unflattering, or even unfashionable, to be rational and comfortable. How can you expect women to exercise their faculties, nay, their rights, in clothes that confine them?”
Overall, this book deepens the world of the Athena Club, even if it loses a bit of the tight focus of the first. It trades some cohesion for scope, travel, and emotional weight, and while it did not quite reach the same heights for me, I was still very glad to be along for the ride.
Witty, character-driven, and richer in scope, this sequel sends the Athena Club across Victorian Europe, mixing reimagined monsters, found family warmth, and darker historical realities into a story that is still full of charm and heart. Messier and more ambitious than book one, it remains a deeply enjoyable, hopeful continuation that made me very happy to spend more time with these characters.
Jennie Ivins
Stuart Cripps-Schnoor