The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Narrated by: Gisela Chípe

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

“This is historical science fiction at its best: a dreamy reimagining of a classic story with vivid descriptions of lush jungles and feminist themes. Some light romance threads through the heavier ethical questions concerning humanity.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling—the sleek and the bizarre, wild passions and deep hatreds—with cool equanimity.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Polygon, Tordotcom, Paste, CrimeReads, Booklist

Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is either a genius or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: A melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: The fruits of the doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and, in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

©2022 Silvia Moreno-Garcia (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling— the sleek and the bizarre, wild passions and deep hatreds—with cool equanimity.”—The New York Times

“Moreno-Garcia’s previous work has spanned genres—horror in Mexican Gothic (2020), noir in Velvet Was the Night (2021)—and in this volume, she deftly combines fantasy, adventure, and even romance. A fun literary remix.”—Kirkus Reviews

"This wholly new novel paints a vivid picture that is as alluring as it is unsettling, filled with action, romance, and monsters. Readers will fall into this tale immediately, enchanted.”—Booklist (starred review)

Entertaining Story

Enjoyed listening while at work. Concept of hybrid human/animal was interesting.
Performance was good.

Good start, ending fell flat

I wanted this to be a more than it was. I appreciate the historical elements, but none of the characters were relatable or likable. They all felt very shallow and vapid which made it difficult to connect or care about what happened to them. The story had a fine build up and twist but otherwise, the ending fell flat (just pieced together violence, not as intriguing). I would have loved to see more elements of science fiction or science in general, like in Mexican Gothic.

Enjoyable Tale

This book took it’s time to grab my interest. When it did, it was good though it lacked the element of surprise. Her book Gos of Jade and Shadow remains my favorite of the three I have read.

Wonderful recreation of a classic

Having read many of the authors books, I was very pleased with the audible reader. She was able to create a voice that represented many different characters. We listened to this during a road trip and it was a wonderful experience. We are hoping there might be a sequel to this book.

The characters

Intriguing story with a surprising end to it. I thought it well written and liked the voices of the characters.

An amazing reimagined classic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has created another beautiful and compelling world of of romance, adventure, science fiction. Moreno-Garcia continues dance between genres to tell diverse and intriguing stories.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau reimagined a familiar story and raises the stakes with two new courageous and complex characters.
While I would have loved for the conflict to come sooner the story keeps turning the page.
Having also listened to the Audible edition of this book, I will say that the narrators use of accents made the story hard to follow.

One of the best performances

Gisela really took me into this world with her versatile voice! The story was also great!

Meh it's repetitive

I'll assume the story was trying to focus on the worth of a living creature because it doesn't have any other plot or compelling story. The characters have the same conversations over and over and over. This book could have been half the length and said the same things. the story wasn't as interesting or sci-fi as I had hoped. Narrator's talents for accents was impressive however.

Beautiful Storytelling

A bit slow, incredibly vivid, you feel immersed by the incredible narration. Kept waiting for the doctors daughter to grow.

3.5 or 4/5

I loved the narrator. She was excellent and helped the story stay interesting. I loved how she changed her voice for the different characters and her pacing was steady.
The story was ok. It was interesting, if predictable, with loveable background characters and an exciting ending. I love the author's effortless writing style and expansive creativity.
I couldn't connect to the main female character, Carlota. Her personality seemed to change sporadically and I didn't like her at some points. She was very inconsistent. She swung from bratty and spoiled to weepy and gentle to passionate and fiery. She felt like a different person off and on. The main male character, Montgomery, was more my speed, however, I don't like how he fell in love with the much younger Carlota.
This IS a good book, but I feel like Carlota could have been so much more.