Thank you for the ARC !

I had high hopes for this book and in the end, my feelings towards it are deeply meh. There is a true delight in reading older litterature because it outlines both how people were deeply dimilar to how they are nowadays, and how very different too. There is something hilarious and endearing at seeing someone care deeply about some detail curent people judge trivial, or appear lackaidaisical towards stuff i deem central, or even accept strange rules about living.

This dissonance is never more present than in Frankenstein, a story so deeply ridiculous and beautiful it can only be genuine. Older stories make sense, of course, but in a very real way, they absolutely don't.

Enters this book, where the author tries to suggest this is such a story, this is a look into a 19th century human... except it's not. It's hardly a story, for starters, but more importantly, it's so reasonnable, so worried you might think it too fantastic or strange, that it all but screams its 21st century origin.
A better reader would probably be able to see past that, but I cant.

As a weird history buff this book was right up my alley.

I throughly enjoyed the way that Sandner immerses the reader into a piece of history. If this had just been Sandner giving us their take on how Mary obtains her husband's unburned heart than this would've easily been a four star read.

Unfortunately, it is separated into two parts and the additional part felt really out of place.

And it's possible it only felt out of place to me but I really didn't enjoy the twelve additional recountings of Percy's passing.

But nonetheless I enjoyed this and will be reading more from this series of books.

~

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time reading this book. While a clever idea, it was hard to follow and hard to get into.

This take on Mary Shelley and her grief in the wake of her husband's death is rich in imagery and intensity. Any fan of Frankenstein and/or its author will enjoy this quick read.

As a huge fan of the Shelleys I sometimes struggle reading fiction based off their lives but I really enjoyed this one and the way it approached a fascinating and heartbreaking period for them. I really liked the way it played with form, the two different sections feeling unique but connected still. The writing style felt somewhat literary and was beautifully done, nicely setting the period and lending a strong voice to the story.

In this book there’s two parts in both subjects of each one or Marie Shelley the stories touch on problems at that time and the death of Lord Byron and I found the first one to be so creepy but boat have such an awesome feeling of authenticity and an original take on Marie Shelley Frankenstein and Lord Byron. I thought the author had a great knack for using few words to entirely explain what was happening and for the progression of the story. I am definitely 100% going to be down loading other books by the author the only other person I’ve seen write like this author is one of my favorite horror writers who I won’t mention here because the book is not about him but OMG this is my favorite book so far from the theories and I really loved the last one that was about Frankenstein not all the books are about that nor are they all historical just a coincidence but either way this is a great great book a total five star read and one I definitely absolutely recommend.His Unburned Heart by David sander is the fourth book in the Selected Papers From The Consortium For The Study Of Anomalous Phenomena A multi author anthology. I want to thank our DS publishing for my free arc copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

this book definitely fits the cover art very well. it was definitely easy to read and get through! grammarly there were a few problems for sure *commas galore*
i did think this books tone based on synopsis and cover was going to be a little more creepy/paranormal. but as i said i think it fits the book nicely.
the main character was likable and i felt for her situation. in all 3/5 stars. it is just not my type of read!

“There, in the charred lump of his unburned heart, in its impossibility, my story lies.”

His unburned heart is a beautifully written novella retelling the story of Mary Shelley keeping her husbands heart after it failed to burn in his cremation.
The writing is so lyrical which I loved! I highly recommend this book for fans of the Shelley family!

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Raw Dog Screaming Press for an advance copy of this novella about the death, love, those who wish to control the legacy of art, and the ways that people deal with loss, and comes after.

Grief I have always felt is the most universal of emotions. Some might never feel love, some might forgive instead of anger, but everyone has lost something, be it a person, ideals, dreams. We grieve for those things that we lose, and sometimes do things we regret later because of it. While grieving we usually blame ourselves, and imagine, if not by a bedside, or on a boat with our lost loved one what their last moments were. Was there blame cast on the living? A curse before the end? Did they know it was the end? All questions that haunt. Especially a writer of rare abilities who has lost so much. His Unburned Heart by David Sandner is a novella about Mary Shelley and the days following the loss of her husband, and what the author of Frankenstein imagined his last moments were.

This is a novella broken into two parts. On a beach in Tuscany, Italy during the year of 1822 a group of men have come to cremate the body of the poet, Percy Shelley who drowned with a companion in a boat accident. In attendance is his publisher Leigh Hunt, the adventurer and supposed-mystic Edward John Trelawny and Lord Byron. Disguised as a footman is Mary Shelley, whose presence was banned as this was a ceremony for men, not women, nor wives. Mary watches as Trelawny pulls out the unburned heart of her husband and gives it to Hunt. Before the bones have even cooled Mary visits Hunt and ask for the heart of her husband, but is told that Mary had no appreciation for Percy, her words have been hurtful, and the legacy of the poet should be kept safe with him. Mary is stunned, hurt and realizes that even with her great gifts, she is still a woman, and has no rights to even the heart of her love, in this world. The second part is Mary coming to grip with her loss, and her guilt for holding her husband up, allowing him to be caught in a storm and dying. Mary imagines different scenarios of Shelley's death each one adding to the guilt that is eating at her from the inside.

This novella has not only some of the best writing I have read in quite awhile, but is some of the most powerful writing I have read. Sandner in this short piece has gotten to the heart of loss, the confusion, the fact that people continue on while a person has died, and maybe those people were never the people you thought they were. There is a pain that leaves no mark that Mary is feeling, and the words and actions show this. Sandner uses words like a painter setting scenes, drawing emotions, and capturing the era, with phrases, words and descriptions. At one point a character uses the F-word and instead of shocking, one gets a true feeling that the character knows there is no coming back. The end is here, and only one word can convey it. I'm not ashamed I have read it twice, and when it comes out will buy it to read it again. A really amazing work, one I didn't want to end, but understand why it had to.

This is the first that I have read by David Sandner either fiction, nonfiction or edited. I plan to amend that quite quickly. A really beautiful work. One that even as I sit here typing I can't help but stop and think about.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of His Unburned Heart.

The style and choice of wording really set the era well. The descriptions and exchanges described also helped immerse the reader to the time and place. The topic was so intriguing to me. How did Shelly die, why will his heart not burn?

The beginning of the story is so captivating. The feelings Mary shares with us is so detailed and colored. The notion of where women stood in society during this time is drawn prominently. Mary shows cleverness with aid finding a way to attend the funeral after finding all women banned, even being his wife.

The story did lose me after Mary gives quite a childish display after thieving back her husband’s heart. It confused me and left me in a dislike after having establishing in my mind a woman of great educational interest. Even given flashbacks of scholarly viewings and reveling in recounting them later with her husband.

The latter part of the story reveals great pains Mary went through placing her in a certain mind frame during her last moments with her husband right before his fatal voyage. It was so sad for Mary. How she got along is a wonder.

First time reading David Sandner, but have enjoyed the books in this series. This probably wasn't my favorite in the series, but it was enjoyable. #HisUnburnedHeart #NetGalley

This was a great fourth book in this series, it had everything that I enjoyed from the other three books. The concept was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of the characters in this world. I loved the idea of Mary Shelley going on a quest to save her husband’s heart.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

I love David Sandners writing style in this and I enjoyed this story. That being said, I feel like the second part with the snippets was unnecessary and I think we could have touched upon what happened with Byron and Allegra a bit more. Had that happened this book would have been 5 stars, and had those snippets not been added this would be 4 stars.

Strong 3.75

Loved the story line. 5 star read for me. Loved reading this book so much!!! I recommend this book to everyone.

Poetic prose weaves through the story of Mary Shelley’s loss of her husband, Percy. This was an interesting take on Mary’s state of mind and heartache around a time of great loss. As she deals with depression and misogyny, she fights to keep what she feels belongs to her-her late husband’s heart. The author presents her anguish in a desperate way, while painting a heartbreaking view of her mind’s attempt to unravel the mystery of Percy’s death, and the agony of the loss of a child. What this story does best of give Mary a voice, and a chance to tell her side of the story-at a time when women were silenced or told to know their place.

I enjoyed this historical fiction story that revealed more of Mary Shelley than just being known as the author of Frankenstein. The language is rich and lyrical, and gives Mary’s grief a place to be known.

I requested His Unburned Heart on Netgalley as I’ve always found both this period of history and the lives of the Shelleys fascinating. Also, anything published by Raw Dog Press is guaranteed to be of high caliber.
This is a novella that combines fact and fiction superbly. The true back story is fascinating and temptingly macabre. Its immersion in Gothic romance only adds to the mood. A lot can be learned about the role of women here, and of how certain characters within this period of history sought and fought to change things for the better, Mary Shelley included. She was so young, but quite a formidable character. Truly remarkable.
The second half, The Journal of Sorrow, sees Mary imagining different scenarios regarding the facts about her husband’s death, as no one really knew what happened on that fateful sailing. This worked well, as I believe it’s exactly what one might do under such circumstances. That said, the author took a risk in writing in this format, but for me it worked.
Intelligently written literary horror. I really enjoyed it.
My thanks to the author and press for providing an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and RDS Publishing for an advanced copy of His Unburned Heart by David Sandner.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 - I honestly wish I could give this an in-between rating, because I don't feel like this was quite 4 stars, but it was definitely better than just 3 stars.

His Unburned Heart was a short story told in two separate parts about Mary Shelley attempting to retrieve her deceased husband's heart from his publisher, and various journal accounts of what she believes to have happened to her husband while he was at sea, at the time of his death.

I feel like this was an interesting perspective about Mary Shelley, and the grief she suffered in tandem with the misogyny she dealt with during this time of her life. The second half was definitely much harder to follow as it was written in a journal entry form and were different musings of what she thought had happened to her husband. It took me a while to figure out that that was what was happening because of the back and forth nature of the journal. Overall this was well written and enjoyable, but I did still have some lingering questions by the end. I think the issue I mostly had was the length, and that this would have probably benefited from more details to wrap things up in a more conclusive way.

A beautifully written exploration into the death of Shelley and the grief and love of wife Mary Shelley.

I loved this telling and found myself deeply immersed into the 19th century Gothic reimagining. Such a gorgeously thought out story and the addition of Mary Shelley’s “the journal of sorrow” was a beautiful addition the book along with the collection of imaginings of Shelley on the boat.

I really enjoyed this novella and would like to tank Net Galley and RDS Publishing/Raw Dog Screaming Press for this Arc.

Sandner's prose in His Unburned Heart is pretty captivating, weaving a story of emotion and atmosphere. I found myself drawn in by the raw humanity depicted within its pages. Sandner explores themes of grief, love, and the thin veil between the seen and unseen worlds. The characters are richly drawn, each with their own complexities and depths. Sandner's storytelling shines brightly in this story. Overall, I think this was a really great novella and I enjoyed reading it immensely.

Thank you to NetGalley and RDS for providing me with this ARC. Although this book was provided, all opinions are my own.

A marvelous, richly written historical account of Shelley's death, and Mary Shelley reclaiming something for herself. When Shelley dies, Mary is not allowed to go his cremation because she's not a man - and she has to face that some people she believed to be "their" friends were actually her husband's friends. This novella is about grief and love, but also about rebellious women who dress as men to sneak into lectures and other places that they are banned from.

The second half of the novella is a series of imaginings of what might have happened on that boat where Shelley died. It's a bit dream-like, a bit abstract, and I enjoyed it less than the first half, but it was still beautifully written.