Review: Daughter of the Damned by J. Boyett

In Daughter of the Damned, author J. Boyett has created a riveting world of intrigue and magic, where mages and demons and monsters are cleverly embedded in a humanistic and believable plot.

Carol, in search of revenge and answers for a tragedy that once befell her mother, has teamed up with Snake, a brutal and talented bounty hunter. Finding Harold, the man who Carol holds responsible for her pain, it quickly becomes apparent that there is a much greater evil to handle than the dark shadows of Carol’s past. Potential enemies become allies, or at least temporary partners, in the deadly fight against a savage monster who is apparently seeking to destroy them all.

Trapped within a booby-trapped compound, these characters and their histories begin to reveal themselves, progressing the plot, despite their lack of physical advancement. Each of the characters in this action-heavy novel holds plenty of secrets, and as this siege of a book progresses, the truth begins to slip out through the cracks. Harold committed a horrible act in his past, one of many, and Carol intends to hold him accountable. At the same time, however, he is also trained in the same arts as her mother, and represents an opportunity to unlock her potential. Needing and despising the same character makes for an interesting dynamic throughout this book; it’s an excellent revenge novel…but it also has heart.

There is some predictability in the flow of the story, but the writing has a steady pace and enough spontaneous excitement to hold a reader’s attention. However, the prose itself has a few problems, especially if this book is intended for an adult audience. There are a number of times when the author leads readers by the nose to a certain conclusion, often telling, rather than showing, specific plot developments. There are also some heavy-handed descriptions and hints towards things that may be significant later, which demonstrates a lack of trust in the audience. If this book is intended for a YA audience, that intentional writing is slightly more understandable, but it can still come off as patronizing, even for younger readers.

In technical terms, the book is well-edited and polished, although some sequences feel repetitive within the story. Character development is necessarily crammed into a relatively short time frame to make this novel work, but some of the locations and action scenes feel stagnant and redundant. The author also writes quite visceral scenes, but often fails to match them with adequate emotional responses from the characters. The richer use of emotive language and deeper self-reflection of the characters, particularly from Carol after some of the powerful dreams when she interacts with her mother, would enhance the impact of the story’s dramatic conclusion.

As a whole, Daughter of the Damned is a well-crafted story, but stumbles at times in the depth of writing and emotional believability of the characters, given the incredibly intense context of the plot. However, the story itself is filled with a clever use of magic and sorcery, and will be especially appealing to YA readers.