The Boatman's Daughter

Little underwhelmed. This was another one where at the beginning, I really thought I’d love it. The author’s descriptive writing easily creeped me out. The unique lore that was brought into it had me intrigued. But by the 3/4 point, it felt like a lot of that was abandoned. I still don’t understand the real motive of almost anything any of the antagonists did. The leshii seemed to just be a spooky plot device. Much of the horror came from what two stupid, selfish men inflicted on those around them. It was ok, but not what I was really hoping for at the beginning.

The Boatman's Daughter revolves around an interconnected group of people living near the Arkansas bayou and their secrets, lies, revenge, and so on. It's a bayou soap opera with elements of the supernatural.

Davidson's writing style strikes me as self-consciously stylized. He's trying so hard to create an atmosphere but the metaphors and complicated sentence structure get in the way of the storytelling.

He puts effort into the tone but neglects to impart his characters with engaging personalities.

Miranda, the title character, is “brave and strong”, typical of how young women characters are written these days, without any traits that might make them vulnerable or human. Zero sense of humor. Her allies have uncommon physical traits but no charisma. No depth for to the villains either–just brooding, abusing, raping, and murdering. The writer doesn't take any risks on this front.

As for the horror or supernatural aspects, the demons/psychic phenomenon seemed like an afterthought. If you removed it or made it far more subtle, it would not have affected the story.

I love gothic and creepy stories but I couldn't get involved in this. All the grittiness and underdogs to root for, yet the final effect was lifeless.