Latest Read: Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

Here are the basics ...
Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter #2) by Megan Shepherd
Publication date: Jan 28, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Category: Young Adult - Historical/Science Fiction
Source: For review from publisher via Edelweiss (Thanks!)

Summary: Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island and the secrets she left behind. Back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew but someone hasn’t forgotten her. As people close to Juliet fall victim to a murderer who leaves a calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing past loves she never expected to see again. Juliet finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. (Adapted goodreads.com) 

My thoughts…

The good: Her Dark Curiosity picks up months after The Madmen's Daughter. The last we saw of Juliet she was sailing away from the island alone as it dissolved into chaos and Montgomery, her childhood friend and love, had to decided to stay. Between his abandonment and the deaths of her father and Edward, she was on her own. Cut to the present and now she's under the care of a kind professor, somewhat re-accepted into society and has a good friend in Lucy. But Juliet is still struggling. Her illness, once kept at bay by her father's serum, has become ineffective and she's trying to find a cure. Meanwhile, mysterious murders are happening in London and every victim is somehow tied to Juliet. She knows it must be one of her father's creatures and she's determined to figure it out before Scotland Yard does. The way the author weaves this plot with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde really impressed me. I felt like I was able to appreciate the clever interpretations in this book more because I knew this particular story better.

Juliet continues to be an intriguing heroine, although I struggled a little with connecting to her. What I like most about her character is that she's extremely intelligent and gives into her desires, good and bad, at a time when it was really frowned upon. She's supposed to be grooming herself to be the dainty housewife and meeting with suitors. Instead she's studying science, working with chemicals (and more), sneaking out of her room late at night and finding her heart torn between two men. She's a passionate person struggling to find the line between who she believes herself to be and how much of her father's influence lives in her. It's something she spends the entire book trying to understand and come to grips with.

[Note: In fact, all the women - Juliet, her best friend Lucy and the professor's sister Elizabeth are all outspoken, opinionated females and I loved that.]

(Some) reservations: The pacing of the book felt really slow. I had a general idea of where things were headed but it took a lot of time to get there. It wasn't until the reappearance of another character (I can't tell you which!) that I felt like things were finally moving along. And the whole love triangle. It didn't really work in the first book and it was the same thing here. I actually disliked the triangle even more because of how often Juliet's heart seemed to flip-flop. I thought there was a lot going on already with the murders and her illness to waste time on who should she be with. Especially since it's really obvious who she wants.

Also, I have to mention that her best friend Lucy drove me nuts. Granted, I did like her outspoken nature but she almost gets Juliet killed at one point (in my head, I yelled - you seriously cannot be that dumb!) and her naivete in the face of danger started to grate on my nerves. (End of rant.)

Do I recommend?: I really want to love this series because I like how it incorporates classic dark stories but it just seems to be missing something for me. It hasn't hooked me yet and I don't feel compelled to continue. But who knows - I may change my mind.

Happy reading!