The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter, #1) in Casual Readers

Apr 30, 2014 Alisha rated it really liked it

The Madman's Daughter is a crazy twisted creepy read based upon the classic, The Island of Doctor Moreau. It is written through the daughter's (Juliet) POV. I really enjoyed this original read but be warned this book is pretty morbid and dark.

Likes:
Juliet is a strong if somewhat crazy at times character.
Loved Montgomery! What more can I say
I really like this time period especially with some of it based in England.
This book has some twists that keep you guessing!

Some of my minor dislikes:
There w ...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Kayla Beck Kalnasy rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, historical, paranormal, mystery, horror, fantasy, 2013-release, retelling, 2014-read

Review originally posted on Bibliophilia, Please.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd is a difficult book for me to review. It's one that was not a bad book, just not something that swept me off of my feet. I think this may be a problem that I have sometimes with reimaginings that are infused with quite a bit of romance. And, truth be told, I don't have a lot of luck with YA horror. That being said, The Madman's Daughter is a reworked classic that stands well on its own.

Starting o Review originally posted on Bibliophilia, Please.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd is a difficult book for me to review. It's one that was not a bad book, just not something that swept me off of my feet. I think this may be a problem that I have sometimes with reimaginings that are infused with quite a bit of romance. And, truth be told, I don't have a lot of luck with YA horror. That being said, The Madman's Daughter is a reworked classic that stands well on its own.

Starting on a positive note, Juliet Moreau is a YA heroine that I can definitely respect. After being "orphaned" previous to the events in The Madman's Daughter , she found a job to keep her off the streets and out of brothels. Any lady who can make it (even barely) on their own in 19-20th(ish) century London is impressive in my book. I loved how she would not take no for an answer when she set her mind to something, even though most of it was folly. Juliet did get annoying when the love triangle surfaced (yes, there is one of those), but I'll make allowances for her because women tended to be a little silly when it came to love in her time period.

I love old school sci-fi and horror, and I enjoyed the very dark novel that The Madman's Daughter is based on, The Island of Doctor Moreau . There are parallels between the two novels, but The Madman's Daughter is its own book. The Island of Doctor Moreau focuses more on the horrors that the narrator, Prendick, faces on the island. The Madman's Daughter has some of that horror, but is more of a love triangle needing to be sorted against a dark backdrop, making it more appealing and accessible to young readers than its predecessor.

The problem that I had with The Madman's Daughter is what I said before - the romance. It takes away from the tension that is created by the horrors of the island and what Juliet's father has been doing. I found it hard to care whether or not Juliet, Montgomery or Edward survives the island when their focus is more on each other. By the time the plot thickened and there were twists to the triangle, I really didn't care what they did.

Though The Madman's Daughter wasn't my favorite, it's still a book with merit that I know a lot of readers will enjoy. I may not finish this series of Shepherd's, but I will be following her future work with interest. ...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Wow, what can I say about this book? It far exceeded my expectations and also gave me a new favorite author! The Madman's Daughter left me feeling shocked, excited, and definitely wanting more. No matter what I write here, it won't do the book justice. Juliet has lived a sad, stressed life before she meets up again with a servant from her childhood. After that, her world now reels out of control. I really don't want to say anything that might give away any part of the book, so I'll just write ho ...more

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Dec 25, 2013 Missie rated it really liked it

The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepard was a crazy journey. It is the book version of The Island of Doctor Moreau, written through the daughter’s (Juliette) POV. If you haven’t seen the old movie, you should! Creepy! I listened to the audiobook which was 12 hours, 53 minutes long, narrated by Lucy Rayner.

Likes:
The story was so original, I had no idea where it was going to go and was immensely in love with it from the beginning when Juliette was cleaning the blood of the operating room floor

I lov ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Sabrina rated it really liked it

Shelves: debut-author-challenge

Dark and creepy. Not at all what I expected, but so wonderfully different from anything I've read in a long time. Can't wait to read the rest of this trilogy. :) ...more

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