BOOK REVIEW | THE ROMANCE *PUKE*

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1)
by Megan Shepherd
Publishing: January 29, 2013 | Balzer & Bray
Status: DNF

          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.

          I really need to read and evaluate synopses before I read books. I picked this up solely on reviews and recommendations. I didn't check the other genres of this book, but I knew it was horror... pretty much the reason why I picked it up, horror.

          Ew, Viserys... This book wasn't memorable or eye catching. I thought it was dragged out and boring.

          The beginning was somewhat interesting, but didn't have that extra oomph. It was unusually boring, even for an exposition. You have to trudge through the beginning. It wasn't special or particularly gorey. It was quite anti-climatic. I didn't feel any suspense going on, probably because the writing was really boring and I skimmed words. This book is Historical Fiction and I'm not particularly fond of Historical Fiction. The book was set in Europe during the 1700s/1800s? (It's definitely after Darwin. It might be during the age of romanticism.) There weren't specific details about the time period or the setting, so I pictured London as the London from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street.

Watch this movie instead of reading this book

          The story doesn't get better when Juliet is reunited with her father. In fact, it gets worse. The story starts to center around an extremely annoying love triangle. Juliet is attracted to both of them and there's a lot of unnecessary drama occurring. I was pretty disturbed by the overwhelming and quick attraction. The author mixed gore with romance. That does not work. The story starts to go somewhere when Juliet sees the experimentation, but it's short-lived. Juliet is introduced to an important revelation, but it is also short lived because the romance. Romance isn't even one of its genres! I usually don't have a problem with romance, but that's because I expect it. Kiss-y kiss-y makes me piss-y when it's supposed to be gorey.