Review Detail

OH MY GOODNESS. I loved the crap out of this book. I loved everything about it, from the characters to the plot to the plot twists and even the love triangle (it was an excellently written love triangle). I especially loved how Megan Shepherd managed to capture the feel of Victorian England and make Juliet seem strange as such a free thinker. And I seriously loved the way Juliet was dirty in that way stuffy British people are (she has some wickedly funny thoughts about her two love interests). It was just fantastic.

So, Juliet and her mother were forced out of their high-standing, society positions when Juliet's father was run out of England because of some scandal. He went missing, and so did the family's servant, Montgomery (we shall come back to him. Because he's sexy). Dr. Moreau was presumed (or hoped) dead by most. When Juliet's momma died, she had to take work as a maid. She ends up having to leave town, soon after she runs into the aforementioned Montgomery, and learns that her father is alive and goes with Montgomery to her father's island (i.e. the Island of Dr. Moreau). On their way there, they pull a young man out of a life boat who appears to have miraculously survived a shipwreck. (This is where the love triangle begins) The three of them end up together on the island and there are a lot of delicious plot twists and dark descriptions and character development and romance and other wonderful book things. And the ending was the biggest twist of all, because I so didn't see it coming. I was all, "Oh this book is totally predictable, I know what will happen!" but then... no. It was amazing.

I love Juliet with every ounce of my being. She's brave and wonderful and selfish and analytical and I just love her so much. I did in fact say selfish. It made her human and believable. She wants both boys' affections, even though she leans towards one much more than the other, because she couldn't get enough of having a man be interested in her for her (something that hadn't happened... ever). And I so couldn't blame her. She had a crazy-as-all-heck daddy and needed some normalcy in her life. She was just such an amazingly created character and I can't wait for more of her in the next books.

Montgomery was always my favorite. Sexy, blond, smart, shy, sweet, harsh, bold- did I say sexy? I just... can't control my feels toward this guy. From the first page he's mentioned, I was rooting for Montgomliet (Juligomery?)... anyways, I wanted them together. He's just wonderful. Even if he's done some bad stuff, he's still perfect, because he's imperfect. That's one thing I really loved about this book. All of the characters were so perfectly real and human that I was in love with all of them. Each had their own demons, some bigger than most, and each dealt with it. I didn't like Dr. Moreau per se, but he was incredibly well-written.

I do like Edward, too, but he was clearly the Jem of the situation (for the Infernal Devices fans), some girls are gonna love him, but I prefer the one with the potentially dark past and who isn't the nice, proper gentleman. Edward was nice and protective and huggable, but not my type.

The Madman's Daughter is perfect in every way possible. It combines my favorite things in YA (the writing, the love triangle, the strong heroine) into one creepy-as-heck book that I just couldn't put down. I have to give it 5 stars!!