Author: Megan Shepherd
# of Pages: 309 (Ebook)
Challenge: 2013 Ebook Challenge
Rating: 1.5 stars
Goodreads 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.
My Thoughts
The Madman's Daughter had a very promising beginning. I was hooked within the first few pages and could not read it fast enough. Unfortunately, the remainder of the story went steadily downhill.
I really enjoyed the first seven chapters. We meet Juliet and find that she is smart and tough. And I was just as curious as she was to know what her father had done to cause such rumors to be spread. I instantly liked Montgomery despite his secretive nature. I was eager to know more about him, and hoped he and Juliet would get together.
Cue Edward and the unwelcome turn of the story.
I did not like Edward at all. I felt that the whole love triangle thing was unnecessary and ruined the story. Once Edward made his appearance, Juliet seemed to change. She constantly debated who she liked more, and never settled on a decision longer than a few seconds. Her inability to make a solid decision was frustrating. The focal point of the story became more about which guy she wanted to be with more rather than what her father was up to.
I felt the horror aspect of the book was lacking. We get brief glimpses of Dr. Moreau's experiments and the monster roaming the jungle, but it's never really enough to be considered "horror." Not to me anyway. I wanted to know more about what Dr. Moreau was doing. I wanted to know more about his experiments. But he and his crazy experimentations took a backseat to that damn love triangle.
I wish the story had been told from Montgomery's perspective. I think it would have been more interesting and a lot more successful.
Overall, The Madman's Daughter, was disappointing. Although Shepherd's writing was really good, I got bored and annoyed after the first few chapters. There was so much potential for this story, and I wanted to like it, but it did not live up to my expectations. I will not be reading the sequel.
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