Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson

DDawson_ServantsofStormGrowing up in Florida, hurricanes were just a part of life for me. They weren’t scary, just something we prepared for. Yet, after reading Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson, I’ve realized that my entire life has been a lie. I should be terrified of hurricanes. Because according to this story, hurricanes bring demons. Don’t believe me? That’s because the demons already have control over you with their mind-altering drugs.

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 café. 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.

Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t believe everything I read, but Servants of the Storm was pretty believable. Dovey is taking anti-psychotic pills after freaking out over the death of her best friend, Carly. She stops taking her pills, only to discover that the reality of the world has vastly changed. It took a while for the meds to completely wear off. So, Dovey would see or do something, then forget it happened. I’m not going to lie – that was a little frustrating to me as a reader. I wanted to shout at her, and say, “You can’t forget this! It just happened one paragraph ago!”

Dovey’s forgetfulness made the plot slow in the beginning; but there was an underlying tension, and I knew that I really didn’t want the plot to speed up because once it did, all the really scary crap would get worse. And it did. Once Dovey was completely off her meds, there were demons everywhere. Everywhere she went, there was a demon, either wanting to kill her or put her back on her meds. Because the meds were how the demons controlled everyone. For example, Dovey’s father was taking medication for his heart; but the bottle and the pills looked exactly like the anti-psychotic pills Dovey took. The medication that everyone took, for various reasons, kept the people from seeing demons. It also allowed the demons to control people — making them see and do what the demons wanted them to.

Dovey wasn’t the only person off her meds – her other childhood friend, Baker, and Issac, a guy Dovey meets who seems to know more about demons than he should. Yes, there was a slight love triangle going on, but it was secondary to the plot and not overly dramatic at all. I don’t want to be spoilery and get into details about what the demons’ ultimate plan for the town of Savannah and all it’s residents, but needles to say, it’s not good.

Servants of the Storm was dark, gritty, and oh so freaking terrifying. I’m never going to be able to hear about another hurricane without thinking about all the demons and scary monsters that come with it. Delilah Dawson is an amazing author, who drew me in, made me believe in demons, and scared the crap out of me the entire time. Yes, I will run away from hurricanes from now on, and will probably never take a generic white pill again, but I need more story! Please tell me there will be a sequel.

About Casey 203 Articles
Casey is the founder of Heart Full of Ink, Director at Reading Until Dawn Con, and a full time cheese addict. She's been ranting and reviewing for Literary Escapism since 2010, and is part of the trio #3Bloggers1Series podcast. When she's not reading, looking for new books, or stalking authors online (waiting for more books), she can be found binge watching Netflix. But really, her life is all about DEM BOOKS!