Perhaps not surprisingly, Moreno-Garcia's (Velvet Was the Night) latest novel is perfection. Retelling the story of Doctor Moreau through his daughter's eyes, this reworking of H.G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau should satisfy readers who loved the original, as well as those who've never encountered it. Though she sets her tale in the Yucatán, the source book can be felt running beneath. Moreno-Garcia explores colonialism, class conflict, racism, and sexism in addition to the themes of morality from Wells's work. Gisela Chipe performs the novel, narrating each character realistically, regardless of age, gender, or country of origin. It is particularly impressive how well matched the characters' voices are between their childhood and adult versions. Chipe's use of accents is integral to placing the listener within the setting, a place where cultures meld and clash, and where interpersonal conflicts cannot be separated from widespread atrocities in the region. Chipe uses her narration to reveal the messy bonds of family and the confusion of becoming an adult who sees beyond their pain and privilege. VERDICT A classic tale is viewed through a different historical lens, making it more relevant and utterly gripping. Highly recommended for fans of Moreno-Garcia or Isabel Cañas.--Matthew Galloway

In this thorny riff on The Island of Doctor Moreau, bestseller Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic) interweaves several threads in 19th-century Mexico. Carlota, the naive daughter of a mad scientist bent on creating a race of hybrid animal-humans in remote Yaxaktun, strains against the boundaries of her life as she searches for love and connection beyond the world her father has engineered to contain her; Montgomery, a caretaker who self-medicates with alcohol in order to cope with a tragic past, pines for Carlota even as she explores her attraction to Eduardo, the spoiled aristocratic son of her father's benefactor; and the hybrid creatures created by the eponymous doctor struggle to maintain their autonomy and personhood as the forces surrounding them attempt to subjugate their wills for their own ends. Moreno-Garcia's worldbuilding chops are on display as she creates a distinct, vibrant backdrop to her audacious retelling. The prose, however, exhibits a cold remove that occasionally makes it difficult to remain invested in the action, and though the characters' arcs reach satisfying conclusions, wonky pacing makes the work of reaching them a challenge. The third act rights the ship, however, with an ending that will linger long in readers' minds. Fans of cerebral, atmospheric historical horror won't want to miss this. Agent: Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary. (July)

Carlota, the beautiful and brilliant daughter of Dr. Moreau, lives on an isolated estate on the Yucatán Peninsula in the 1870s, where her life revolves around her father's hybrid human-animal creatures. Montgomery, a troubled man running away from his past, was hired as Moreau's new overseer by his patron, the wealthy Lizalde, when Carlota was 14. Six years later, he is a vital part of their grotesque utopian "family." But outside the walls of the estate, instability and violence rule as colonial powers, the Mexicans of Spanish descent, and the Mayans are vying for control of the country, and an unexpected visit by the handsome son of Lizalde brings the turmoil of the outside world in. Told from Carlota and Montgomery's points of view and clearly inspired by H. G. Wells, this wholly new novel paints a vivid picture that is as alluring as it is unsettling, filled with action, romance, and monsters. However, it is Moreno-Garcia's ability to mesh the unease of the scientifically created beasts with the real-life terrors of a life on the margins and the horror of colonialism that elevates this story. Readers will fall into this tale immediately, enchanted.

A new spin on the H.G. Wells classic from the genre-hopping Mexican Canadian novelist. Young 19th-century woman Carlota Moreau has spent her whole life in Yaxaktun, a ranch in northern Yucatán, Mexico, and that's just fine with her: "I feel as if Yaxaktun is a beautiful dream and I wish to dream it forever," she tells a visitor to the isolated property. She lives there with her beloved father, Dr. Moreau, whom she considers "the sun in the sky, lighting her days." They're not the only ones on the ranch, however--it's populated by Dr. Moreau's "hybrids," part human and part animal, the results of the doctor's bizarre experiments. Looming over everything is Hernando Lizalde, Dr. Moreau's patron, who bankrolls the doctor's laboratory in hopes that he'll eventually create hybrids that are fit to work on his haciendas, but he seldom visits the ranch. On one of those visits, he brings along Montgomery, a self-loathing, hard-drinking English hunter whom Dr. Moreau hopes to hire as a mayordomo, an overseer of the property and its hybrids. Montgomery takes the job, and six years later things begin to fall apart: Hernando loses patience with the doctor's slow pace, and his son, Eduardo, visits the ranch and falls for Carlota; the results of their relationship threaten to destroy everything Dr. Moreau has worked for. Meanwhile, Carlota begins to question her adored father's experiments; the doctor acknowledges the creatures suffer greatly but insists that "pain must be endured, for without it there'd be no sweetness." Moreno-Garcia's novel starts a little slowly, but there's a reason for that--the setup is crucial to the book's action-packed second half, and the payoff is worth it. 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; the result is hard to classify but definitely a lot of fun. This isn't the first book to riff on H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), but it's definitely one of the better ones. A fun literary remix. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.