Scan barcode
A review by mediaevalmuse
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
4.0
I'm a simple girl. I see a book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I read the book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book in particular intrigued me because it took inspiration from The Island of Doctor Moreau, and I was curious to see how Moreno-Garcia would play with it. Overall, I was pleased by my reading experience; I loved the setting and the relationship between our protagonists, and I thought Moreno-Garcia did a good job blending elements from the original story with the new Mexican backdrop. The only things preventing me from giving this book a full 5 stars include some issues I have with the writing, but otherwise, this was an enjoyable story and I look forward to reading more from this author.
WRITING: Moreno-Garcia's prose is generally very clear and easy to follow. I love the ease with which se writes and the way my eyes can glide over the page without feeling like I need to go back over and over. I also like the lush descriptions of the edenic estate and the blending of many different elements, from the Christian/pagan to the Latin/Mayan. It made for a richly textured world that felt alive with complexity.
The only things I didn't quite like were Moreno-Garcia's tendency to tell over show at certain times and the fact that some scenes are told to us twice (just from different perspectives). In my opinion, not all of these scenes needed to be shown in multiple perspectives, and there were some moments when I thought the author could have put in more effort to show us character emotions (rather than bluntly telling us what was going on).
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Carlota and Montgomery: two residents of a remote estate run by the elusive Dr. Moreau. Moreau uses the estate to experiment with hybridity, blending human and animal traits at the behest of his patron, who wants cheap labor for his land. However, after years of failure, his funding is being cut off. Desperate, Moreau turns to his daughter, Carlota, and persuades her to seek marriage with his patron's son, Eduardo. Montgomery, the mayordomo, is skeptical and sees the match as a threat to Carlota's happiness.
This story is less concerned with the scientific implications of animal-human hybridity and more focused on things like the courtship between Carlota and Eduardo. Since I'm a romance reader, I appreciated the stakes and the focus on the treatment of Carlota, and I felt invested in the outcome.
A subtler focus is placed on the fate of the hybrids, and Moreno-Garcia gestures towards topics such as race, slavery, scientific ethics, labor, and so on. I liked that there was effort put into questioning the ethics of Moreau's experiments and teasing out the worth of the hybrids themselves, and the compassionate stance that both the author and Carlota take is heartwarming.
I also really enjoyed the relationships between the characters and how they shaped the plot. Carlota's devotion to her father felt complicated while Montgomery's affection felt redemptive. I also liked the sisterhood that blossomed between Carlota and Lupe, one of the hybrids. These relationships made the story all the more enriching, and all of them felt more complex than straightforward love or hate.
CHARACTERS: Carlota, our first protagonist, is interesting in that she is docile and devoted to a fault. She idolizes her father to the point where she cannot properly see his faults, and part of her arc involves letting that go and standing up for herself.
Montgomery, our other protagonist, is that gruff loner archetype but was ultimately more endearing because of his affection for Carlota and the hybrids. His alcoholism and traumatic past made him feel jaded but Moreno-Garcia doesn't revel in it the way some authors do; instead, it felt like Montgomery was stumbling through life, trying to find his soul and his purpose, and I think the author did a good job showing that.
Eduardo, the patron's son, was an appropriate rival/antagonist and wasn't cartoonishly evil. He actually seemed to be a stand up guy most of the time, but his attitude towards the hybrids and towards the political landscape clues us in to his ulterior motives.
Moreau is also an interesting character in that he was self-absorbed, single-minded, research-driven, and yet seemed to genuinely care for Carlota. It was easy to see why she was attached to him even if he had rather obvious flaws.
The hybrids were all very easy to love since they formed a little family. I loved Lupe's ferocity and Cachito's warmth, and the rest of the hybrids had attributes that endeared them to me. I only wished they had been more fleshed out.
TL;DR: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau drops a courtship story in the middle of a hybrid setting, one that blends sci-fi/historical fiction, science/humanism, myth/religion, and European/Mexican. Despite some writing features that I personally didn't like, the relationships between the characters made this book compelling, and the gesture towards the loss of am Eden was a smart one.
WRITING: Moreno-Garcia's prose is generally very clear and easy to follow. I love the ease with which se writes and the way my eyes can glide over the page without feeling like I need to go back over and over. I also like the lush descriptions of the edenic estate and the blending of many different elements, from the Christian/pagan to the Latin/Mayan. It made for a richly textured world that felt alive with complexity.
The only things I didn't quite like were Moreno-Garcia's tendency to tell over show at certain times and the fact that some scenes are told to us twice (just from different perspectives). In my opinion, not all of these scenes needed to be shown in multiple perspectives, and there were some moments when I thought the author could have put in more effort to show us character emotions (rather than bluntly telling us what was going on).
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Carlota and Montgomery: two residents of a remote estate run by the elusive Dr. Moreau. Moreau uses the estate to experiment with hybridity, blending human and animal traits at the behest of his patron, who wants cheap labor for his land. However, after years of failure, his funding is being cut off. Desperate, Moreau turns to his daughter, Carlota, and persuades her to seek marriage with his patron's son, Eduardo. Montgomery, the mayordomo, is skeptical and sees the match as a threat to Carlota's happiness.
This story is less concerned with the scientific implications of animal-human hybridity and more focused on things like the courtship between Carlota and Eduardo. Since I'm a romance reader, I appreciated the stakes and the focus on the treatment of Carlota, and I felt invested in the outcome.
A subtler focus is placed on the fate of the hybrids, and Moreno-Garcia gestures towards topics such as race, slavery, scientific ethics, labor, and so on. I liked that there was effort put into questioning the ethics of Moreau's experiments and teasing out the worth of the hybrids themselves, and the compassionate stance that both the author and Carlota take is heartwarming.
I also really enjoyed the relationships between the characters and how they shaped the plot. Carlota's devotion to her father felt complicated while Montgomery's affection felt redemptive. I also liked the sisterhood that blossomed between Carlota and Lupe, one of the hybrids. These relationships made the story all the more enriching, and all of them felt more complex than straightforward love or hate.
CHARACTERS: Carlota, our first protagonist, is interesting in that she is docile and devoted to a fault. She idolizes her father to the point where she cannot properly see his faults, and part of her arc involves letting that go and standing up for herself.
Montgomery, our other protagonist, is that gruff loner archetype but was ultimately more endearing because of his affection for Carlota and the hybrids. His alcoholism and traumatic past made him feel jaded but Moreno-Garcia doesn't revel in it the way some authors do; instead, it felt like Montgomery was stumbling through life, trying to find his soul and his purpose, and I think the author did a good job showing that.
Eduardo, the patron's son, was an appropriate rival/antagonist and wasn't cartoonishly evil. He actually seemed to be a stand up guy most of the time, but his attitude towards the hybrids and towards the political landscape clues us in to his ulterior motives.
Moreau is also an interesting character in that he was self-absorbed, single-minded, research-driven, and yet seemed to genuinely care for Carlota. It was easy to see why she was attached to him even if he had rather obvious flaws.
The hybrids were all very easy to love since they formed a little family. I loved Lupe's ferocity and Cachito's warmth, and the rest of the hybrids had attributes that endeared them to me. I only wished they had been more fleshed out.
TL;DR: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau drops a courtship story in the middle of a hybrid setting, one that blends sci-fi/historical fiction, science/humanism, myth/religion, and European/Mexican. Despite some writing features that I personally didn't like, the relationships between the characters made this book compelling, and the gesture towards the loss of am Eden was a smart one.