Thank you to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
Book: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Release Date: July 19th 2022
Tags: Adult | Classic Retelling | Identity | Science-Fiction | Horror
Trigger/Content Warnings: Body Experimentations | Mutations | Racism | Body Horror
Other books by this author I Reviewed
Mexican Gothic | Gods of Jade and Shadow | The Beautiful Ones
Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.
Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.
The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.
All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.
For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau, classic sci-fi tale from 1896 by Wells. A story I read a few years ago. While the writing wasn’t for me I did find the ideas very interesting. So when I saw that Moreno-Garcia was writing this book I was very excited. I kept my expectations to a minimum though as you can never know.
I enjoyed the story but also the setting of this book. The setting itself is much more important and thought out. The backdrop of nineteenth century Mexico with the colonailism and class themes adds such more depth to this novel.
Of course the author changed more than that. The experimentations are a bit different but that doesn’t take away from the original themes of the original novel, religion, science and morality.
But of course also the addition of the daughter changes a lot. The focus now lays with Carlotta and the hired help Montgomory. This different view gives more depth to some of the themes we get. The morality is very diffent with Montgomory to what it is for Carlotta. Montgomery having been skewed by his previous experiences while Carlotta has been much more protected. Even more so when Carlotta has a bigger role to play in the actual experimentations.
The romance that is in here is in a way an exploration for Carlotta who has been so protected. It felt like it was natural for her to explore that part of her own womanhood when the first young man comes to her. While Montgomory, older and jaded, naturally is drawn to such a naive young woman when she is the only one around for him to be drawn to. But the romance doesn’t go the way one would expect. And I really appreciate that.
I enjoyed the story but also the setting of this book. The setting itself is much more important and thought out. The backdrop of nineteenth century Mexico with the colonailism and class themes adds such more depth to this novel.
Of course the author changed more than that. The experimentations are a bit different but that doesn’t take away from the original themes of the original novel, religion, science and morality.
But of course also the addition of the daughter changes a lot. The focus now lays with Carlotta and the hired help Montgomory. This different view gives more depth to some of the themes we get. The morality is very diffent with Montgomory to what it is for Carlotta. Montgomery having been skewed by his previous experiences while Carlotta has been much more protected. Even more so when Carlotta has a bigger role to play in the actual experimentations.
The romance that is in here is in a way an exploration for Carlotta who has been so protected. It felt like it was natural for her to explore that part of her own womanhood when the first young man comes to her. While Montgomory, older and jaded, naturally is drawn to such a naive young woman when she is the only one around for him to be drawn to. But the romance doesn’t go the way one would expect. And I really appreciate that.
This was much different than I expected but I loved the setting and especially Carlota’s character.
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Yes she made it work so well.
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I’m really looking forward to reading this one! Thanks for the review. 🙂
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I think you’ll like it.
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