Title: Demon in the Whitelands
Author: Nikki Z. Richard
Publisher: Month9 Books
Publication date: September 24th, 2019
300 pages
3.5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
DEMON IN THE WHITELANDS is LET THE RIGHT ONE IN meets INTO THE FOREST, a debut YA novel from Nikki Richard.
Sometimes no matter how hard you try, some things cannot be explained.
Sixteen-year-old Samuel, son of devout cleric, has endured shame and prejudice his entire life. Although he is destined to become clergy too, he longs for an ordinary life in the whitelands away from demons and holy roots.
When the mayor claims to have captured a mute demon girl, Samuel is forced to become her caretaker. But as Samuel gets to know the prisoner, he finds her not to be very demonlike. Instead, she is intelligent, meek, and an exceptional artist. Despite her seeming goodness, some more concerning things cannot be explained. Samuel is hard-pressed to reconcile her uncanny strength and speed, missing arm, ambiguous gender, and the mysterious scars covering most of her body.
Samuel forms a deep attachment to the girl with predator eyes and violent outbursts, against his father’s advice. Their friendship could turn into something more. But when Samuel discovers the mayor’s dark intentions, he must decide whether to risk his own execution by setting her free or watch as the girl is used as a pawn in a dangerous game of oppression, fear, and murder.
Review
**Thank you to Month9 Books and Nikki Z. Richard for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
Demon in the Whitelands takes place in a post apocalyptic world. Samuel is the 16 year bastard of a cleric (and clerics are not allowed to touch anyone physically let alone have a child). Samuel has been training to take after his father a cleric when the mayor of the town captures what he believes to be a demon. The girl doesn’t speak but has unexplainable powers and is very violent when provoked. Samuel is offered the opportunity to become a patrolman instead of be a cleric, which he gladly accepts. Demons in the Whitelands follows his story in watching over the girl and deciding what to do with his life.
I like this book because none of the characters are redeemable. They ALL have their issues and pretty much accept that. There is no perfect character. The religion aspect is interesting, and seems pretty reasonable for a post apocalyptic world. There is some minor political intrigue that drives the plot of the book, but is not the focus of the book.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read. I felt the ending could have done more but I also understand why the author chose to end the story that way. The writing is on the darker side and there is a decent level of violence in this book. There really isn’t much romance, it’s touched on briefly but is not the primary focus of the book.
Demon in the Whitelands is Nikki Z Richard’s debut novel for Month9 Books. Check it out!
Happy reading, bookish friends! 🙂
Baltimore Bibliophile 