The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Goodreads Summary

*NO SPOILERS*

This book has me shook. Usually, I jump right into writing my review after I finish a book, but I had to sit and compose myself for a minute after getting done. This book was close to being on my Top 5 2017 list, but it didn’t make it because of some issues I had with the book regarding my personal preferences. Everything about this book was flawless, the writing style, the story, each character, was beautiful. It warmed my heart to read this book because it is a true piece of art. Except, this book had blood and gruesome details that made me queasy. I hate anything to do with doctors or hospitals, especially needles and blood. This book had the latter two in abundance. If I hadn’t liked the rest of this book so much, this review probably would have gone in the opposite direction. The story has a Frankenstein vibe to it, and it also gave me a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibe because of a character and his behavior. I know Goodreads says it's an Island of Dr. Moreau retelling, but I felt it was more like Frankenstein. This book had an old timey setting, like the Victorian era (that is probably totally wrong because I know nothing of history), which was charming and complemented the story nicely. I will say that there is a love triangle in the book, and can get cheesy sometimes, but you get distracted by everything else to notice much. For the originality of this story, I haven’t ever read anything like it! Seriously, nothing even remotely close comes to mind. Some things were more predictable than others, but still had some elements of surprise. This book had me smiling on the second page and then turning green on the fifth. It was extraordinary how fast the pace and mood of the book could change. And I don’t think I have ever related more to characters in my life, well, maybe not related. More like I understood them and their reasonings more than I ever have with any other set of characters. The appearance of the book didn’t please me, but the story more than made up for it. There are two other books in this series, but I don’t know if I will be picking them up. I really would like to read more from this author but maybe something that isn’t so dark and make me want to throw up every chapter (from my queasiness and scaredy-cat syndrome 😝). If you like anything dark and twisted then this book is definitely for you!

*SPOILER ALERT*

The main thing that stood out to me about Juliet was that she was SO STUPID!!! Really, every decision she made had me pulling out my hair! She made rash decisions and was bad about not thinking of the consequences. Although I understand her need to see her father and get closure, she kept coming back to him, even after she knew he never cared about her. This is where I think that the Dr. had a little Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibe, he kept giving off mixed signals to Juliet. He would tell her he was happy to see her than slap her the next second. The Dr. really was cold and cruel that didn’t care about anyone but himself. He was crazy but he believed that everything he did was right and justified. He was stubborn and closed-minded, but I also think that Juliet was the same way. Even though it made Juliet seem like she was logical, I think both of them were blinded to reason and logic when it came to each other. The Dr. was a loose cannon and I couldn’t understand why she kept coming back to him for his help or to yell at him. If I was her I wouldn’t want to anger him because he is the one with all the monsters and power. I can’t believe that his wife had stayed with him after she figured out what he was doing. Just because he saved their child didn’t give him the right to become God like that. Maybe if her mother would have taken them both out of that situation before, they wouldn’t have been cast out of society. And another question I had, If Montgomery didn’t like working for her father, then why didn’t he leave when he was on a trip to get supplies? He said he frequently went off the island to get more supplies, so why didn’t he just leave and never come back? The doctor couldn’t have returned if he wanted to, because he would be ostracized again, and by that time Montgomery could have been long gone. After Juliet got to the island and started to call him a monster, he started to do a 180 and blame her father. He’s had plenty of opportunities to escape if he felt like that, so why didn’t he leave? Juliet kept blaming the island for corrupting them, but I think it was just the ‘people’ they were around and their situation. Being on an isolated island didn’t help. When Juliet started to suspect herself of being an experiment, that’s when I started to piece it together, but she had to point it out to me first. I also suspected Edward, but his story and behavior didn’t add up. So when he revealed himself, I was shocked but not that shocked, you know what I mean? I also knew Montgomery would leave her in the end too. Wow! I think this is the longest spoiler section I have ever done! Let me know in the comments below what you think!

P.S. You can find more pics of this lovely book on my bookstagram page @bibliomanic_bookworm

Booktube-A-Thon review series: 6/7
So this has been in my drafts since last years booktubeathon because I never took a picture for it... Whoops. 🤷Sorry!