Silvia Moreno-Garcia books always get to me, her writing is just phenomenal and reading her books feel like a much needed comfort.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a new level of brilliant storytelling by Silvia, it is character driven and immersive.

This book made me feel all the feelings and kept me flipping the pages late into the night until I was done!

I received an advance digital review copy of this book for free from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily as a courtesy.

I have to admit, I was first drawn to this book because of the stunningly beautiful & vivid cover! Gorgeous and inviting! I am glad that I was given the chance to read this book too, though, because Silvia Moreno-Garcia did not disappoint with her historically accurate gothic sci-fi retelling of the story of Doctor Moreau.

Set in the late 19th century in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico during the indigenous Mayan fight for freedom, this book was full of beauty, struggles, betrayal, and love. Although I have never read H.G. Wells' "The Island of Doctor Moreau," I was instantly transported to this retelling of that story through the eyes of his daughter, Carlota, and their majordomo, Montgomery. The vivid imagery used by Moreno-Garcia made me feel as though I were right there in the midst of the beauty of the estate and lush surroundings. The characters were interesting and quirky and the storyline and world-building were outstanding!

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical, gothic, and/or science fiction, especially retellings of classics!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has done it again! Every single book that she writes is incredible, beautifully written, and never disappointing. This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022. The world was so well written that I felt like I was there and I loved how Doctor Moreau's creations felt like people; each with their own specific personalities.

As in most of her works, I love that there is a bit of romance and that it is never insta-love or too much. I really like that the romances she writes always add to the story instead of taking over the whole plot.

I think everyone should try reading one of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books!

I was really unsure about going into this book as it wasn’t really one of my normal genres. I saw all the buzz and decided I had to see what everyone was raving about.

Obviously this story is inspired by the classic tale The Island of Doctor Moreau and although I’d never read it, I had some idea of the premise of the classic.

In this book, Doctor Moreau has a daughter and the setting is in the Yucatán in Mexico. I’ve spent many a happy vacation near there so kind of knew the locale. I also knew there’d be hybrid type human/animals. But really, that was pretty much all I knew going in.

For the first half of the book, to be honest, I just kind of slogged through. It was fairly slow moving. It kept my interest enough that I wanted to continue through as I just knew something had to be coming. And then… wow, did it ever!! At a little past the midway point, everything changed and I couldn’t flip through the pages of this book fast enough.

I ended up really enjoying this story and even now, the next day, I can’t get it out of my head. The setting, the characters, the hybrids…. I wish I wouldn’t have stayed up late last night to finish because now I’m having a bit of a book hangover and want more. I see what all the fuss is about now!

And also… There’s that absolutely stunning cover! It’s so beautiful!

*Thank you so much to Del Rey Publishing and to NetGalley for the advance copy!*

(Writing this review some time after reading, as personal events got in the way. Due to brevity, I am choosing to only post a star rating on Goodreads).
I came into this book expecting something similar to Mexican Gothic. I wasn’t expecting something so fantastical, but it was captivating, nonetheless. Moreno-Garcia has a gift and I would recommend to others every single time.

Welp, I was hoping for more with this retelling of Doctor Moreau.

In fact, I read The Island of Doctor Moreau before tackling this one. I'd never read the classic and wanted to give this new book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia justice with my review and rating. I'm glad I did this too since I was able to understand the characters actions and overall plot for this new retelling.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau has the same type of setting and idea for some of the characters from the original. Doctor Moreau is still a sociopath playing God and Montgomery is still doing the unhinged errands for Moreau while being a complete drunk.

Where the book struggles is the lack of suspense and horror elements. The pacing is glacier, and the slow build of the book doesn’t deliver in the end.

In fact, I’m not sure what this book was going for in a genre: horror, thriller or sci-fi?
It ended up being none of the three.

I enjoyed Mexican Gothic more and hope her next book will not be so tame and have more suspense and horror in it!

I absolutely love Silvia Moreno-Garcia's lyric, beautiful writing. Her writing really carried this story. I say that because I thought the actual plot in this one lacked. I was hoping for either more in-depth science fiction or more historical/geographical pieces to the story.

I thought this one moved pretty slowly as well, which isn't really a problem for me, but I was disappointed with the slow pace when I realized there wouldn't be any surprising revelations at the end of the book.

“The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” is an updated version of H. G. Wells’ “The island of Dr. Moreau”. I don’t know how I never read the latter in school, because I read many of the classics. I only remember a movie that came out when I was in high school starring Marlon Brando, that looked creepy to me.
I loved this book! Carlota Moreau lives on a secluded peninsula, with her father, her cook and maid, and Montgomery Laughton, the overseer of the hybrids. They hybrids are exactly what they sound like, human and animals mixed to create a new species. Two men come to the peninsula and Carlota’s life and the lives of her family and friends, is upended.
If you are looking for a fast paced novel that is nothing like you have read before, this book is for you. It’s a perfect beach read. I have never read a book by this author but I will definitely check out her other books. I want to thank the author, Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine , and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. #TheDaughterofDoctorMoreau #NetGalley

Wow I really enjoyed this! Silvia is such a gifted writer, I always auto-buy whenever I see a new book. Thank you so much for the early copy!

Once again I am in awe of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing and storytelling ! I love how she incorporates the conflicts within Mexico, and includes deeper issues between the characters. Another great read by this author !

I'll start by saying, as I've never actually read The Island of Doctor Moreau, that I have no knowledge whatsoever of the story that this is a reimagined version of, or no basis of comparison.

That said, as a standalone work, I have greatly enjoyed The Daughter of Doctor Moreau!

Carlota lives a very isolated life, far from the rest of civilization (although also from the dangerous conflicts occurring elsewhere in Mexico), the daughter of a scientist or madman, depending on one's point of view. She's never been away from her family's estate, and the only people she's ever met are her father, her father's overseer, their housekeeper, Ramona, and "the hybrids," two of whom are Carlota's closest friends. They live a peaceful, if sheltered and to Carlota, at times boring existence. However, all of this begins to crumble with the arrival of both a new overseer, Montgomery, hired because he will keep his mouth shut about what he sees on the estate and because he can be controlled through his addiction and debts, and Lizalde, Moreau's benefector who is becoming less and less patient with the doctor's work/lack of results. Then, when Lizalde's son becomes involved in the estate as well, a dangerous chain reaction begins.

Although this one took me awhile to really get into at first, a bit of a slow start, I think it was probably necessary to lay the groundwork/setting so the reader understands what's to come - at least what Carlota understands of her own world, other things we learn with her which was a great delight. In the end, I found this story both excellent and gripping as I've come to expect of Moreno-Garcia, and I say "well-done" once again!

I loved this. Silvia is one of my favorite Latinx authors of all time. Her writing is beautiful and the pace is great.

I haven't read the original but I like the way she approached this retelling. I liked the sci-fi and (to me) horror elements of this story, and the characters are all very unique. I stayed up until 3 am to finish this.

Highly recommend!

Look, I love The Island of Doctor Moreau. I love the movie adaptation (I even enjoyed Marlon Brando’s completely unhinged depiction of the Doctor). And I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s re-imagining of it.

This book, like every other book I’ve read by Moreno-Garcia is so beautifully and richly textured. She’s an immensely talented writer, and nowhere is it more evident than in her ability to make a reader feel absolutely transported to whichever area and time period she chooses. She makes you believe in the characters, and in the world they live in. She’s got such a knack for being perfectly descriptive without going overboard. She gives just the right amount of details.
“Carlotta loved everything about Yaxaktun, but most of all she loved her father. He was like the sun in the sky, lighting her days. Yes, he could be stern and demanding at times. Nevertheless, she recalled all the evenings, many years before, when she had been small and he hadn’t yet developed a treatment for her…Lost in a haze of pain, there had been her father at her side, every night, promising he would make it better. And he had. He’d kept his promise.”

The thing I find most fascinating about The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is how deftly Moreno-Garcia changed this story into something so much more than it was. I mean, the original Doctor Moreau is wonderful, but it centers itself upon one man’s consuming need to be a god. The Daughter allows us to focus on something that I at least, find infinitely more interesting: a daughter’s need to free herself from the oppressive conditioning of a patriarchal society (albeit on a small scale for the purposes of the story, but, I’m sure on a grander one in the greater world as well).

Carlotta has always been her father’s blindly devoted, perfectly placid daughter. But that can’t last forever. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is the story of a complex, imperfect woman becoming something more than she was. There are really strong feminist themes woven throughout the story that are really lovely, and woven perfectly into the story.
(review scheduled to go live on my website on 8/3/22)

✨ Review ✨ The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This story centers Carlota Moreau (the daughter of Doctor Moreau) as she grows up in the middle of Yucatán peninsula. Her father raises a team of hybrids, part human/part animal creations, that seem both friendly and monstrous at times. The book alternates between Carlota's perspective and that of Montgomery, an overseer and assistant to Moreau. The characters are all beholden to the Lizaldes, the owner of the Moreau's home and financier to the doctor's experimentation. And, so when Eduardo Lizalde appears to woo Carlota, all sorts of trouble is launched into motion.

I'm such a SMG stan - I live for her writing, slow and beautiful always. This was slow and beautiful, but admittedly not my favorite of her works. The pacing dragged a bit and I wanted more out of either the sci-fi or historical fiction angles. I loved the rich and luxurious setting she creates and the conflict she set up, but it just didn't quite get there for me. I switched to the audio with about a third of the book remaining which helped change things up for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: sci-fi + historical fiction
Location: 1870s Yucatán
Pub Date: Out now!

Thanks to Del Rey and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

I love her writing, gonna put that up front. Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow are two of my top tier favorite books.

This one hit around middle of the road for me. In The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, this is, maybe inspired is the best word, by the H.G. Wells book The Isle of Doctor Moreau . Instead of an island it’s in the Yucatán peninsula with the backdrop of the lush forest and the cast-war.

It follows Carlota, the doctor’s only daughter, and her life with the hybrids he’s created with funding from a man named Hernando Lizalde.

The reason this was middle of the road for me was because out of the characters, none of them really jumped off the page for me. None of them were as strong as I felt they could have been. Her writing is stunning, the atmosphere is amazing, but the characters don’t add up to it.

It starts with Carlota’s childhood and then her young adulthood when a new mayordomo comes to work there.

The pacing was a bit off for me. At times it was incredibly slow and others it moved more fluidly and with speed. Because the characters were flat, I found myself not caring much about them.

There are some interesting themes, regardless of the depth of the characters. What it means to be human, others suffering because of someone else’s hubris, coming of age and trying to fill the role of daughter and grown woman at the same time. It’s a good read, it just didn’t grab me the way her other books did.

I’ll still recommend this to people who want a good summer read. It’s not scary, not really aside from a few moments of action but that’s really it.

So for me, this is a three (3) star read.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

A fascinating retelling of the famous H.G. Wells story. The world that Moreno-Garcia paints for us is lush, gorgeous, and tinged with a dark underbelly in Moreau's fantastical creations, of which his own daughter is one. It's a twisty mix of histfic and science fiction, and while it's not a novel that will induce terror, it is certainly emotionally horrific in its crimes against nature and humanity. The backdrop themes of colonialism and feminism serve to deeply enhance the story. Another great book from Moreno-Garcia to add to your shelf.

This was okay. Definitely not my favorite Silvia Moreno-Garcia book but still really enjoyable. I find myself not really having strong feelings about it either way. The setting was interesting and very atmospheric but I didn't really find myself caring about any of the characters.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia once again stuns with a reimagining of the story of Doctor Moreau in The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. The book starts as a solid retelling but quickly shifts into its own story being placed in time and space in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The daughter, Carlota, is a sheltered girl, having grown up in a remote estate with her father, Doctor Moreau, and his animal hybrids.

The delicate balance of their lives is shaken by the appearance of Eduardo Lizalde who comes to see the experiments and understand what his funding has created. Carlota seeks answers to some of the biggest mysteries of her father's work while all that Doctor Moreau has toiled for hangs in the balance.

When reading Moreno-Garcia’s work, her point of view on colonialism and exploitation shines through. I have also had the pleasure of listening to a talk by her and the intelligence and the way she deftly weaves these themes into the narrative are spectacular.

Thank you to Del Ray for providing an e-Arc of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia for my review.

If you're looking for a creepy, atmospheric romp through the Yucatan peninsula complete with mad scientist and hybrid people/animals, this book is for you.

I won't lie. I felt a bit meh about Mexican Gothic but liked Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing style. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau did not let me down. It was the perfect blend of beautiful storytelling, sci-fi, and mystery to hold my attention, and really enjoyed every second of this story.

For all my 90s kids out there, I kept thinking it was a mix of Dr. Quandry's Island and Animorphs but set in Mexico, but with a whole lot more twists and action.

I've never read the original story by HC Wells or have I seen the movie, but after reading this, I may need to go back and check them out.

A wonderfully atmospheric read. I definitely recommend The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. It was a very cool premise.

4/5 stars

Thank you Random House (Del Ray) and NetGalley for the gifted eARC!

I want to love SMG so bad but I just can’t get into her. I think I may have to come to terms with that and move on. This may have been more boring than Mexican Gothic!!

I have no idea what this book was trying to do. I get that it is a retelling, I even read the original in preparation for it so that I could understand! It turns out I didn’t really even need to because it barely refers to the original story.

This is so insanely slow, there is barely any sci-/horror elements. It’s mostly just conversation going back and forth between so many characters that I started losing track except for the two main ones. A little over 30% I realized this was entering into the romance zone which I wasn’t expecting at all. At least not for it to be the sole focus. There’s no doubt that Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a talented writer but they are almost always 3 stars or under for me. I’m re-thinking reading Untamed Shore too.

I shouldn’t have had high hopes but I did anyway and was let down. Not for me unfortunately. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.