Book: The Madman's Daughter
Author: Megan Shepherd
Pages: 468
How Long it Took Me to Read: 2 days.
Plot Summary: In the darkest places, even love is deadly.
Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.
Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.
Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.
General Thoughts and Review: I don't know how or where I heard of this book but it sounded fascinating. A gothic horror type novel always gets me excited! Now, I haven't read The Island of Dr. Moreau, but like most classics I had a vague idea about the plot. So I knew what the premise of that book was and a re-telling of it sounded pretty amazing. I do want to read the original now...because I feel odd about having read a re-telling but not the original book. Also, I haven't read any H.G. Wells and I would like to change that as soon as I can!
I really enjoyed this book, I liked the writing and I liked the characters and the pace at which the book moved.
I really liked Juliet, she was sensible, smart, independent and sweet. I liked hearing her thoughts and seeing the island and it's creatures through her eyes. I also liked her almost romance with Montgomery- oh and I liked Montgomery himself! :)
The creatures were less of monsters and more gentle beings to me and I really felt sad about what they had gone through and I liked them. I thought the islands creatures were very well done.
There is a twist in the end which I had sorta guessed...in part, but the whole truth definitely shocked me! It was a good twist.
I also liked that Dr. Moreau remains a total villain...he is horrible but great to read about.
I do recommend this book, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and getting lost in this world and I am really curious to read the second book in the series which is a re-telling of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It sounds amazing.
Rating: 4/5
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