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TITLE: The Madman's Daugther
(The Madman's Daughter #1)
AUTHOR: Megan Shepherd
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
PUB DATE: Jan 29 2013 |
Summary from Goodreads:
"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."
Rating:
“But I couldn't get the image out of my head of the beast strapped to the table, Father humming while the candle wax slowly dripped, and Montgomery assisting. I felt betrayed, as though the boy I'd idolized was nothing more than a fantasy.”
I never thought I would find myself picking up The Madman’s Daughter. Gothic thrillers aren’t the kind of books that catch my interest… until now.
The Madman’s Daughter was disturbing, grotesque and incredibly sinister for my taste. Can you believe I actually liked it? I know. It was a shock for me to. A crazy loon of a man, Dr. Moreau, Juliet’s father, makes for quite an impressive character. Even though he creeps the hell out of me, he was definitely a character worth pondering over. Witnessing his experiments, albeit disgusting and wrong, I didn’t know whether to be concerned or intrigued.
While Juliet poses as a compelling protagonist, I find things I both like and hate about her. I feel such sympathy over her longing for a father, who has abandoned her all those years. I’m a daddy’s girl so that’s heartbreaking to hear. I admire her determination to discover the truth behind her family’s downfall and I knew her discovery would either make her finally trust his judgment or get her to stand up for herself against him.
I don’t really appreciate the love triangle between Juliet, Edward and Montgomery. I’m all for Montgomery on this. Really, it’s no competition! I don’t like that Juliet is dancing around these two guys. She says she’s in love with Montgomery and yet she gets twisted dreams all because she has the hots for Edward too. Here’s another heroine that I feel doesn’t deserve the man in their lives. If she truly loves him then she would not be thinking of the other guy otherwise. But who am I kidding, she’s a hormonal teenager, it was bound to happen. Still, it’s frustrating to read!
The Madman’s Daughter left me feeling so weird-ed out over the bewildering experience. But that kind of unique perplexity in a book – I like it!
