Author: Megan Shepard
Publisher: Balzar + Bray
Date: January 29, 2013
Source: Publisher via
Edelweiss
My grade: A
In the darkest places, even love is deadly.
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.
In the darkest places, even love is deadly.
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.
Initial reaction
OH NO, SHE DIDN’T JUST END IT THERE!!!!!
Cover story
I like the cover pretty well. The combination of the cover and title made
me curious enough to read the blurb and that got me to read the book, so I
think that’s the point. And the long
dress is actually period appropriate, so that’s good.
What’s the story?
So this book is sort of a retelling of The Island of Dr.
Moreau. Now, I knew the title of the
original, but I’ve never read it. So I
did what anyone else would do…..I looked it up on Wikipedia! I read the summary and that helped me get a
handle on what was going to happen to a certain extent.
This book was unlike anything that I’ve read recently. It’s almost a horror novel, straight up. Some of the scenes were so, so
disturbing. Frequently, I found myself
gasping aloud or putting my hand over my mouth in shock. I found the storyline to be absolutely
riveting. I could barely tear myself
away from this book and I found myself thinking about it a lot when I had to
stop reading. I could not turn the pages
fast enough.
I really like Juliet.
She had a lot of spunk. I loved
the way she would fight for what she wanted.
I also like Montgomery, even though I was often disappointed in his
actions, especially the last one! I
really grew to like Edward and I’m really curious about him now. I guess I liked all the characters except for
Dr. Moreau and he really was a total jerk face.
I really loved the way the author pieced together the story,
dragging you along by feeding you little crumbs of information and then turning
around and punching you in the gut with some sort of reveal. It was amazing! Torturous, but amazing. I also loved the way she created the world on
the island. I felt as if I could see all
of it like a photograph or painting because she described it so vividly. In fact, she brought this story to life so
well that I am now curious about the original and really wanting to read it as
well.
The only thing I didn’t like was the cliff hanger from hell
at the end of the novel. I’m pretty sure
my mouth gaped open for 15 minutes or more at the end of the book. When I finally recovered enough to gather my
senses, I immediately ran to my computer to make sure that there was another
book coming out. If not, I figured I
might have to send hate mail to the author. : )
I cannot recommend this book enough. If you want a book that is extremely unusual,
totally creeptastic and full of surprises around every corner, pick up this
book. You will not be disappointed.
Soundtrack
No Spill Blood by Oingo Boingo
Yes, unbelievably, someone actually wrote a song about The
Island of Dr. Moreau…..
Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
Monster by Meg & Dia
Monster by Skillet
Who Will Love Me Now by PJ Harvey
The Final Grade
My final grade for this book is an A. I loved it and I cannot wait to get my hands
on the next book. In the meantime, I may
have to go back and read the original H.G. Wells version just to see what it’s
all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment