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Her Dark Curiosity (Madman's Daughter, Bk 2)
Her Dark Curiosity - Madman's Daughter, Bk 2
Author: Megan Shepherd
Inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this tantalizing sequel to Megan Shepherd's gothic suspense novel The Madman's Daughter explores the hidden natures of those we love and how far we'll go to save them from themselves. — Back in London after her trip to Dr. Moreau's horrific island, Juliet is rebuilding the l...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780062128058
ISBN-10: 0062128051
Publication Date: 1/28/2014
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 4

3.4 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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merciersj avatar reviewed Her Dark Curiosity (Madman's Daughter, Bk 2) on + 71 more book reviews
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but I was hesitant to start the second. The story from the first book didn't set itself up well for a sequel, and I wasn't entirely sure where the plot could go. After reading this book, I am not sure I like the answer to that question.

Part of the beauty of the first book was the inner darkness Juliet is constantly battling, and the overall creepiness that permeated the entire story. This second book takes almost all of that away, and decides to focus more on the character development. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, if I liked the direction in which they took any of these characters. Juliet spends most of her time in this second book bouncing between two points of a love triangle without any rhyme or reason. Juliet's new friend, Lucy, is possibly one of the most frustrating secondary characters I have ever read in a good while. She exists just to be in the way, make horrible decisions, and cause problems.

Aside from the horrible character development, the plot twists in this story, particularly near the end of the book, are just over-the-top crazy. Half of them don't even make any sense. It really felt like Shepherd was simply looking for excuses to pull more and more classics into this series. I understand the mindset here, but the way these characters are stories were incorporated into the cast and plot needed a bit more subtlety.

The first book in this series was wonderfully dark and creepy. The plot was interesting, fast-paced, and I absolutely loved it. The second book, however, slows the pace to a crawl, takes away almost all the creepiness and replaces it with a horribly frustrating love triangle, ridiculously over-the-top plot twists, and unbelievably annoying characters. I am still on the fence about reading book three, but I think this series is just not for me.
ophelia99 avatar reviewed Her Dark Curiosity (Madman's Daughter, Bk 2) on + 2527 more book reviews
I got a copy of this book through NetGalley to review, so thank you to Balzer and Bray and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I enjoyed this book just as much as the last book in this series. Its a very well done story that draws inspiration from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There will be a third book in this series which is Untitled but is due to release in 2015.

Juliet Moreau had been back in London for a few months, she is living with the old Professor who was an old friend of her father. However, secretly Juliet is working on a cure for herself...her condition is getting worse and worse and if she cant prefect the serum she needs to survive who knows what will happen. All this sneaking around gets tougher for Juliet when a killer known as the Wolf of Whitechapel starts murdering people on the streets. Things gets incredibly complicated when Juliet finds out that its only people who have wronged her that are being killed and the bodies of the victim are killed in a way that is familiar to her.

While the last book was a retelling of the Island of Dr. Moreau this book is more of a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you remember Edward from the last book then you will have a good idea of who the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character is in this book. This book is dark and atmospheric just like the first book in the series. Juliet is an interesting heroine that I enjoy reading about. Unlike the first book, the majority of this book takes place in London.

I really enjoyed Juliets character throughout the story. She tries to be a good girl and a grateful girl, but she also has a dark and wild side that she struggles with. Trying to make her life as the wealthy Professors Ward and her life as a person who dabbles in genetic experimentation blend is obviously tough. At times she is sweet and thoughtful and loving; at other times she is reckless and ruthless. We see more of her darkness in this book and it is intriguing to watch as she struggles to balance the two.

Edward is in the story as well. He is by far the most intriguing character in this book. Because of spoilers I cant say a lot about him. However, he has obviously loved Juliet for months. He clearly respects Juliet for her knowledge and tenacity as much as for her beauty. There relationship is of course incredibly complicated.

The other side of the love triangle is Montgomery. I honestly didnt like him as much in this book as in the previous book. He really belittles Juliet and assumes that she wants the life of a pampered housewife. He seems to only respect the good and sweet side of Juliet and not embrace her wildness. Hes just very presumptuous and very dismissive of her opinions throughout.

Woven into Juliets scientific search for a cure for her ailment and her trying to hunt down the Wolf of Whitechapel is another storyline as well. Juliet and her friends have discovered that some of her fathers work may still exist. There is a clandestine group of men trying to use Dr. Moreaus work for incredibly nefarious purposes.

The plot was well put together, I enjoyed how all of the storylines came together in the end. There is a lot left unresolved in this book, which will apparently addressed in the third book. At the end of this book they set up what the next retelling will be...it seems like it will be some sort of retelling of Frankenstein.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and loved the dark Victorian tone to it. I enjoyed the characters and their struggles with darkness and lightness. I am not a huge fan of the love triangle going on, but I have enjoyed Juliets genetic tampering and the side storylines involving her fathers work. I cant wait to read the next book in this series to see how everything is resolved. I would recommend this series to fans of historical young adult paranormal books with a dark and gothic theme to it.


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