The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: January 29, 2013

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 is one of those books that I just knew that I would like. And for once, well, I was right. I did really like this one, and for me it wasn't very predictable. But I've never read The Island of Dr. Moreau, so this was a completely new experience for me.

I found Juliet to be a very...interesting/completely out of it character. She has ideas about things that just drive me absolutely mad. *I have developed a british accent in my head after reading this* At first her illness seemed really odd, but as some of the details about her father started to fall into place, it was like I suddenly figured it all out. And once I figure it out, I really wanted to beat some sense into Juliet. For instance, if you've read The Island of Dr. Moreau, you understand this: but there are natives on the island. And there is only one woman, a teenager, that Juliet deducts came on a boat...but. There are natives. She never even wonders where they came from? Really. I guess it kind of makes sense (her ignorance) for that time frame...but girl. People don't come from storks.

There are several other things that bothered me about her powers of deduction too, but for the sake of spoilers I won't reveal them. The island was so strange! When we first got there, I was questioning everything. I wanted to know about the past, and why and just everything. But the more I read, the more that it just got weird and twisted. Juliet thinks that what she did at the beginning was unnatural, but I disagree. What her father was doing was unnatural. And weirdly shocking.

As the story wore on, a couple new characters were introduced. And some had pasts that I never would have suspected. My face was like this by the ending: O.O All in all, it was a really good story, but I can't shake the feeling that it could have been a little better.