This book is said to be the first gothic novel ever written. While it begins in a very gothic form, the story line kind of goes downhill the further it goes into events. It begins with the mysterious death of the son of a prince. What is most disappointing about his death is that we never learn how he dies. I guess it is just supposed to be left up to question. After that death and other weird turns of events, the story turns more into a chick novel than it does a gothic one. Two girls both like the same guy but neither can have him and it's just a mess. Also, the novel began with a nice, moderate pace of the story line, but near the end, it's as if Walpole was trying to fit the rest of the story into 10 pages; it all moved so quickly. In the end, I am glad that I read this book, but I was a little disappointed that it wasn't what I expected. I was expecting Frankenstein and instead got a mash-up between Wuthering Heights and and Agatha Christie novel (even though I love Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, and Agatha Christie's works).