No surprise - I really enjoyed this one. SMG is one of my most favorite authors and I will read anything she writes, and it's a guarantee I'm going to gush about it. I loved the setting in this one so much. I've been to the area and I could picture the lush backdrop of the Yucatán peninsula as I was immersed in this story based on The Island of Doctor Moreau - which is twisted and crazy in it's own right - but I LOVED the spin SMG's tale took on it.

So many twists, and secrets and I just adored the hybrids the most - but I wish we could have spent more time with them. I almost feel like there could have been a more thorough character development of each of the main hybrids - I would have loved more on their emotions, and feelings, and inner thoughts ... of course it's just like SMG to make me fall in love with the most damaged of creatures.

I love where her imagination goes and pulls us in as readers no matter how gruesome the subject or twisted the story becomes. I fall in love with her books more and more with every one I read.

While the plot of this wasn't my favorite, that isn't Moreno-Garcia's fault as this is a retelling. What she does well here, like always, is building a eerie gothic world that gets truly under your skin. I won't forget this book because of it.

What would you do if your entire life was based on a lie told by your own father? Carlotta Moreau, the daughter of Doctor Moreau, is about to find out how to deal with a lifetime of secrets.

Review
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is set at a remote estate on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It is loosely based on The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. You don’t need to know too much about the original story to enjoy The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.

The book begins in 1871 and ends in approximately 1877. Montgomery Laughton has been hired to be a caretaker of the estate by the benefactor, Hernando Lizalde. From what everyone says, the area is beautiful. However, there is some weird stuff going on at the estate.

Montgomery has been sworn to keep the experiments of Doctor Moreau a closely guarded secret. Moreau has been given the task of making animal/human hybrids into a workforce for Lizalde. So far the hybrids haven’t been strong enough to send away.

Carlotta knows that her illness requires the use of jaguars in a serum to maintain her health. Part of Montgomery’s job is to hunt jaguars and bring them back to Doctor Moreau.

Carlotta tries to find the antidote in her father’s journals but cannot find it. She is very smart and had been trained to be a medical assistant. Carlotta could make a serum for herself and the hybrids if she had the directions.

Montgomery loves Carlotta. He knows that he too flawed for her to love. She falls in love with Lizalde’s son, Eduardo. Honestly, she would have been better off marrying Montgomery. Eduardo is a wretched human being.

Towards the end, Mr. Lizalde returns to take the hybrids and evict the Moreaus. It doesn’t go as anyone expects. Carlotta learns the secret to her existence. She wanted to know the truth. Did the truth set her free? Possibly. It wasn’t what she was expecting but she needed to know.

Conclusion
If you are a fan of science fiction or historical fiction, then you might enjoy this book. Also, if you are a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s other novels, then you won’t be disappointed in The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.

If you want the Doctor to win by keeping his secret experiments under his control, then you won’t like the ending. The hybrids had more humanity than most of the humans in this novel. Let me know what you think of the book.

I received the ebook from NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

I had high expectations for this book especially since it is a reimagining of an old classic. However, it fell a little flat for me. I liked reading it, but now that two weeks have passed since I am writing this review, I can't even remember the ending. There was suspense and a buildup of bad things to happen in the story and then the ending was just blah...

Carlotta is Dr. Moreau's daughter. She has been isolated from most people her whole life and has grown up around her father's experimental animal/human hybrids. One day a young man named Eduardo arrives and becomes infatuated by her. Montgomery is the Dr.'s assistant. Although is a misfit who has drunk away any future, he would do anything to protect the hybrids and Carlotta. Unfortunately, Dr. Moreau is consumed by perfecting his hybrids and has lost focus.

The book is intriguing but was not anything fantastic. I received a complimentary e-book from Netgalley.com

Carlotta is the daughter of Doctor Moreau, living on an secluded estate in Mexico. Dr. Moreau is deeply preoccupied with his work for his patron: the twisting of nature to create field hands. And while he pursues his grandiose dreams, Charlotte enjoys a privileged life amongst the unique workers at the estate. When her illusions begin to shatter and she falls for the wrong man, the future of her family, all those at her estate, is put at risk.

The setting and lives of the characters are so well described and the setting feels deeply atmospheric. The plot is interesting, but the story definitely drags in the middle. I thought it was an interesting choice to have two points of view, Carlotta and the deeply grumpy and alcoholic majordomo of the estate. They contrast sharply, as Carlotta is incredibly naive and childish. I definitely appreciated the two vastly different characters' points of view but to be honest, I didn't really like either of them. And while the story was interesting, I'm not sure that I really enjoyed it. But as always the writing is expansive and the story will stay with me.

When I first heard about The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, this was my exact response:

What in the heck is this!?!? OMG, I'm so exicteddddddddd!!! I hear THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU and I'm sold. We all know Moreno-Garcia can bring that toe-curling body horror to the page and we love to see it!!

That's quite a reaction, I'll admit. I can be dramatic. Unfortunately, I struggled with this story from the very start. I was kindly gifted an e-ARC and started it at least a week prior to its publication date. Two weeks later I was stil at 25% with zero desire to continue.

I made the decision to put it back on the shelf and wait for an audio copy through my local library. I finally received the audiobook on August 16th and read it in three days.

It made all the difference for me. The narration by Gisela Chipe was fantastic. They brought this story to life for me and actually succeeded in keeping me engaged. With this being said, the story still wasn't anything I was crazy about. This is a good book, with solid character work and a wonderfully-developed historical setting, however, I was here for the SFF-Horror and I just didn't get it.

Maybe I set myself up for disaster thinking this was going to be something that it wasn't, but regardless, that's the experience I had with it. I was bored and underwhelmed.

This doesn't detract from the fact that Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an incredibly-gifted storyteller whose work I will continue to pick up from now til forevermore. This just wasn't my favorite of her work. I am happy that I gave this one a second chance though and that I was able to get through to the end. It is a sweet story, sad and dramatic. I think a lot of people will really love this one. Particularly people who enjoy Historical Fiction with complicated familial relationships.

Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine, for providing me with a copy to read and review. It's always a pleasure to see what Moreno-Garcia has developed and this was no exception. I'm looking forward to her next release!

From the publisher:
Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is 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 live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. 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 by Silvia Moreno -Garcia was published July 19th, 2022 by Del Rey Books.

My thoughts:

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is "loosely inspired" by The Island of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells, but has a different focus. The hybrids and Doctor Moreau have roles to play, but the central characters are his daughter Carlota and his majordomo Montgomery. The story is told in chapters that alternate between Carlota's and Montgomery's point of view. As they grow and change from age and events, it kept my interest.

We meet Carlota as a pliant teenager eager to please her father without question. She becomes a young adult at 20 testing and stretching boundaries. This is especially apparent when they have visitors.

Montgomery finds a home there with the hybrids, Doctor Moreau, and his daughter. Throughout he battles alcoholism. He becomes a more sympathetic character as his backstory is revealed.

The pace of the book is fairly steady until they have visitors. After that the pace picks up until very nearly the end. When the pace drops again, I felt like some things in the book had come full circle emphasizing how far the characters have come.

While I liked Carlota and Montgomery, there were also characters I didn't like or outright couldn't stand. Isidiro Lizalde, Eduardo's cousin was one of the latter. He comes across as self righteous, mean, sneaky, and manipulative.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I found the characters interesting. I wanted to know what would happen next. The historical setting was a good choice by the author which she explains in the Afterword. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to fans of the author, people who enjoy retellings, and those who enjoy science fiction in a historical setting.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinions.

I honestly believe @silviamg.author can write any genre and it will turn out to be a great story!! I have so far read fantasy, horror, scifi & historical fiction from her and I enjoyed them all. She finds balance in everything. Its a talent, a speciality if hers 😍

This book is a reimagined historical fiction and scifi classic. I read this a while back, but had to wait to post my review until after I’ve read the said classic and watched the vintage movie. Both the originals were good, but this version is great. I might be teensy little partial in favour of Silvia, but I still think many of you would enjoy this book!

As the name suggest, daughter of a mad scientist, his assistant, the creatures he created—they all live in harmony till unexpected events get triggered. Dr.Moreau and his daughter must figure out a way to reclaim the balance. The atmospheric writing and the magical fantasy type mystery makes this an interesting read overall. The content is as exotic as the cover 🤩

Thank you Delrey Books via Netgalley for the e-arc + ScaredStraightReads on bookstagram for the book club copy!

This retelling is my favorite of Moreno-Garcia’s work that I’ve read so far. You can probably guess the kinds of things that are updated—the perspectives of women and indigenous Mexicans in particular, even though one of the POV characters is the dissolute Englishman brought in to run the place so Dr. Moreau can concentrate on his experiments. It’s very humane despite the distressing things that happen, including hybrid suffering and death.

Sadly, I just think that this author isn't for me. This is the third book of hers I've tried and I just can never seem to enjoy it as much as others do.

I see Silvia Moreno-Garcia comes out with a new novel. I read said novel. It’s that simple for me. Much like her other novels, this was an enjoyable read. Moreno-Garcia has a way of weaving such a vibrant world in her work, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is no different. I did not know the H.G. Wells story that this novel is based off of before reading, and I think that was to my benefit. There was no expectation of what to expect, I just allowed Moreno-Garcia to perfectly plot her story as she’s known to do. While I guessed our major plot twist quite early on, it didn’t affect my reading experience. If anything I like seeing the clues Moreno-Garcia drops along the way for the reader. Setting this book in Mexico during the 1800s was also so smart, because we can see how colonization is affecting the day to day of even this remote estate. While this isn’t my favorite of her books, it’s still a captivating read.

I am late with this review. So, so, so late. Perhaps it was the book’s dreamy quality or the heat and drought in Austin as I was reading it, but it took me forever to finish The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, the newest book from bestselling author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I think the real reason, though, is that I was dreading writing this review.

The book retells The Island of Dr. Moreau, reset in lush, volatile nineteenth-century Mexico. Carlota Moreau is the doctor’s daughter, who lives a cloistered life with her reclusive father on a lavish estate. One day, she receives a visit from the son of her father’s patron, and his visit reveals family secrets and ignites passions in more than one character. The story is filled with romance, adventure, and human-animal hybrids, but it unfolds slowly. Too slowly, it seemed to me.

Gothic, atmospheric, and well researched, this book should have checked all the boxes for me. But I couldn’t get past the problems with pacing and character development. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has much to say about father-daughter dynamics, colonialism, captivity, exploitation, agency, and more. But in a book where the antagonists treat the hybrids as property—as little more than background, one might say—it’s ironic to find the author doing the same. I knew virtually nothing about these characters, even to the end.

This is not a terrible book. It’s a fantastic story! But as I said at the beginning, I wanted more. Failing that, I wanted a shorter book that wouldn’t have taken up so much of my hot, stinky summer!

I haven’t read Mexican Gothic. Maybe I’ll try that next.

4.5 stars! Just wow.

What I loved about this was how unassuming this historical sci-fi book is. While reading the first half it's your typical lovely historical fiction adventure with a sprinkle of sci-fi, and I mean a sprinkle, but enough of a sprinkle to keep you intrigued. And then, bam, you're hit with the sci-fi and it was quite a ride from that point. I really, really enjoyed this so much.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

This was such a wonderful take on the classic “Island of Doctor Moreau”. This was written in a true new classic style. I loved the way Moreno-Garcia wove Mexican history into the story. I learned things I didn’t know before. The descriptions of the setting and characters really made the whole book feel as if I was watching a movie.

I really enjoyed this read, and would recommend to others!

Thank you to Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the publisher, and to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this arc in exchange for my honest review!

At this point, I’ve read three books from Silvia Moreno-Garcia in genres ranging from noir to horror and this latest attempt seems to solidify my opinion that I will always find them just… fine. I don’t know if it’s the page count or her tendency to write standalones but there’s a certain emotional disconnect from everyone and everything in her books that I experience when I pick one up. The Daughter Doctor Moreau is unfortunately in keeping with the trend. SMG excels at atmosphere and setting, and this book with its isolated estate along the Yucatan peninsula is no exception. But her characters always feel a bit wooden.

The “daughter” in question here is Carlota, and she spends most of the story being frustratingly naïve in a way I’m not totally convinced was ever remedied by the end of the book. Because so much of the story is watching her pining after a man with very obvious moral ambiguity, it’s hard to understand any of her motivations. Doctor Moreau himself is depicted as so unambiguously “bad” it’s also difficult to comprehend why his daughter is so emotionally attached to him, especially after discovering the enormous deceit she was raised under. His “hybrids” had the potential to be a distinctive addition to the cast that brought life to an otherwise gray color palette of wealthy men and one blindly trusting female protagonist. And I think SMG really tried to create a kind of found family with the hybrids. But for all Carlota actually interacted with them I was only left with the vague recollection of one of them even being a friend to her.

I won’t touch Montgomery as a character, and his uncomfortable interactions with Carlota. I’m most convinced he could have been removed from the story altogether and it would not have made the slightest difference.

I do love a feminist take on a classic formerly centered around male characters, especially in the horror genre. And Silvia Moreno-Garcia excels at incorporating the largely unexplored history of post-modern Mexico in so many of her recent works. But while I’ll commend her for the research and ability to to step outside the borders of the genre, unfortunately her character work and the plotting in this adaptation fell a bit flat for me in the execution.

Thank you to the publisher Del Ray for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

As someone who's been a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia for a few years now, I can confidently say that this is one of her best books I've read so far! This book covers so much, there's a coming of age story within Carlota's character, it's set during the same time as the Mayan uprisings (which we can see a lot of hints towards throughout the book) and discussion on how women were treated and seen during that time. There's a lot in in this story, but it all comes together so well, which is something I've always admired about Moreno-Garcia's writing style: it's packed with different themes with intention to cover them all.

I personally don't read too much Science Fiction, but The Daughter of Doctor Moreau has me searching for my next Sci-Fi read! Maybe it's because this was written by one of my favorite authors or because it's set in Mexico (as a Mexican-American reader, I looove finding authors/books that give us a bit of representation in genres like Sci-Fi). Silvia Moreno-Garcia was able to take all the necessary themes and ideas that show up in a classic H.G. Wells (or Sci-Fi in general) novel and in a lot of ways, did it 10x better. Silivia Moreno-Garcia always knows how to get me out of my usual comfort zone when it comes to reading and will always be my go to author any time I want to mix up my genres!

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an automatic buy author for me and she doesn't it again with The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. This is a great reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. Moreno-Garcia knows how to write strong female characters.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia once again delivers a gripping historical science fiction novel, this time set in the Yucatan Peninsula in the nineteenth century. Based on "The Island of Doctor Moreau", this book takes place in a remote village of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the mad or brilliant Doctor Moreau is developing human-animal hybrids, who all live alongside the doctor his daughter, Carlota, and the mayordomo Montgomery Laughten. These hybrids are being created as a new workforce for the wealthy land owner, Mr. Lizalde who sees them as nothing more than his property. This book poses the question of what really makes someone a monster.

Moreno-Garcia's fast-paced writing and unforeseen twists and turns make this novel hard to put down. Highly recommended for all library collections. Fans of Mexican Gothic will be fans of this one as well!

THE 411...

The genre blending Silvia Moreno-Garcia is back with another hit and this one has managed to dethrone Mexican Gothic for me! didn’t think it was possible, foolish me. This time we’re transported to 19th century Mexico in a reimagining of H.G. Wells The Island of Doctor Moreau. Carlota Moreau is growing up in a lavish estate alongside her father who’s genius mind pushes boundaries and defies ethics, a madman who was exiled from his birth country in Europe. Moreau’s work is centered on creating human-animal hybrids, his experiments have led to the creation of many that are deformed and suffering from the pain of their limbs/bone structure. The benefactor of the estate is beginning to apply pressure on results and has threatened to cut off funding. The Hybrids come to life, some with endearing personalities and others with a whole lot of heart and desire for something more than a life in hiding. Some have heard the rumors of a Mayan rebel leader who is fighting back against colonization out in the Yucatan Peninsula. They dream of escaping by joining his rebel groups and want Carlota to leave with them. When the benefactor’s son Eduardo Lizalde arrives at the Hacienda, it’s love at first sight and Carlota’s dad who is desperate for continued funding is overjoyed with their romance. The only person who stands in their way is the new Mayordomo in the Hacienda, Montgomery Laughton.

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS

Friends, to say that I hated Eduardo is an understatement. A sleaze ball who sees Carlota more as a trophy he must win. In the other corner we have Montgomery Laughton who is the second POV we get in this story. Yes, he does have a LOT of demons and Yes I still ended up enjoying his broody drunk character. There’s an age gap between him and Carlota but he isn’t pressed to try and win her over even though he acknowledges the fact that he loves her. SMG gives us Gothic vibes in a historical backdrop where we have themes of colonization, human exploitation/experimentation and the ethics bound to it, racism towards the Mayans, abuse of power, and a feminist MC who could EASILY have become a better scientist than her father if she weren’t expected to conform to societal expectations. That being said, seeing Carolta’s evolution was satisfying on a whole other level! This is one not to be missed especially if you were on the fence over Mexican Gothic. I’d say give this one a go but be prepared to see yourself become over protective of Cachito, my favorite of the hybrids! ❤