This book is an interesting intersection of her previous book, Mexican Gothic, and The Island of Doctor Moreau. Moreno-Garcia is retelling the H. G. Wells story with a young female lead, one very similar to Noemi in Mexican Gothic. She is a child of privilege, living the life of an upper-class Mexican girl, but this time the isolation is caused by her father's vivisection experiments. Although you wouldn't have to do it that way now. You could go more steampunk, with Moreau somehow coming up with a CRISPR process.
What I find interesting and compelling about this work is that in writing it Moreno-Garcia seems to be channeling Wells' style in a very period-authentic way, but with a strong female lead who shapes the tale. The book really feels like Wells could have written it with input from a woman. This shows most clearly in the character of Montgomery, the new mayordomo at the hacienda. He is a classic British sort of anti-hero, troubled and self-doubting but highly capable. He, like the other men in the story, shows no sign of 21st-century feminist influence. He is constantly trying to put Carlota in her place. But he reveals his inner life in a way that builds him powerfully as a character.Carlota's growth from a meek teenager to a young woman rising to the occasion makes her a powerful character as well. Moreno-Garcia takes more time revealing Carlota's depths, with her capabilities maturing in time with the plot.
The move of the experimental facility from an isolated island to the isolated Yucutan peninsula feels very authentic as well. It is not quite as isolated as the island, which gives Moreno-Garcia the opportunity to situate it culturally.
This is about as good as a conscious retelling can get. I can't quite give it 5 stars--maybe because it's so tied to Wells' style that it reads kind of stilted to me in the same way that Wells does now. It's a real achievement and deserving of the attention it's getting.
