I've never personally seen the original source material, but I am aware of the importance of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and his place in cinematic history. So, it was very interesting to me to discover that a woman was behind it even if it wasn't completely surprising. Frankenstein is still recognized to be the first sci-fi/horror novel by most, the world would have you believe that horror is strictly a boys club. But it's not. While highlighting one woman's story in particular, this book serves to shine a light on how much of a presence women have had in the genre. Even if one is not a huge movie buff, I would recommend this book.

That said, there are a few drawbacks to the book. While overall the tone of the book was refreshing compared to other biographies or non-fiction books, at time the conversational tone did grate especially when the author allowed the completely understandable bitterness and anger over not just what happened to Milicent but herself spill over into the story. There was a lot of leading into that these specific men were assholes, which is something that even the most unobservant of readers would have known based on the subject matter. A good portion of the chapters also ended in 'cliffhanger' style which is tedious in fiction if it is overdone. In non-fiction it's annoying and unnecessary especially given that we knew going in who the big bad who stole her credit was going to be.

Overall it is a good book as it sheds a light on someone that otherwise may have been forgotten completely by Hollywood history.