The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Unpopular review here. I know, I know. Don't come at me. While Moreno-Garcia weaves a really eerie, beautiful and fantastical setting in this book with a well written plot, the book as a whole failed to keep me invested. I did like the characters, but the pacing and overall feel of the book just didn't keep me tied in. I'm P-R-A-Y-I-N-G that I haven't fallen into another reading slump, dear God. I just felt my attention flitting elsewhere whilst reading this one.

This was a slow burn for me. It took me a while to get into, especially compared to Moreno-Garcia's previous novels Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was The Night, and for the first third I found the plot to be almost entirely predictable (note: I've never read H. G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau, so that's not why!).

While I don't think the predictability ever vanished (I've been deliberately vague in this next statement, but just in case, I'll mark it as a spoiler) I thought the secret about Carlota, the titular character, was anything but - I found myself more and more drawn into the story, especially once the Lizaldes showed up. I flew through the last two-thirds in one sitting, to the point that I was surprised and a little disappointed to hit the end.

I'm not entirely sure how to position it - unlike her other works I'm familiar with, it's not a gothic horror novel nor a straight thriller. I guess I'd characterize it as historical fiction with a magical realism / sci-fi bent. I really enjoyed the historical fiction elements - I learned a remarkable amount about the Yucatán peninsula in the late 19th century - and I admire Moreno-Garcia's ability to move across genres.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for my ARC.

All you need is cash.

The original Island of Doctor Moreau (Wells, 1896) book that Moreno-Garcia is borrowing characters and concept from had a title character that was playing God, torturing sentient creatures, and traumatizing the entire cast of characters in the book.

Here, Doctor Moreau is doing the same thing but rather than testing the bounds of science and technology, he just needs money. The central plan is to sell Moreau's creations to the evil capitalist pig Lizaldes so they can use them for slave labor.

When that isn't efficient enough, Moreau decides to sell his hot daughter's hand in marriage to the Lizaldes, just to ensure his financial future.

This cheapens the existential horror potential of the novel. The creatures are reduced to a commodity instead of allowing us to be frightened for, or of them. The author wants them to represent the downtrodden but she doesn't go very deep. Moreno-Garcia did a better job of bringing out the terror of genetic weirdness and the patriarchal oppression angle in Mexican Gothic.

There's no need to take this seriously, however. This is just a shallow and fast-moving book that is mostly a love triangle with some feminist messaging.

Carlota, the title character, goes from obedient daughter and property to liberated superhero in one absurd and melodramatic moment. None of the characters or relationships are developed enough for me to invest in most of the storyline.

My favorite part of the book was the last few chapters, in which the conflict and action heat up and becomes a bit more of a page-turner.

There is not a lot of science fiction in this one.

If there's one thing I really love about Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work is that she's willing to take risks and not just stick to the same ideas all the time. After the success of Mexican Gothic, most authors would say, “I've found my niche” and stick to it.

Instead, she released Velvet Was the Night, a taught political thriller; Return of the Sorceress, a dark fantasy novella; and now Daughter of Doctor Moreau. While even in her earlier work there are clear through lines in thematic content, she's not afraid to experiment with genre.

This book has been called a ‘retelling' of the Island of Doctor Moreau, but I'm not sure that quite fits. It takes the basic idea of a European scientist experimenting on animals to create hybrids, as well as a few of the characters, and tosses the whole thing into a blender with very SMG themes of settler colonialism's impact on Mexico, treatment of women and wealth imbalances.

Chapters alternate between Carlota, the daughter of Moreau, and Montgomery, the new mayordomo of the compound. The major conflict throughout the book revolves around the wealthy Lizalde family, who are funding Moreau's experiments to get cheap labor, and the lengths Moreau is willing to go to with them to not have his funding cut off. Montgomery is a sad, conflicted drunk who has developed feelings for Carlota, while Carlota is a doting daughter who just wants to do the right thing, even if that means marrying the younger Lizalde to keep things flowing.

Spoilers ahead.

If you're aware of the original story, the puma-woman was Moreau's last experiment, and also his undoing. There's some clever conceptual play going on here where Moreau's perfect experiment was ‘saving' his daughter through his tinkering. We aren't clued in to the extent of it until the end, which shouldn't come as a surprise to readers paying close attention. Carlota is forced to become her own woman and cope with the heavy emotions of that transition from childhood to adulthood, including love and overcoming an overbearing parental figure.

Montgomery, on the other hand, is forced to deal with the fact he's still alive and that Carlota needs to figure herself out. This can't be some sweeping romance of a guy saves girl and her hybrid friends and everything works out, which is nice.

Well worth your time to read.

The Island of Doctor Moreau has always had a special place in my heart as one of the first SciFi/Horror books I ever read, so I had pretty high expectations for this. I wasn't let down! Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes absolutely beautiful prose and very well rounded characters that I find myself deeply caring about without realizing. I didn't see the plot twist coming and was completely caught off guard through the climax of the story. Definitely going to continue reading Silvia's books and definitely going to keep enjoying them!






Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

My boring “review as consumer guide” review:
This is another solid novel from Moreno-Garcia. Much like Mexican Gothic, the novel's character are engaging, the pacing is good, the historical Mexican setting is well integrated into the story and there's an interesting intertextuality, if that's the kind of thing that interests you. While it doesn't quite reach the same level of horrors as Mexican Gothic, it's still an excellent read.

My idiosyncratic “review as personal essay/literary commentary” review: As a tween, I owned an omnibus of H.G. Wells novels. I still remember reading the original Island of Dr. Moreau at 11 or 12 and the feeling that it may not have been entirely age appropriate. While the other novels in the collection had their dark moments, only Island managed to maintain a real “crimes against nature” atmosphere throughout the entirety of the tale. Moreno-Garcia's reimagining of this classic work takes a much gentler approach, finding the humanity in Moreau's creations while saving it's sense of horror for the systems of exploitation that Europeans created in the Americas. It's a nice twist on the classic novel.

A slow start for me (with two false starts!) but I really enjoyed it by the end, which came as a bit of a surprise. The second half really picked up a lot of speed and I whizzed through it. I found the story very interesting as I didn't know the original before reading this, and liked Montgomery and Lupe the most of the characters, though I think they generally didn't have enough time to be developed too deeply - it didn't detract from my wanting to keep reading it though! 

I've had Mexican Gothic on my TBR for a long time now, and I like her writing style after this book so I'll get to that one soonish.

Having never read The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G.Wells perhaps I'm missing out on the frisson of recognition when Moreno-Garcia harks back to the original. Maybe my understanding of the original as an outright horror story had me expecting a bit more bite here. This is a restrained tale that's less terror and more Tempest - especially when Carlota Moreau falls for the handsome Eduardo Lizalde, arguably the first man she has seen on the estate that wasn't her father or the tortured majordomo Montgomery Laughton.

There is so much table setting going on, the many pieces stacked up against one another, piled ever higher and higher as the story progresses and yet it somehow manages to resolve not with a bang but a whimper.

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.