A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

Note: This is the third book in a trilogy and my review may contain unintentional spoilers.

Juliet is on the run with Montgomery, Lucy, Edward, and Balthazar. They’re headed to Elizabeth’s estate in Northern Scotland and all they’ve been told is that Elizabeth’s staff are not used to polite company. They have little choice, however, as the police continue to search for them as the cause of the Christmas Day massacre. Once Juliet and her friends arrive, she finds it challenging to keep the darker side of herself hidden–especially from Montgomery.

I’ve really, really liked this trilogy. Each of the three books is based off of a classic horror novel. The first book (The Madman’s Daughter) is based off of The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, the second book (Her Dark Curiosity) is based on Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and this book (the third) is based off of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The stories are loosely based off of these books. I’d say the first one is truest to the story it originates from. But the author has introduced new characters and the books are different enough that it’s more the idea of the old story being portrayed in this new one.

I can’t review the first two books because it’s been too long since I’ve read them, but the thing I like most about A Cold Legacy is the characters. So that fact should indicate that the first two books are pretty good as well since, you know, they have the same characters. Juliet is a smart and pretty independent girl (especially for the time period). Ever since I read this post from Rachael @AwakeandReading I’ve been on the lookout for main female characters who do not dwell on their looks. Now, I don’t remember the character descriptions from the first two books and how much time is spent on them, but in the third book the only thing that’s mentioned is that Juliet has dark hair. This is mentioned a couple of times especially when Juliet is thinking about Lucy and how they have similar dark hair. It’s obvious that she’s beautiful (she’s had a couple of guys after her throughout the three books), but these books really focus on her mind and her scientific ability instead of describing every time she looks in a mirror (which, I think is never in this book).

Montgomery is a great character too…I like him, but I don’t feel like he’s been developed as much as I would have liked. We get some sense of who he is, but I feel like the author could have given us more. I think the second book is where we see most of his development. I like Lucy because she’s been a really true friend to Juliet throughout the series, even if she lets her emotions rule her a little too often. Balthazar…he’s the best. I love him. I love how sweet all of the other characters are to him and I love how kind and good he is.

Okay, this post is getting a little long so I’ll just wrap it up by saying: READ THESE BOOKS. I loved them and they’re definitely books that I plan on owning eventually. I feel like I haven’t seen anyone talking about these books and I’m not really sure why because they are worth talking about. Megan Shepherd has a new book coming out May 26th called The Cage. I’ve liked her style of writing thus far, so I’ll be giving it a try.

Overall Rating: 4
Violence: Heavy. Some fighting scenes as well as some surgery scenes with gore.
Sexual Content: Mild. There’s a wedding night scene, but it’s not explicit.
Language: None
Smoking/Drinking: Mild