Book: The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Genre: YA, scifi, steampunk

Juliette Moreau has been living on her own in London since her father left her in a flurry of scandal and her mother died shortly thereafter.  When she finds out that he is alive, she will go to any length to join him on the tropical island.  To her horror, he has continued with the depraved scientific experiments that caused the ruin of their family, and before she knows it, she is caught up in the twisted world he has created.  Her only allies are her father’s strikingly handsome servant (Montgomery), and a castaway from another ship (Edward).  As the mystery unfolds around Juliette, she is forced to choose between the love of her father and the morality of his activities on the island.

The Madman’s Daughter is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while.  Admittedly, not because I knew it was based on an H. G. Wells book–which, I might add, is now right up there on my never-ending list of books I want to read. I’ll probably feel differently about the book, once I’ve read the original version, but I really enjoyed it over last weekend.

It was a clever mixture of curious science, mystery, horror, and even a little romance.  It did employ use of the teenage love triangle–a cliche that I take delight in hating–but it was a good book nonetheless.  It raised some interesting conundrums about morality in medicine.  Though the method in which Juliette’s father conducted his experiments was certainly less than humane, his results were unprecedented and apparently lifesaving.

The Madman’s Daughter is actually the first book in a trilogy.  Did not realize that when I started it, but now I’m excited because it did end on a bit of a cliffhanger.  (Possible SPOILER ahead) Speaking of which, how about that ending?  It was about as mystifying as Jack dying in Titanic because he “couldn’t fit” on the raft Rose was on.  Ugh.  These dang fictional characters, I tell you–they’re always defying normal human expectations!

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

***Affiliate program disclosure: I am not being paid to review this book, but if you do click on the picture and purchase the book through my Amazon link, I will receive a small kickback.  It has no effect on the price that you pay.