Short and Sweet:

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. *takes deep breath* I absolutely loved this one, even more than the first. Juliet is so kick-butt and continues to have excellent character development, and it's just wonderful. I was pretty much like this gif after I read it.


To Elaborate...
Back in London, Juliet is trying to put the events of the island behind her, though she still experiments. When murders begin to occur around her involving only victims who are also people who have wronged her, Juliet fears that something or someone from the island has followed her back. And when two people she thought were gone from her life forever show back up, Juliet will have to face the rising darkness in her that her circumstances keep summoning.

After really enjoying the first book, I was so excited to read the second and get back to this gothic, dark world Shepherd has crafted. The Madman's Daughter focused on outward madness with an island full of beasts. This installment features story lines including both inward and outward, but excels on inner madness. For many of the characters, especially Juliet, this time around it is about finding that line (if there is one) that determines when sanity becomes insanity and what ends truly justify the means. The character development is just absolutely spectacular and sets it up perfectly for a conclusion in the next book. The writing is once again breathtaking and makes you feel right there with the characters going through their struggles.

While the love triangle bothered me a bit in the first book, I actually super enjoyed it in this one (I'm still shocked since this rarely happens for me), apart from the role that Lucy plays (though it was nice seeing more of her character). Juliet, while not the grandest in love, approaches both relationships with a refreshingly honest sort of logic. Though she is primarily logical, her emotions do play a large part in her romantic approach. However, she doesn't try to deceive herself about what she feels. Something happens with one of the men about a quarter, or so, of the way in and she's so wonderfully honest about how she feels about it! And I LOVE IT!

Also, for the first half of the book, I just keep thinking of the love triangle in Center Stage for whatever reason, particularly the final dance part if you've seen the movie.


Basically, I just love this series so much and I NEED the next book as soon as possible. There are already so many different ways the ending could go, and I want to know! So many hearts to these books!

Originally posted at I Heart YA Fiction: http://iheartyafiction.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-her-dark-curiosity-by-megan.html