Review: Servants of the Storm by Delilah S Dawson

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S Dawson

Series: It’s not currently showing up as a series on GoodReads, but considering the ending, I sincerely hope there’s going to be a sequel!

Published: August 5th, 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

384 pages (ARC)

Genre: Young adult paranormal thriller

Acquired this book: Won from Simon & Schuster Canada through First Reads on GoodReads

Warning: May contain spoilers

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A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction — and taking the life of Dovey's best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.

But recently she's started to believe she's seeing things that can't be real...including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.

As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah — where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk — she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

Dovey's running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can't see the threatening darkness but promises to never give up on Dovey and Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers — for a price? Soon Dovey realizes that the danger closing in has little to do with Carly...and everything to do with Dovey herself.

Servants of the Storm is a creepy, atmospheric southern paranormal mystery. I don’t usually read many scary novels, because I’m a total weenie when it comes to being scared. I was drawn in by the cover and synopsis of this one though, and I’m glad I made an exception.

This book was gruesome, twisted, disturbing, and heartbreaking. The first chapter was absolutely horrifying, and it sucked me in instantly. When Hurricane Josephine rips through Savannah, it leaves chaos, devastation, and death in its wake. One of those deaths was Dovey’s best friend, Carly. In the aftermath of the hurricane and the loss of her best friend, Dovey basically has a psychotic break and has to go on mind-numbing medication. She spends the next year living in a fog until she sees Carly and decides to go off the medication so she’ll know what’s real and what not.

I liked Dovey, even though I never really connected with her. I loved that she was a loyal friend and wanted to figure out what was going on so her best friend could be at peace. As much as I liked her, I wanted to shake her on numerous occasions; she was constantly putting herself in dangerous situations. She was impulsive and sometimes downright stupid. Also, most people would have been horrified and traumatized by the things she saw, but at times she barely had any reaction.

Servants of the Storm was filled with great descriptions. You could see the decay, smell the rot, see how post-Josephine Savannah had turned into a place of squalor, dark shadows, and sinister beings. Everything was easy to picture, which often added to the creep-factor of the book, because a lot of the things that happened were so horrific.

I wouldn’t say there was ‘a romance’ in this novel. There were hints of romance, and a kinda-sorta love triangle, but Dovey was so focused on her mission, nothing ever really developed romantically. I liked Baker and Isaac a lot - each of them had great qualities, and they were good to Dovey. I appreciated that it didn’t turn into one of those stories where the heroine is deeply immersed in the action and mystery one minute, but then it turns into a soppy romance where she can’t function without the boy’s help. Dovey maintained her independence, and while one of the guys was often with her, it wasn’t because she needed them.

Overall, Servants of the Storm was a compelling read. It had a great concept, and I think Dawson did a good job executing it. As of right now, I’m not seeing on GoodReads that there’s a sequel, but after the total mindf*ck ending, I sure hope there is! Be sure to give this book a chance if you like eerie, twisted paranormal or horror stories with lots of mystery.

 

 

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Have you read Servants of the Storm? What did you think? If you haven't read it, is it on your TBR list? Do you like horror? How about paranormal?

 
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