The Madman’s Daughter (The Madman’s Daughter #1) by Megan Shepherd

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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've been afraid to read The Madman's Daughter for a while because it is based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. I saw the movie when I was younger and it freaked me out. I don't typically watch horror movies but my family watched it and I ended up having nightmares for months afterward. I finally decided to pick it up because I seem to be able to handle a lot more when it comes to books and I've been in a "I'll read anything" kind of mood. 

I actually really enjoyed this book! There is a creepy tone to it and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that has a weak stomach due to the graphic nature of some scenes in it. I think that Madman's Daughter was more psychological in nature than the movie adaptation (I haven't read the original book) which was more violent. I appreciated this and it was interesting to think about animals and humanity. Juliet's father had a very skewed view of what was acceptable in the world of science and what was not. He had clearly lost touch with reality and it was interesting to see the affect that this had on Juliet. I enjoyed the characters and thought that Megan Shepard did a great job with the love interests especially. They were each flawed men and it really came down to whose darkness she could accept and what parts of herself she wanted to shine a light on through them.