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.

I love this author and also the story of Dr. Moreau. This is a lush, imaginative and interesting retelling. Almost makes me want to go back and read the original to compare the two more closely.

While this starts off a little slow, it quickly turns into a fast read. At least it did for me. I love the way this author writes and weaves a story so it's no surprise I enjoyed this one.

I enjoy science fiction so this was a perfect read for me. Those who enjoy historical fiction with Sci-Fi mixed in will enjoy this one too.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Moreno-Garcia is a master at atmospheric, eerie tales. Her prose lingers on the line of reality and paranormal… think Frankenstein. You don’t know when and if she’s going to cross that line. This gothic book is a spooky and enjoyable take on an old classic.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Unfortunately, this was not for me. I was unable to get past the first few chapters. I believe this is just an issue of my taste not aligning with the story. I recommend others try it!

Though beautifully written I spent the whole time drawing comparisons to another book with a very, very similar premise, The Madman's Daughter, and unfortunately this didn't do enough that was notably different enough for me to feel like I was getting something new.

I loved Mexican Gothic so I jumped on the chance to read this arc! The author’s engrossing writing style is still prevalent in this book, and it was hard to put down. I found the story a little predictable, but overall it was a good read and I’d recommend checking it out if you like her other work.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau draws inspiration from the H.G. Wells novel. It follows the story of Carlota the daughter of the doctor who makes all the hybrids and what happens when outsiders decide to invade their paradise.

Moreno-Garcia does not fail to disappoint. This book was a bit of a slow burn. Unlike other books of hers that I have read we get to the supernatural twist right away. But then it felt like "ok but what's the mystery or plot". You get to that, but not until what it feels like is halfway through the book. Mostly this follows the story of Carlota the titular daughter and her growth and journey in discovering who she is and her transformation from innocent child to adult.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I Love Silvia Moreno-Garcia with her gothic stories. The setting this book take place is my first time reading. It is a slow burn. Check TW.

This definitely gave me Frankenstein vibes and I was all here for it! This was just as good, if not better, than Mexican Gothic.

Mexican Gothic has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite some time and when I saw I had the opportunity to read this one I thought I would give it a shot.

This is a book that was inspired by the classic The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. Carlota Moreau, the daughter of Doctor Moreau has an unusual relationship with her father, Doctor Moreau. When he starts to struggle financially there is a chance his financial pain will go away but only if Carlota marries the wealthy son.

I have to admit, this book really dragged for me. I felt that the characters were boring and that the plot wasn't much better. I hate to leave a bad review and maybe this one just wasn't for me.

The HG Wells classic The Island of Doctor Moreau explored the dangers of unexamined science. Author Silvinia Moreno Garcia takes a turn retelling this classic tale in her new book. Jumping off the events in Wells' novel, Dr. Moreau's funders have decided to pay a visit, threatening to upend a delicate balance between scientists and their creations.

This fun twist gave a more human aspect that builds on the original story. Attempting to splice genes of animals with humans in order to cure disease Dr. Moreau has not found success. The funders are hungry for results, and he must protect his daughter and his creations. A young Englishman helps maintain order while the daughter helps manage the house and look after these creations. The son of the funders becomes infatuated with the daughter. They threaten to come back with violence when he doesn't get his way. They must find a way to defeat these forces with the help of rebels and their wits.

I enjoyed the reversal of perspectives in this narrative. The original gives hints of Heart of Darkness. A fear of non-white people overtaking the world. In this version, it is nature that most be protected from clumsy imperialists. I enjoyed this so much more than the original. It breathed new life into a dark origin story.

One thing you need to know about me: I hate magical realism in literatyre and anything that vaguely resembles or gives off magical realism vibes. It’s just not my cup of tea. While The Daughter of Doctor Moreau was pitched as historical science fiction, and it definitely was that, it felt too close to some of the magical realism novels I have read. Had I known it, I surely wouldn’t have requested it, because I now stir clear from the genre, as it’s not for me.
Genre mix aside, I found this to be extremely boring; for the most part, nothing really happened, and when something did happen it felt either disconnected or predictable or even absurd, because why would someone say or do certain things, even in the 1800s?
I didn’t like any of the characters. The female protagonist had the same personality as a loaf of unsalted bread, and the male lead was honestly cringe and creepy. I did not care for any of the others, especially since none of them felt like they had a personality and I could not tell them apart. If you ask me what their names were and what they were like, I’d not know.
And don’t let me started on the “relationships”… I understand they were supposed to portray a certain kind of dynamics between different characters, but in my opinion it was poorly done and felt like lazy writing. I rather they were not there at all, to be honest.
For some reason, I also expected the writing style to be something more. I heard Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing described as lush, beautiful and all the good adjectives you can come up with. I was left a bit underwhelmed. I am not saying it was bad, just not as good as I was lead to believe, there weren’t any memorable passages for me and it was forgettable.
Overall, I was disappointed. There are so many things you could do when writing a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau; I do not think that setting the story in Mexico is enough to make the reimagining worth reading. At the same time, the historical background was the only interesting thing for me, and I wish we had gotten to see a bit more of it.
What annoyed me the most, as it’s often the case, is that the potential was there, it just was not exploited as it should have, and the pitch turned out better than the actual book. I don’t even know who to recommend this to, maybe to magical realism fans. If you enjoyed The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina or The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, this may be for you.
I am now debating whether I should read Mexican Gothic or not, since I disliked this book this much. On the one hand, it’s a completely different story and genre and a friend of mine whom I kinda trust really liked it, on the other hand I fear yet another disappointment. As usual, I am asking you to please let me know, if you’ve read both the novels in question.

Inspired by H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, Moreno-Garcia instead sets her reimagining of the well-known story in 19th Century Mexico, using the very real historical conflict of The Yucatan Caste War, between the Maya people and the Mexican government, as a backdrop to explore the political ramifications of the hybrids' "otherness". That said, you do not need to be familiar with Wells' original book, or even the historical inspiration, to enjoy this novel.

While I did ultimately enjoy this novel, the biggest challenge while reading it is that it starts a little slowly. That might lose some readers early on, but that setup is important—making you think at every turn by asking heavy questions about science, religion, colonialism, resistance, colorism, and the agency of women—leading to an action-packed second half.

I've read a number of Moreno-Garcia's novels and while this one is not my favorite, it is inarguably well-written with an engaging plot and solid characters. I just didn't connect with it as much as some of her other works.

If you're a fan of reimagined classics, I'd say this is definitely one of the better ones.

Thanks to Random House Publishing, Del Rey Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF after 15% -- I was excited to see this world again but this was more of a fiction with scifi/horror sprinkles and I'm not interested in that.