Her Dark Curiosity (Madman's Daughter, #2)

by Megan Shepherd

Inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this tantalizing sequel to Megan Shepherd's gothic suspense novel, The Madman's Daughter, explores the hidden natures of those we love and how far we'll go to save them from themselves.

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Back in London after her trip to Dr. Moreau's horrific island, Juliet is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget her father's legacy. But soon it's clear that someone – or something – hasn't forgotten her, as people close to Juliet start falling victim to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes. Has one of her father's creations also escaped the island?

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer – Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

• ISBN13: 9780007500222
• Publish Date: 28 January 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[cornerfolds]

It took awhile to pick back up with book two in The Madman's Daughter series. While book one was quite entertaining, the end of it did not necessarily leave me dying to find out what happened next. Book one seemed to drag, just a bit, and the ending made me just the tiniest bit irritated. Alas, I finally picked up book two, two months later, and I'm so glad I did!

Her Dark Curiosity picks up several months after Juliet is abruptly pushed off of the Island (literally) after she has made it back to London. Juliet is now living with the Professor, the man who apparently turned her father in to the police once he began his experiments. Of course, she isn't entirely content with the rich, fluffy life the Professor gives her and, of course, she can't stop thinking about Montgomery - or Edward Prince.

This book really gave me a chance to get to know some of the characters a lot better than The Madman's Daughter did. Juliet is just as dark and twisted in book two as she was in the first, although she spends much of the book trying to overcome it. I was really surprised by some of the things that happened, especially some of Juliet's decisions, but her imperfections are really what make me love her as a character. I felt like I was inside her mind at times. Megan Shepherd has done a fantastic job with Juliet! I also loved getting to know Edward even better than I already did. He is such a fascinating character - especially after everything that was revealed towards the end of book one!

The one absolutely useless character in Her Dark Curiosity is Lucy, who we get to know a little better since Juliet is back in good social standing and thus good enough to be around her. She got on my nerves so many times throughout this book and one idiot move she made near the end sealed the deal for me - she's useless. Other than her, I loved most of the characters including the new ones. The good guys weren't entirely good and the bad guys were deliciously evil! The love triangle continued throughout the book, but it was done in a way that really did work for me and was mostly believable.

Megan Shepherd continues her fantastic world building with Her Dark Curiosity, although this one is set entirely in London. I felt like I could see the city and almost see Juliet moving through it. Her attic was perfectly dark and dingy in my mind and the Island-like botanical gardens seemed spectacular. The entirety of London took on a creepy air with the exception of Lucy's house, which always seemed very Downton Abby-esque.

The story that continued in book two really was better than that of book one, which was really surprising to me since I've always been a huge fan of The Island of Doctor Moreau. I'm pretty impartial to the Jekyll/Hyde story, but I am totally in love with the way it was used here! I loved that everything was wrapped up in a big conspiracy (What can I say? I'm a sucker for conspiracies) and I loved that the list of people involved was shocking and seemingly endless. All of it made everything seem more urgent and exciting!

Her Dark Curiosity definitely kicked the series up a notch in my book! I would have grabbed book three immediately after finishing except I already had something else on the agenda. I definitely have plans to read A Cold Legacy as soon as possible! I would definitely recommend picking this one up even if you weren't totally in love with The Madman's Daughter. This one is awesome!

[Angie]

While I still very much enjoyed Her Dark Curiosity, it was nowhere near as addicting as the first book. It's several months later and Juliet has been taken in by a family friend. She's back in society's good graces, but she's living a double life. She has all of the comforts she could ever dream of, but Juliet still rents a dank attic, where she's working on a cure for her illness. The serum her father created for her is no longer worker as she gets further into womanhood, but she can't seem to get a new one right. Then, there's a string of murders, and all of the victims are connect to Juliet in some way. When she learns of it, she knows that someone from her past has come back for her.

Her Dark Curiosity started off really good. It's clear that Juliet is struggling, and it's not just the physical ailments from her failing treatments. Her mind is preoccupied with what she did on the island and she's having trouble coming to terms with her cruelty. There's also the small matter of her knowing one way to increase the likelihood of her creating a successful treatment: fresher ingredients. She has moments where she does consider resulting to her father's methods, but luckily she keeps a grip on her sanity and leaves her dog alone. I loved her conflicts though! She still thinks her father's work was amazing, but it was also wrong. She fears she'll succumb to the same curiosity and madness as him.

But then, the plot switches. Her Dark Curiosity wound up feeling more like a murder mystery than anything else. Of course, we know who the murderer is from the very beginning, but there's something else at play here. It did end up being quite predictable like The Madman's Daughter, which annoyed me at times. I figured out who was involved early on, and it was just a matter of waiting for the why. There's also a reveal that all of the characters were shocked about, even though it was something I figured out in the first book! It is seriously super obvious and yet, no one had thought of it? I don't think so. The ending was also eerily similar to the first book with Juliet causing mass destruction, then running off to another country.

I still really liked her Her Dark Curiosity despite my complaints. It still had that dark, creepy vibe, but it wasn't nearly as disturbing or engaging. The first half is much better than the second, but it did leave me super curious about what's to come.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Her Dark Curiosity, the second book in the Madman’s Daughter trilogy by Megan Shepherd continued Juliet Moreau’s story while introducing a mystery that kept me enthralled. Old characters and love interests appear and we get fresh faces as Shepherd continues this dark and macabre tale. Mini review: A dark, atmospheric and beautifully written tale that suffered because of the characters.

Juliet is back in London after escaping the island, and the journey has not been an easy one. Her condition is worsening, and she works in secret to correct the formula. Around her, a killer is on the loose and has Scotland Yard scrambling. The murders are gruesome as the killer slashes his victims to death and leaves a calling card. As the body count rises, Juliet cannot help but notice that those dying have offended in her in some way. Somehow she is the link, and she is determined to stop the killer. In doing so, she will have to confront the past and access her darker side. Her path crosses with the men she thought never to see again, and she finds herself torn between them.

In Madman’s Daughter, I felt Juliet was the perfect heroine for the tale and that she was the thread that allowed us to believe. Juliet is still strong, determined and courageous but her actions regarding the men in her life left me frustrated. While I get Shephard’s intent with the love triangle it was aggravated me. Maybe because I like the bad boys and Montgomery irritated the heck out of me. He is so opinionated and looks to steer others his way. His “do as I say, not as I do” attitude completely turned me off, and I wanted to shake Juliet for not slapping him. Edward and his dark passenger are far more exciting. Despite his affliction, he is the stronger character and commanded scenes. Whereas Montgomery made me feel like the principal walked in. We meet old characters and new. I really liked Lucy, and liked how she got into the thick of things.

You already know I had some issues with the romance department and characters of Her Dark Curiosity but what kept me from tossing this tale was the mystery surrounding the King’s Club, Edward and Shepherd’s beautiful writing style. The influence of Dr. Jekeyll and Mr. Hyde is evident throughout and I enjoyed Shephard’s version. Even when her characters made me pull my hair out she held me captive. The book grabs you and I read this in just three sittings as the tale engulfed me, and I slipped into the foggy cobbled streets of London. The ending was heart-wrenching and beautiful. Shepherd revealed things that set us up perfectly for the final book.


Copy received in exchange for unbiased review​. Full review originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer​​

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

When I first read the The Madman's Daughter I was intrigued by the dark and maddening synopsis that drew me, so when I learned of Her Dark Curiosity I was even more excited! I sat on pins and needles waiting to have a copy of this darkly rich and gorgeously told story in my hands and when it finally arrived, I could barely contain myself. I sat down immediately and became so ensconced in the world that Megan Shepherd had elaborately stitched together, that I could not put it down. I was so entranced by the world that she had created around this character, Juliet Moreau, that I have come to love and feel so much for. The mystery of the hidden nature of love and humanity, are the two biggest elements that have really drawn me to this dark, suspenseful, and intense tale of deceit, destruction of oneself, and the undoing of others.

Her Dark Curiosity is a dark macabre of deep seeded mystery, compelling drama, and the unraveling of ones own being. Juliet has experienced more horrors at the hands of her father and this illness that she is fighting to find a serum for, than any other character that I have read about this year and that's saying quite a bit. She's a beautiful fragile soul, who is being forced to reconcile with a past that is rising to the surface, a heart torn in two when it comes to love, and escaping the secrets that she left behind on the island. I honestly don't know if I've ever seen a more quietly strong individual as her, whom I can feel for in the manner that I have come accustomed to feeling for her. Terrified, she is determined to find the killer who is wrecking havoc and death on those who are closest to her. Her strength and determination, in the face of the overwhelming painful issues she's dealing with, truly astound me. Actually, they inspired me on many human levels.

Shepherd has definitely cornered the market on breathing new life and inspiration into a story inspired by the original Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One of the most interesting elements or perhaps, facets of Juliet's personality, is dealing with the two different sides of her. One where she is tipsy with cleverness, high intelligence, and a tiny bit of madness mingled in and the other where she is caring and sweet. She becomes this sort of unhinged wrapped up ball of intrigue for me, filled with so many human flaws that make readers either enjoy her or dislike her. For me, she is one of the most real things this novel or series has going for it, and I find that incredibly refreshing. The idea that a character can be so incredibly broken with the ability to spin out of control on one hand, but can be reigned back in and possibly put back together. The idea that all hope isn't lost when it comes to Juliet, is what keeps wafting through my mind. It's always there in the shadows, staying with me long after I'd turned the last page of these tumultuous twists and turns.

There are books that pique your interest and arouse your curiosity and for me, Her Dark Curiosity, is one of those books that I became so taken with this year. I am eagerly anticipating the next book in this series, because I know it's going to as dark and deceptive, so filled with even more beguiling madness swirling around it as this one. Gritty and full of action, this book is definitely a must read for any fan of the idea behind Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You absolutely won't be able to put this book down, until the twists and turns have all be taken, the deep secrets have been unraveled and revealed, and you have reached the final destination - the last page. I do think it's one of the year's best written novels, in the sense that it shows the dark and dueling sides of more than one personality and a person so fragile, that they must fight to just to keep fighting in order to survive. I don't think I've witnessed anything like this since Buffy Summers came back as dark and broken as she did in Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I found myself discovering a new love for the character for that reason. As unhealthy as it may have seemed, no one can deny that it made her character that much more interesting and compelling as the story unfolded, the same I believe applies to Juliet.