Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
420 Pages
Release Date: January 29th, 2013
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Genre: Historical Fiction, Retelling
Level: YA
Rating: 4.5 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.

The Madman's Daughter was hauntingly and horrifyingly brilliant!! And then the end KILLED me! It totally blew me off and had me in shock for awhile even though I probably should have saw that coming. But it still has me in a daze every time I think about it.And...I just realized I was talking about the end of the book before saying much about it at all. Megan Shepherd surprised me throughout this book. I didn't think I would love this book so much but I did have high expectations from it and The Madman's Daughter totally reached it!

   

Juliet was a strong heroine especially as a historical fiction one. Megan Shepherd did a great job showing how sexist men were of women back then. She emphasized Juliet's father's incredulous-ness when Juliet showed interest in the medical field and when Juliette told him how she knew some medical procedures. I do think that Juliet had a high hopes and expected more of her father than she should have. her father however is a jacked up scientist with no human conscious and so determined that he's doing the right thing. And it's not why he's creating them that's ridiculously crazy, it's how he creates them with no remorse.

*uses southern accent* As for the romance, Edward and Montgomery are two mighty fine and handsome guys. I will admit that I love Montgomery more though. With his informal attire and add to the fact that him and Juliet were close childhood friends definitely adds to his swoonliness!! And he and Juliette are just so damn cute!! And don't get me wrong, Edward is cool too. He was the one I thought I would fall for with his mysteriousness and that did pique my interest in him. I felt that I barely knew him and it was very confusing for me as well as Juliet. And then I got the "You say what now?" expression when I read his secret.

The one character I had a soft spot for was Balthazaar. He was the reason of any tears I shed in this book :( He was so innocent and obedient. I would probably hug the life out of him if he was real. He may have been a deformed creature or a "work against human nature" but he tugged my heart the most and wasn't barbaric as the others may have been. Alice, the caretaker, was also a kind and sweet soul and would have been a fantastic little sister.

I urge you guys to read this book and while it may not be the type of book/genre yo uread, you should most definitely check it out!! And with the ending Megan Shepherd wrote, you'll be begging for more! Happy Readings!!!