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I really feel like I gave this book a fair chance, I read it all the way to the end because I kept wanting to love it and get caught up in the atmosphere of this Victorian horror story - but it was not to be. Not everything I have to say about The Madman's Daughter is bad, so thankfully this will not be a wholly negative review, but there were a number of things I didn't like and those elements combined with long periods of slow, plotless boredom made me feel this was no more than a two-star read.

But let me offer you something good first because my initial impressions of this novel were entirely positive. Firstly, though this won't matter to many readers, I adore this cover. It's creepy, atmospheric and it caught my eye instantly. I actually prefer covers that are a bit different and edgy to the usual close-up of a girl pouting in a ballgown. Anyway, aesthetics aside, this book immediately introduces the reader to a strong, sassy protagonist who isn't afraid to kick ass or get her hands dirty. I felt sure that myself and Juliet Moreau were going to get along great - and we probably would have if I'd cared more for the story. I also thought the first couple of chapters set the scene well with a touch of the macabre to draw the reader in. So, I will happily admit that the first chapter or two elevated my hopes for this book a great deal.

Then, I don't even know what happened... it was like for seventy pages things just came screeching to a tremendous halt.

Basically, Juliet and Montgomery (possible beau number one) got on this boat and there were all these ships and sailing and sailors and...



Then, of course, there was a romance and - even worse - a love triangle. I don't even hate love triangles that much, I just can't stand it when that becomes the main focus of the story. This book is described as a "gothic thriller" but the truth is that everything either gothic or thrilling came second to the romance which was filled with the same old cliches and annoying gushy phrases like "I couldn't deny the way I floated inside when he touched me". The two candidates for Juliet's heart - Montgomery and Edward - were presented as complete opposites: the gentlemen vs the wild man... ooh, haven't heard that one before!

What astounded me most of all about this relationship was the way Juliet's mind jumped so quickly from one to the other and back again. One minute she was thinking about Montgomery's pretty eyes and the next she had moved onto Edward's sexy charms. This is one example from the book that had me snorting aloud in disbelief:

"Didn't Montgomery remember last night, during the storm, running his fingers down the bare skin of my back? I did. I could barely think about anything else."

directly - as in, the actual next sentence - followed by:

"Edward sat across from me, deep in his own thoughts. His hands still bore the scratches from our escape. I wondered if his ribs still hurt him. I absently touched my own, remembering the feel of his hands holding me there behind the waterfall."

Then we come to some more slow sections like the walking through the jungle scenes and the needlepoint explanations - I wanted monsters, not sewing...



One thought that I had through most of this was that so many parts of the book seemed like pointless filler to stretch out a weak plot. My theory is that Shepherd may have stretched the story too thin in order to make it into a series instead of a standalone - or perhaps she's just a fan of slower-moving plots - either way, large chunks were too uneventful for me and I had a hard time making myself finish it. Though the stories are not alike, the way I feel about The Madman's Daughter is similar to how I felt about Grave Mercy, they both started great but quickly became bogged down by slowness and romance. To give one final bit of credit where it's due, I will say that there was a pretty nifty twist near the end that I didn't see coming, unfortunately it was all just too little too late.