by Megan Shepherd
Hardcover, 420 pages
Published January 29th 2013 by Balzer + Bray
ISBN 0062128027 (ISBN13: 9780062128027)
Blurb
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.
The Good
- The creepiness. I adore pretty much anything written by H. G. Wells, and the creepiness of his original story shines through beautifully in this retelling. The book is jam packed with vivisections, half-men, monsters, and of course secrets, secrets, secrets everywhere.
- Juliet’s inner darkness. I really enjoyed Juliet’s strugle with her inner darkness. She knows her father is mad and immoral, but there is still a part of her that reaches forward into the shadows, curious to learn more.
- Edward’s secret past. When we finally figure out exactly what the hell is going on with Edward, I can say I was really and truly surprised. Looking back, there are clues throughout the narrative, but they’re so subtle I didn’t notice them at all until they were pointed out. Was his secret believable? Probably not, but with a book like this, the more outrageous an outcome, the better.
- The ending. Man oh man, that ending! Shepherd did a fantastic job leading the reader to believe one thing and then coming out of left field with something completely different.
The Bad
- The animal abuse. Throughout the story, there are many instances of blatant, overly descriptive animal abuse. Chopping and twisting heads off bunnies, vivisection, ripping limbs off—the list goes on and on. These parts of the novel were very difficult to read. If you’re sensitive to things of this nature, I would caution you to either prepare yourself to be upset or avoid this one altogether.
- The gore. Tying into the animal abuse, the sheer amount of blood and gore sprinkled throughout the story is a little overwhelming sometimes. Even for those not particularly sensitive to animal abuse, the violence might be a bit much.
Overall Rating
I am a huge fan of the original story “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, and this retelling does not disappoint. The creepiness and darkness of the original story is retained, and Juliet’s struggle with her inner darkness is particularly interesting. The amount of animal abuse and gore might be a bit much for some people though, so I would caution those sensitive to such things to heavily consider if this is the right book for them before picking it up.
