Thank you so much to NetGalley and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, coming out July 19, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

First of all, I have several books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and I love her writing. I learned Spanish, so I have a great love for Spanish culture. I haven’t read the Island of Dr. Moreau, but I know it’s science fiction based. It’s a familiar story that’s been portrayed in movies and other book re-tellings. I’ve listened to the Madman’s Daughter, which is similar.

The main character Carlota Moreau is the only child of Dr. Moreau. She grows up wealthy and secluded in a beautiful hacienda on the Yucatán peninsula. She is an educated woman who experiences some freedoms not afforded to other women.

Dr. Moreau is known as a genius or a madman on the island. He loves his daughter and his experiments. He’s built a life for himself and his daughter.

Montgomery Laughton is an Englishman who becomes the overseer. He helps Dr. Moreau with his experiments. He’s depressed and drinks too much. He forms a bond with Carlota.

The Lizalde family finances Dr. Moreau’s experiments on the hybrids. The hybrids are part human and part animal, designed to obey their master.

The arrival of Eduardo Lizalde causes an upheaval. He is the son of the Lizalde family. He pursues a romance with Carlota, which causes a series of unfortunate events.

The book is told from Carlota and Montgomery’s perspectives. I really enjoyed their perspectives. I was really excited to get into the story. But, to be honest, part two was a little dry for me. It felt like it had a lot of telling what was happening, instead of showing. I also didn’t like Eduardo’s character. I know he was the bad guy, but he creeped me out.

I think things really picked up in part three, which was my favorite part. There wasn’t as much mystery as I thought there would be in the beginning. I think it ended up being more science fiction. Since I’m familiar with the story, there weren’t too many surprises. However, I loved part three! I think it had the most action and was the most interesting. I was hoping for it to be that fast paced throughout the book.

Overall, I loved this book! I loved Montgomery and Carlota as characters. They worked well together. I loved the setting and time period of the novel. I thought it fit perfectly. I think there could’ve been a little more from the perspective of the hybrids. I felt like I didn’t really know who they were or what they were supposed to look like until part three. I couldn’t picture them as clearly. It was a little unclear how other people on the island viewed them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys creature science fiction and gothic novels!

I am a huge fan of H.G. Wells Island of Doctor Moreau and have seen almost all the film adaptations. I’m also a huge fan of Silvia Moreno Garcia. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it delivered.

Carlota Moreau, the main character, grows up in a gothic like fairy-tale in the Yucatán. Her best friend is a hybrid, part human/part large cat, and she assists her brilliant scientist-father in his experiments in vivisection. The story follows her as well as Montgomery, a assistant to Doctor Moreau. I loved both characters and their relationship with each other.

This was so deliciously gothic in a unique way. Typically it’s dark castles and brooding darkness, but this was gothic in the jungle. Bright colors, hot sunshine, sparkling fountains and a cenote. The world building was elegant and immersive.

I will read this again and recommend for anyone who loves gothic horror, beautiful prose and a dash of romance.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau was such a good read. I’m a big fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and this one did not disappoint!

This is spin on The Island of Doctor Moreau, and focuses on his daughter, Carlota. Doctor Moreau hires a new overseer for the estate where he practices his experiments, and some years later, the son of his patron stops by for a visit and sets of a chain of reactions that no one could have guessed.

I really enjoyed this story and loved the writing. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a gift for creating such a lush atmosphere that you feel like you're in the story yourself. The characters were so well written and fleshed-out. Having Carlota and Montgomery be our POVs was perfect because they each had such different perspectives on what was happening during the events of the story. I also liked the hybrids and would have loved to have one or two POV chapters from Lupe or Cachito.

The author mentioned on Goodreads that this isn't horror, which I'm glad I saw before starting the book. If I'd went into this thinking it was horror, I'd be highly disappointed. It doesn't seem like the book is being marketed as horror, but the subject matter lends itself to horror. This is more historical sci-fi, which I had never read before but quite enjoyed. The pacing seemed a little slow at some points but overall I really liked this book. I highly recommend it.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia knocks another one outta the park! I've never read The Island of Doctor Moreau, though I'm familiar with the story. This sets the story not on an island, but on the Yucatan peninsula and gives us the historical context of a very real conflict, The Caste War of the last half of the 19th century.
As always, Moreno-Garcia gives us an education while entertaining the hell out of the reader. I will be buying this when it comes out! Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC !
Pub date: July19, 2022

*A full review will be posted to NetGalley, Goodreads, my blog, and Amazon closer to publication!*

The first book I read from Silvia Moreno-Garcia was Gods of Jade and Shadow, followed by Mexican Gothic, both of which I absolutely loved. I have read a few more of her books since then and I was SO excited for The Daughter of Doctor Moreau! The Island of Dr. Moreau is also one of my favorite H.G. Wells classics, so I was even more excited about this one. I'm happy to say that Silvia Moreno-Garcia has done it yet again and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I really loved the atmosphere created in this story that had such a wonderful mix of mystery, intrigue, and a tinge of horror notes mixed in there. This is not the most fast-paced story, but rather has a somewhat inconsistent pacing at times, but it always kept me engaged throughout the entire story. The characters were well-executed and fully developed and I found myself completely immersed in this plot. Overall, a highly recommended read for any fans of the original, historical fiction, or sci-fi!

This book reimagines The Island of Doctor Moreau in 19th century Mexico. Carlota, the titular daughter, grows up in isolation on an estate in Mexico where her father experiments with genetic engineering and making hybrids out of animals. Carlota assists her father by taking care of his lab and the hybrids he creates along with Montgomery, Moreau’s heartbroken, somewhat surly mayordomo. Their situation is tenuous at best as Moreau’s patron, Lizalde, begins putting pressure on him and threatens to stop financing all his experiments if he doesn’t start producing useful workers. Lizalde’s son then enters the picture and begins romancing Carlota and things begin to spiral.

Those that are already fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia will likely enjoy this latest book. The descriptions of the setting and the sense of place in this novel is excellent. I was a little bogged down at how long it took for Carlota to come into her own but the ending was satisfying enough.

This is a modern version of the classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. I wish I had read another Moreno-Garcia book before reading this one. I did not enjoy the story. There wasn't much going on.

Carlota is a young girl growing up in her father's grand estate in the middle of nowhere. All she knows is the nature surrounding her as well as her father, their majordomo and the hybrids his father has created. One day, the son of the man financing her father's research comes to visit. That's when things go sour.

If you love sci-fi, historical fiction set in the 1800s Mexico, you might want to enjoy it. I personally expected more, and the ending could have been more grand.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Okay so full disclosure I'm pretty much a huge Moreno-Garcia stan, but she absolutely did not disappoint with this one!!

Honestly and truly, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia can do no wrong. This is my fourth book of hers, and she did not disappoint. The Daughter of Dr. Moreau has Moreno-Garcia’s signature style of history and fact mixed with that extra oomph to pull you into the story. She manages to teach while building the perfect science fiction atmosphere. And of course, she has a bad ass, but still complex, main heroine.

This book follows Carlota, who is the daughter of Dr. Moreau, and Montgomery, the majordomo of the property. Moreau is a scientist who bends the laws of biology and nature. They lead a relatively simple life on the Yucatan Peninsula amongst the hybrid creations of Dr. Moreau, but when a rich young man shows interest in Carlota, secrets come out and change her life forever.

Carlota reminded me a lot of Noemi from Mexican Gothic, but don’t get me wrong, Carlota is definitely her own distinct character who carries her own trauma and complexities. We also get Montgomery's perspective in this story, and I love the way Moreno-Garcia really captured that rough-and-tumble, outlaw-esque aura in his characterization. This book is definitely for fans of Mexican Gothic (and really any other Moreno-Garcia books if you love her style), but I also feel like this is the perfect book to introduce yourself to her work as this is a little faster paced than her other books. So please please please RUN, don’t walk, to grab this book when it hits the shelves on July 19, 2022!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey for the eARC and the opportunity to review this book.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia always writes books that are just about as horror as I can handle and that are romantic, but not romance. Usually I try to read her books in October (peak spooky season) but this one is out on July 19 and I had an advanced copy I wanted to read before publication. She always brings delightful twists to the story that I’m not expecting, even when I think I know what to expect from her previous works.

"From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

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 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 is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey."

If I were to pick the dream reimagining for Silvia Moreno-Garcia it would be The Island of Doctor Moreau.

I never read the original Doctor Moreau, but I'm a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This was no exception. If you've read her other works, you'll what to expect here. It's on the slower-paced side, but there's always a payoff. I love how she blends genres, in this case horror/scifi/historical fiction. She really creates a sense of time and place. I liked Carlota, Montgomery less so. Lupe and Cachito were great. The biggest issues for me was the age gap. Yes, I know things like this happened back then, but there were age-appropriate romances, too. I just wish we would stop with the young girl and older man trope. It also all happened too quickly and was creepy (for me) given where their ages fell throughout the story. I enjoyed Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow more, but I enjoyed this more than Velvet was the Night. Will read whatever Moreno-Garcia next publishes.

Goodness, Silvia Moreno-Garcia can do no wrong. This book was so engaging and so mysterious. It didn't rely too heavily on knowledge of the original (which is good, because I never read it!) but it still gives readers enough of a base to follow along. It's suspenseful and atmospheric and thoroughly bad-ass.

This a beautifully told, compelling, and clever revisionist work of scifi horror. The cover is beautiful and fans of Mexican Gothic or even other revisionist tales of Victorian works, like Wide Sargasso Sea will enjoy it.

This book was okay, but it was just not for me. I felt like nothing really happened throughout the book. The ending was heartwarming though.

A secluded estate houses experiments of Doctor Moreau, as well as his daughter, but their world is upended by the arrival of a young man, throwing their delicately balanced life in to chaos in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.

In Yaxaktun, away from prying eyes and the strife engulfing the Yucatán peninsula, Doctor Moreau has set up his life and scientific experiments with the financial patronage of Mr. Lizalde, who aims to use these experiments, hybrids as they combine human and animal genetics, to his advantage as obedient workers in the wake of political upheaval. With Doctor Moreau is his daughter, Carlota, who has led a sheltered life and encountered few people beyond those in Yaxaktun; when a young girl of 14, Montgomery Laughton arrived to take up the role of mayordomo, mostly escaping his sad and tragic past as he tends to drown his woes in alcohol. In the six years since Montgomery’s arrival, they’ve had a quiet and peaceful existence, but one day Eduardo Lizalde, the Moreau patron’s son, arrives and shifts their protected world, charming Carlota with his seemingly gentlemanly behavior and fetching appearance. Eduardo’s arrival and obsessive pursuit of Carlota ushers a series of events that drastically change the dynamics between those in Yaxaktun, making Carlota question her father and the secrets he’s long kept, especially those about her supposed illness.

Written in lush, descriptive language that easily sets an atmosphere, this reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau gradually explored rising tensions of growing unrest within Mexico that leads to a war as part of a larger story that examined humanity while depicting scientific experimentation that raised a variety of questions regarding the ethics and morality of what’s being done in the name of scientific progress. Presented in a dual perspective narrative through Carlota and Montgomery, the story overlapped slightly at the outset, and featured a fair bit of repetition, but then shifted to a more straightforward chronological sequence passing between the two characters, offering insights in to each of their characters and their thoughts regarding one another, which provided moments of levity as they provoked one another with their banter, despite their relationship generally feeling a bit too forced for the sake of more drama. Using genetic splicing to create new beings, hoping for a human-passing creature with the added abilities of the donor animal, there’s a fascinating potential presented, but with the possibility is joined by a perspective that those created beings are seen as less than human, even so far as monsters, despite the advantages they have may over a “normal” human as a result of their genetic modifications; through this, there’s a depiction of those who are “other” and how they’re treated both by those close to them as well as society at large.

Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very good book and only my second by this author. I am amazed at her talent and how all her books feel unique and I loved this book. A new favourite. A fantastic storyline with great writing , pick this one up if you enjoy fantastical storytelling. Had me hooked from page one , this was utterly stunning.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Whenever I'm in the mood for something solidly genre, I don't ever have to look further than Siliva Moreno-Garcia. At this point I'm convinced she could do anything. This was definitely my favorite of hers since I read Mexican Gothic and this book highlights all her strengths. Atmospheric, spooky, less nuts and bolts plot and more of simply creepy crawly feeling that you aren't supposed to be reading about this. There's something voyeuristic about SMG's writing, she puts you in scenarios and in character dynamics that maybe shouldn't exist, but despite ourselves, you get drawn in to her fantastical and grotesque worlds. So thrilling, so gross, so good.

A fresh take on the story of Dr. Moreau with fascinating characters and social commentary. Carlota is the daughter of Dr. Moreau, the novel taking place on the Yucatan Peninsula with the Maya people battling for their independence. I was expecting science fiction horror. What I got was a historical love story with a science fiction twist that reimagined a classic story.

Isolation bleeds through the novel. Carlota is a woman who has grown up with few companions or friends, diligently observed by her father, throughout his experiments on animals and beast-like men. The cast is compact, but compelling, particularly Montgomery the Englishman who assists Moreau. Montgomery is a character defined by failure and trauma, unable to leave it behind and bearing it with him even as others attempt to bond with him.

The question permeates the novel: what makes a human being human? What is to be gained by playing God? Carlota is the vehicle through those questions are raised and answered. As Carlota gains more independence, we learn about her origins, and her journey of self determination is entwined with her growing romance to Eduardo, the son of her father's patron.

As ever, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's characters are strong and believable. The atmosphere is one she perfected in Mexican Gothic: lurid, haunting and compelling, with rich tapestries of language and character that draw the reader in from the first page.

5/5