Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Title: The Madman's Daughter

Author: Megan Shepherd

Series: The Madman's Daughter #1

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication date: 11/04/2013

Format: Paperback | 368 pages

Genre: YA | Science Fiction | Historical

Goodreads

To uncover the truth means risking all…

London, 1894, Juliet Monreau has built a life for herself working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumours about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.

Yet what she finds on the island is twisted beyond all imagining, and out of her father's control. As the island rapidly descends into chaos, she must escape the horrors of her father's creations, but not before she discovers the true extent of her father's genius - and madness - in her own blood.

My thoughts:

After Juliet's father is accused of horrendous crimes, Juliet is forced to make do with any job that will keep her off the streets. Working as a maid in the hospital, Juliet comes across something that may mean her father is still alive. Determined to find out if the accusations were true, Juliet hitches a ride with an old friend to an island filled with unnatural creatures and a dangerous murderer that leaves three claw marks as his calling card.

Wow this book had some creepy characters. I loved every minute of it. Seriously.

I'm a big fan of creepy reads - not necessarily horror but something that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. From the very first page, I could tell that this book would be a good one. The writing immediately had a feel of suspense and dark drama that was bound to creep me out. It did just that. There were creepy characters, a murderer that had everyone afraid to leave the house and bucket loads of suspense. I couldn't stop reading.

The characters were great. I loved how mysterious they were - nothing but their basic personality and history was revealed until close to the end of the read where everything got turned on its head. I found myself starting to doubt everyone, even Juliet. Were they who they said they were? Characters who seemed perfectly innocent beforehand were seen in a new light.

By the way, I loved Montgomery he was totally steamy.

The plot with Juliet and her father was amazing. He was definitely a character I won't be able to get out of my head for awhile. Totally insane. I really liked how he still managed to get into Juliet's head even when she'd decided he wasn't worth listening to - you know, because of the fact that he's a total creep who enjoys inflicting pain in the name of science.

All in all I loved this book tremendously and I can't wait to get the sequel, especially with the way it ended. Never would have called it!

My rating: 10/10

 Megan Shepherd:

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The Madman's Daughter:

1. The Madman's Daughter
2. Her Dark Curiosity
3. A Cold Legacy

Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

Publisher: Penguin

Publication date: 10 May 2012

Format: Paperback | 272 pages

Genre: YA | Contemporary

Goodreads

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a blood-thirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

My thoughts:

After being dumped by his 19th girlfriend, all of whom were named Katherine, Colin is persuaded by best friend Hassan to go on a road trip to take his mind off his heartbreak. Being the prodigy he is, Colin is on a mission to save everyone the trouble of relationship break ups by creating a formula to predict who will be the dumper and who will be the dumpee.

What I liked most about this read was that it constantly had me laughing, either that or it left me with a huge grin on my face. There was just something about the characters that got to me. Colin's so clever and yet he manages to be so clueless about a whole lot of things, especially relationships. Hassan just has these great one liners that never failed to make me crack up laughing. Colin was cute but Hassan was just downright hilarious.

The plot to this book is pretty simple. It's all about character development, friendship and a little bit of romance thrown in. It's all carried by the characters in my opinion. With such brilliant characters who are truly great friends, you can't help but wish them to figure out where they're going and to make the best of what they've got. And they do. There was a very realistic ending that left a lot open to the imagination but the characters had gotten to where they needed to be. I thought the ending was perfect.

 

I do think that this book would be a hit and miss with a lot of people. I can imagine Hassan and Colin getting on some people's nerves if they're not into books that don't have such a clear direction.

 

Generally I really enjoyed this read, aside from it being a little slow at times, I loved how awkward it was and the situations the characters got into really did make me laugh. It was a good time.

 

My rating: 8/10

 

 John Green:

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