The Daughter of Doctor Moreau ARC review
The book opens with a young Carlota Moreau, the daughter of Dr, Moreau, their housekeeper Ramona, and what appears to be her two siblings Lupe and Cachito. The first few chapters, up until the six-year jump, were very slow and difficult to keep up with.
As the reader, Silvia introduces small clues as to what takes place in the home. Once the plot was underway, more characters were introduced such as Montgomery, Eduardo and Isidro and they kept the plot moving forward slowly. In parts, the prose was difficult to read due to the descriptive nature of what took place in Moreau's laboratory. It became clear that the doctor was experimenting, creating hybrids of animals the reason being 'medical advancements' but Hernando Izalde's funding of these experiments was to create reliable workers to use instead of slaves. To Carlota and eventually Montgomery, the hybrids were their family. Although they were not human, Carlota grew up with them and saw them as siblings. Their environment became more hostile with Moreau's desperation for Carlota to marry Eduardo, to further his funding and it appeared she indeed fell in love with him.
At the penultimate peak of the book, a revelation is made regarding Carlota and the hybrids having to find a way of escaping, fighting Izalde's men or risk becoming slaves and workers for him.
It was a difficult read at points and in others, it was slow and difficult to absorb. The premise and inspiration behind the story, the novel 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' by H.G. Wells, provided vivid and uncomfortable writing opportunities and Silvia Moreno-Garcia definitely took advantage of this.
Thank you for this eARC it was great to read.
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