Lady Danielle

A spoiler free review for both The Madman's Daughterand this book!

It appears a lot of people found this book to be a disappointment; usually, whenever there’s a book that’s been hyped and loved by many, I find the read to be a letdown and wonder what everyone has read that I didn’t. What did I miss? What was so special about the book? Now the tables have turned. I should be wondering what did I read differently that made me love this book so much and the others hate it… frankly, I don’t give a flying rat’s behind: This book was so damn lovely, creepy, and simply wonderful.

+ I should care about the love triangle, but I don’t.
+ I should care about Juliet’s stubbornness as well as the constant dangers she put herself in with the choices she made,but I understand why she did what she did and can’t hold it against her.
+ I should hate Juliet, but I can’t bring myself to. In fact, I’ve grown to love her very much.

Everything about this book screams, “DON’T PICK THIS UP, IT WAS COMPLETELY STUPID AND FILLED WITH ANGST”; then again, everything about this book screams, “IF YOU DON’T PICK THIS UP, WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM.”

Megan Shepherd knows how to write -- it’s too fucking amazing. I was glued to my bed and didn’t leave it for hours because I was so enthralled by this vivid and haunting story. I look back at my rating for The Madman's Daughter guiltily because, even though I did like it, I did not like Juliet and I did not like the blasted love triangle. I found Edward to be rather dull in the first book; now I'm so confused as to who I love more -- Edward or Montgomery? And I understand why Juliet is so conflicted and constantly switching who she chooses. Her reasons and sentiments are valid.

But there's a lot more to this masterpiece than the love triangle -- friendship, secrets, betrayals, giving and taking, science, coming to terms with who you are... and this is merely a PIECE of Her Dark Curiosity. The friendship between Lucy and Juliet is by far one of the best I've ever read. I adored it so much -- no judgments, no contradictions. I'm loving how Shepherd is wrapping this story up: the first story is a retelling of The Island of Dr. Moreau, this one of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the final installment of Frankenstein .... FRANKENSTEIN. My excitement cannot be contained.



What a perfect story to read on a stormy day/night.

This is an author every needs to watch out for; I'm realllyyy looking forward to her new trilogy, The Cage. (shivers)

***The first book of 2014 that's been rated four stars; so far the best book I've read this year***