Review: Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

Book Description:

Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: January 28th 2014 by Balzer + Bray

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of 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.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

Reviewer's Copy: ARC

Source:Megan + Harper Collins International (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

Warning: If you have not read The Madman's Daughter, skip paragraph 3-5.

Her Dark Curiosity had a mystery edge along with jarring waves of violence this time around. It was more pronounced, more raw and more heart-wrecking. And I thought I loved the first book. I am absolutely in love with the sequel. Her Dark Curiosity's London was a social minefield, very perilous, filled with secrets and dangers in hidden corners and dark alleys, stalked by a monster and manipulated by the powers in their seats. I loved the ambiance.

Juliet was back in London, safe and sound. After months of sailing on sea, alone and broken after Montgomery's betrayal, she was back with Profesor von Stein. He was the same angel sent from heaven who helped her get a job at the university. Although she now enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, the Juliet nurtured in the island remained strong. She slipped into her secret hideaway, trying to develop a cure for her sickness. She was an intriguing character for sure. Her musings were so fun to read. She was a ball of curiosity, loneliness, longing and spunk.

To be honest, I expected some sort of "comeback," given that this was a trilogy. I was not disappointed. The boy that I was so eager to understand, Edward Prince, came back. Everything I wanted to read about him in The Madman's Daughter was served to me in Her Dark Curiosity. His two sides warred for dominance: the helpless, kind and gentle Edward and the twisted, dangerous and mysterious Beast. They were two sides of a coin, both having feelings towards Juliet and expressing it in their own ways. It was perfectly carried out, this different and quite so literal depiction of two personalities in one body. As Juliet found out more about the beast, she discovered more about Edward, the more she knew about the Beast. Her protectiveness and longing to save Edward warmed my heart. There was just something sizzling between them.

I'm one of the readers who loved the love triangle. After everything that Julie has been through, I can positively say that she was not normal. At all. She was eccentric, special in more ways than one. There was a darkness in her that makes her do crazy things and enabled her to connect with beings like her. Although Edward's alter ego, the Beast lurked beneath the surface, he still remained Edward. He was in love with Juliet and I believe a little part of Juliet cared for him and loved him back, too. Moving on to Montgomery: the knight in shining armor; the typical choice. He was sweet through and through, protective, and a true gentleman. But there would always be a part of him that could never understand Juliet the same way Edward did. Juliet's own self was torn into two: Pre-island and post-island; human and other. The same way, she was torn between two boys: Edward and Montgomery.

The sequel was a good canvas for showing the consequences of breakthrough science. As the work of Juliet's father spread its roots into London's soil, the level of danger and suspense increased. Juliet was adamant to stop Dr. Moreau's work no matter what it took. When something much more sinister that the Beast stood on the brink of success, Juliet would realize that there was more to her father's experiments than what she left behind on the island.

Her Dark Curiosity was unputdownable, deliciously dark and heart-pounding. The ending wrecked my heart and left me with hope (false hope)? I highly recommend this to readers of dark fiction who likes romance and is open to alternative old science [Frankenstein, experiments and the like]. I keep on repeating that this might not be a book for everybody but it is certainly a gem.

5 Cupids = Eternal book love.
I will never ever, ever forget this book. I highly recommend this!