Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I read Mexican Gothic a while ago and just did not enjoy it at all. I wanted to give the author another chance with this book. The plot sounded very interesting.
This one was better than Mexican Gothic but it just didn’t wow me like I had hoped it would.
I think this author just isn’t for me. Not a bad writer but just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House for the ARC

This is my second book by Moreno-Garcia, and I think it’s just time to admit I don’t love her work. Like Mexican Gothic, it is a slow pace met with no shocking endings or real crescendo in the end. I find myself wondering why I wasted the time. The story follows Carlota, in a re telling of the classic story, and her father - as well as “the hybrids”. Hypothetically, this sets off an interesting event chain, but I find myself simply not interested. It just wasn’t a good book, frankly.

The concept of this book is very cool. A lush setting and a very weird subject matter. Unfortunately, the execution fell very flat. I loved Mexican Gothic but this story lacked the pacing and suspense that made me inhale the book. Reading the Daughter of Doctor Moreau was like being on a really long trip to absolutely nowhere.

The main characters felt vert flat and the hybrids should have produced so much more interest and instead everything felt bland. This could have been a great story about personal agency and what freedom really looks like but the messaging never landed.

It was a miss for me-which is a disappointment-I think Silvia is an excellent author.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/ Ballantine/ Del Rey for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy in exchange my honest opinions.

I dnfed this books I didn’t enjoy this. I lost interest in this and didn’t like it. The writing wasn’t for me.

I loved MEXICAN GOTHIC, and THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU is a worthy follow-up! I really appreciated the nuanced ways in which this book interacted with the original text, adding nuance, perspective, and challenges to the narrative as presented by Wells. Felt of a piece with the original while also providing twists I could not anticipate! Moreno-Garcia is great at atmosphere and slow-burn tension.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a weird one. I will preface with saying I've never read the original Dr. Moreau so I was intrigued by the weirdness of animal-people. This wasn't my favorite of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, however, it's still worth a read. Although I was surprised at every reveal, I was left feeling like they were very predictable looking back on all the foreshadowing.

Excellent retelling of Dr. Moreau. I loved the gothic horror/romance. The author does a wonderful job balancing the atmosphere and suspense.

This was pretty good, it definitely has that gothic feel that I love. It started a little slow for me, but by the time I got midway through I couldn't put it down. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect going in....I have not read the original that this is based on, nor have I seen the movie (I heard there's a movie). So, reading this as it unfolded was all new. I liked that Carlota grew and changed as the book progressed. By the end she was no longer a shy, naive and meek young lady. The twists were unexpected. All in all, a good read.

As a side note, I went back and forth between reading and listening. The audio was well done, but I preferred reading this time.

I had a hard time getting into this book. The book was well written and the plot was interesting. I found myself zoning out. Maybe I'll come back to this one. I think I just read it at the wrong time.

I've never read The Island of Doctor Moreau, but I feel like this was a really interesting interpretation. On audio, I loved the various accents she used (both French and regional) to distinguish between the various characters. We get to interact with Moreau's hybrids and grow attached, all while the world tries to tear them away from us. I particularly enjoyed Laughton's perspective as a newcomer to all of this. This features Silvia Moreno-Garcia's classic worldbuilding magic, with everything feeling luxurious. But as usual, there's a darker side... and it's executed gorgeously.

*Thank you to PRH Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review*

I will definitely be recommending this one! This author is becoming one of my favorites and I will continue to read their work.

enjoyed this a lot. silvia moreno-garcia is a queen. enough said.

— thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC.

Disappointed to say that I had a hard time getting into this one. I think it’s more of a me problem. But I normally love Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books.

I am a big fan of the Island of Dr. Moreau. This was an interesting take on the original and there was enough for fans of Wells original tale but it is not required to be familiar with that to read this fantastic novel.

Carlota Moreau is the daughter of an infamous researcher with a secret even she’s unaware of, living in Yaxaktun. Montgomery Laughton is a high-functioning depressed alcoholic who grows fond of the remote island and its inhabitants. The hybrids, Lupe and Cachito, are the fruits of the doctor's labor and Carlota's only family.

They live a (mostly) blissful and unbothered life in the "beautiful dream" that is Yaxaktun until their world is upended by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the son of Dr. Moreau's patron, Fernando Lizalde. This retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau is a dark, historical sci-fi with some slow burn romance and veiled horror. It took a while for me to get into this, but it’s hard not to be invested in Carlota. We meet her as a young, naive teenager who loves her home and trusts her father completely. When’s she’s twenty and meets Eduardo, she believes she can have love and marriage while staying on her beloved Yaxaktun, but Eduardo has other plans. When things begin to fall apart, Carlota is forced to question everything she thought she knew. Lush, atmospheric and dark, this book makes you think about what really makes a monster.

This was such an unexpected gem for me!! I don't love historical fiction and I didn't like Mexican Gothic at all. This is one of my favorite books of the year so far and hopefully Moreno-Garcia comes out with more titles similar to this!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say? I was left in shock and loved the mystery and story telling. A brilliant follow up to Mexican Gothic, I was on the edge of my seat. I can't wait to read more from Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is certainly the queen of the retelling, and while I didn't enjoy this one QUITE as much as I did Mexican Gothic, I still found enjoyment in this story and can absolutely see how others who aren't me would enjoy this even more. I think my first mistake was in comparing it to her other work instead of letting the text speak for itself. That being said, this retelling of the H.G. Wells classic has a cast of characters I won't soon forget with an enjoyable romance at the center. The pacing may seem a bit slow at first but things speed up towards the end and the antagonist adds just the right amount of tension to spice things up as well. All together it was incredibly okay.

I was really looking forward to this one which is why I'm especially disappointed that it just did not work for me. It was too slow to start with, and it didn't really pick up for me until very close to the end, which means I spent a majority of the book uninvested. I love other books from the author, and DID enjoy the writing here and the atmosphere - albeit slow, it had that sort of southern gothic vibe that makes me think of blood & fun in the sun. The characters didn't particularly engage me, but the writing did!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This isn’t my normal type of read but I enjoyed it. I thought the story moved along well. I enjoyed the characters. It was an interesting take on the story of Doctor Moreau. The writer really made you picture the characters and locations.