The Madman's Daughter (Madman's Daughter - Trilogy) (edition 2013)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
A copy of The Madman's Daughter was provided to me by Balzer Bray/Edelweiss for review purposes.

'Dead flesh and sharpened scalpels didn't bother me. I was my father's daughter, after all. My nightmares were made of darker things.'

I feel the need to start off by saying I didn't dislike this book but obviously considering my rating I have some explaining to do. There was creepiness, there was a decent story line, but the pacing was so incredibly slow that it had an adverse effect on my overall opinion on this gothic retelling.

Let me tell you guys, the beginning of this story had so much creepy going on it was amazing. I remember starting this book, finishing the first couple of chapters, stopping for a second and saying to myself, "This is going to be so awesome." Juliet seemed to be a very promising main character and I couldn't wait to hear her story. But the gothic thriller aspect seemed to be put on the back burner and definitely became less of a focus. What did it end up focusing on? Romance, of course.

There was so much emphasis put on the romance and her being torn between two men, her swooning and constant need to fan herself that I would go so far as to consider this 'historical-romance-lite'. If not for the creepy and exceptionally gruesome bits in this story I don't believe I would have finished this. As it was though, the romance didn't feel fitting in this type of story, like an irregular puzzle piece.

I had been forewarned that the middle dawdled but that the ending was a big shocker so that gave me hope. The pacing was definitely off for the vast majority of the middle portion and didn't actually start picking up until almost the very end of the book. The big reveal happened and it was definitely the most interesting aspect of the entire story but it happened a little too late for me. There wasn't a slow build-up to the grand finale which would have made this immensely better. Instead we received a storyline that plodded along, lacking in intensity, never quite gaining enough steam, and then we're hit with the big ending. The middle section certainly required something more for me to still be invested enough in the story to be excited for when the big conclusion finally did happen.

Oh, and there's a cliffhanger. Naturally. I think my response to that final page was something along the lines of, "Dude. For real?" Considering I was more than a bit bored through the majority of this story I was at least hoping we'd get some answers. I had still considered giving #2 a shot since sometimes it takes the first book to build the story (in a series) and book 2 is where we can finally get to the meat of the story. But my understanding was that this was a retelling of the Island of Dr. Moreau, however, the summary for book 2 states it was written: with inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's 'THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE' and I'm not sure I feel about the mixing of multiple retellings.

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To see formatting, please view on my blog.

Book Info: Genre: Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
Recommended for: People who enjoy YA paranormal esp. with romantic triangles
Trigger Warnings: murder
Animal Abuse: Vivisection

My Thoughts: It's so crazy how much things have changed since the time period in which this is set. Take this section:
"He rolled up my sleeve, then brushed a finger against the sensitive skin of my inner elbow. My breath caught. I was alone in a young man's room, letting him touch me in places he shouldn't even see." Oh my, what a hussy, showing off her inner arm! Meanwhile, I'm reading this in a T-back tank top and shorts while sitting outside in the sun...
What really bothered me about this is that despite her stated modesty and propriety in the story, she's shown on the front cover with her hair loose, and a loose gown hanging off her shoulder, and barefoot.

Here's the thing. This was a tossed-across-the-room book. I finished it, which is the only reason it received 2 stars. Why did I end up throwing it across the room in a fit of pique? Because of Juliet. GAH! Juliet... Here's the thing. Remember last week with my “too stupid to live” heroine (see review linked here where formatting allowed)? Juliet is the same way. She would put herself into really idiotically dangerous situations and then she'd end up panicking and becoming absolutely useless. Or throwing a conniption fit and becoming absolutely useless. The only reason I finished the book was because I enjoyed The Island of Dr. Moreau and I enjoyed the other characters: Montgomery, Edward, Balthasar, Alice. Henri Moreau himself was a jerk, but the rest I just felt sorry for.

It's really a pity, this book had a lot of promise. But I just ended up so annoyed by the end that I had to throw it to rid myself of some of that aggravation. If you like this sort of book, please don't let me stop you, but I will not be bothering with the rest of this trilogy, nor will I be bothering with the movie when/if it is made. PASS!

Disclosure: I received a paperback ARC from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: 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. ( )

I have very mixed feeling about this novel. Juliet Moreau, the main character, seems to end up in an even worse situation at the end of the story than she was in at the beginning. This story is supposed to be inspired by the H. G. Wells' story The Island of Dr. Moreau which I have never read. The setting in Victorian England and an isolated island off the coast of Australia. I thought the world building was well done as the story just drips Gothic darkness.

However, I did have some problems with the science fiction aspects of the story and the timeline. When Juliet reaches her father's isolated island, he has populated it with his experiments, but according to Juliet's age when he left England and her age when she reached his island, only six years have passed. Even insane dedication, which Dr. Moreau clearly possesses, would find it hard to accomplish what he is supposed to have accomplished. The descriptions of the surgical reconstruction of animals to make them more man-like and the combinations of species and the injections to change the brain move this well out of science fiction and into fantasy.

Juliet has a lot to deal with in this novel. Since her father's abandonment and the scandal that accompanied it and since her mother's death, her situation in London is dire. She is working as a cleaning maid in the medical school and being harassed by one of her father's former colleagues. When she sees one of her father's anatomical drawings and learns that one of the medical students bought it from a guy, Juliet begins to think that her father has returned to London. When she investigates she meets Montgomery who was a servant boy and who was Juliet's childhood companion. She convinces him to take her to her father when he returns.

They pick up a shipwreck survivor during their sea voyage and bring him to the island too. This is the basis for the required young adult love triangle. Juliet loves Montgomery who feels unworthy of her regard and her father is pushing the shipwreck survivor, Edward Prince, at her due to his supposedly higher social status.

Conditions on the island quickly devolve as Dr. Moreau's creatures are getting out of control and some unexplained murders are taking place. All the while, Dr. Moreau is still in his own dream world where everything is all right and he is still focused on his experiments to create his perfect creature.

Readers who enjoy historical fantasy will enjoy this Gothic thriller complete with a mad scientist, a troubled beauty, amazing creatures, and a romance too. ( )

After her prominent father, Dr. Moreau, is publicly shamed, he flees London, leaving Juliet and her mother to fend for themselves. After her mother dies, Juliet is forced into hard labor. A chance meeting with a childhood friend named Montgomery makes Juliet aware that her father is alive and living on an island. Juliet accompanies Montgomery to the island and enters the bizarre and brutal world of Dr. Moreau.

It wasn’t until after I read this book that I found out it was supposed to be a twist on The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. AND I don’t think I even really read the book’s description beforehand so I went in pretty blindly. That being said, I really, really enjoyed this book. The characters were well-developed and the setting was beautifully described. There were twists and turns, excitement, adventure, and romance on every page. I wasn’t expecting the beasts on the island so that was an imaginative surprise for me. The story kept me riveted until the last page.

A few critiques:

First, I absolutely love a strong, rebellious heroine. It’s just that Juliet didn’t fit into the time period she came from at all. If a story is going to be historical fiction, it has to stay in those constrains. I felt she was a bit too liberal for the era she was raised in to be believable. Also, there were times when I didn’t like her. I just didn’t.

Second, the love triangle didn’t work for me. Edward never even felt like a contender. It would have been just as suspenseful to have Juliet and Montgomery figuring things out between themselves.

Third, I found out this is yet another trilogy. Ugh. This is a personal pet peeve that there are so few standalone YA books now! And this one most definitely could have been a standalone (even though the ending is a cliffhanger). ( )

This book sounded so awesome. A dark and gritty premise about a mad scientist who continues his work on a remote island. Sounds good, right? For some reason I was thinking it would be something like Shutter Island, but it's not, or wasn't for me.

Me and The Madman's Daughter had a very roller coaster type relationship. Very up and down. I was enjoying it for the most part in the beginning. But then Edward came into the story. I obviously didn't read the summary very thoroughly because I didn't realize there was going to be ANOTHER boy involved other than Montgomery. I didn't see the point in Edward, other than another love interest for Juliet, which made this one big love triangle.

Now, usually love triangles don't bother me. It doesn't keep me from reading a book. I actually enjoy love triangles. But this one didn't work for me and made it difficult for me to enjoy the story most of the time. I would have enjoyed the The Madman's Daughter a lot more if it only focused on Montgomery and Juliet's relationship because I liked them as a couple and I was rooting for them the whole time. I was enjoying the story when it was just those two.

Don't get me wrong though, Edward does give more to the story towards the end as we learn his side of the story, but I figured out his big secret about halfway through. Which is not a good thing for this book, because when I figured it out, I was hoping I was wrong. But I won't go into that anymore because I don't want to spoil anything.

I did really enjoy reading about Juliet's dad and what he had created while on the island. It was really interesting to see how these animal creatures saw him as a god and how they lived. I also LOVED Balthazar and his relationship with Montgomery. These two were the reason I really continued to read. I felt so sorry for Balthazar and I just wanted to hug him even though he is half dog half sheep or whatever. And I loved Montgomery because he cared for all the weird animal creatures and became friends with them.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Juliet though. Sometimes I really enjoyed her and like how she was a strong character who did things here way. But then other times I found myself not really caring what happened to her.

What I wasn't prepared for, though, was the scenes were animals were being operated on, while they were awake! I am a big animal lover, I don't do books or movies where I know the animals die. I just can't do it and I don't like it. Therefore, you can bet I was somewhat upset when about 50 pages in, Juliet has to chop off a rabbits head to get it out of it's misery because she caught some boys operating on it. I did get used to it though, and came to expect it, so it wasn't too bad as I went on.

The Madman's Daughter also moved a little slow for me. I think part of this had to do with the fact that I didn't like Edward, so whenever he was in a scene, I lost interest. I also skimmed a few pages towards the end because I wanted to actually get to the good stuff.

So, I don't think this review is making a lot of sense, but that sums up my relationship with this book. At one point the story would be very interesting, but then a while later, I would find it to be kind of dull.

Also, THE ENDING! The ending makes me all kinds of mad and nobody should be allowed to end a book that way. I don't know if I hate the ending or love it. ( )