Fantasy Book Reviews

Before the Day Is Done

Author: CelWrites
Title: Before the Day Is Done
Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/59162182-before-the-day-is-done-wattys2016

Before the Day Is Done is dark, poignant, and gruesome! A little girl has been possessed by 7 demons (at the same time?!) and they're making her do very bad things.

The story begins very innocently with Mari, the protagonist, waiting in a cottage in the woods for the return of her guardians, the "Seven". She's never been alone before and it's making her stomach feel funny. When the Seven finally return, we find out they've been given an important job, and Mari has a role to play in it. Then we're dished the first plot twist of the story: the Seven are actually demons, and Mari herself is human. This is a good start! It hooks us in and makes us wonder: How did Mari end up with the Seven? Is she special? What do they want with her?

Right from the get go, the storytelling gives off a dark and mysterious vibe. The fact that it's told from the POV of a child makes it all the more intriguing. The author exploits Mari's innocence and ignorance (for her age) to deliberately hide information from the readers and also set the tone for the story. There is so much happening and Mari doesn't seem to understand any of it (almost), it's so chaotic! We get a great a sense of how she feels, how she thinks, how she talks, and most importantly, her sense of confusion as she witnesses the gruesome events before her. If the author's goal is to make us feel like a child, he has certainly accomplished that.

I did feel, however, there was some inconsistency in the voice. We get parts with clear descriptions and then we're hit with phrases like "the man with the headpiece" (king) and "gray building" (castle), which felt arbitrarily picked to remind us that Mari's a child because she doesn't know the word for some things. We also get cheat phrases like "Mari doesn't understand..." and "her mind couldn't keep up with..." a few times each chapter in case we forget. Yet, Mari's able to tell us things like "ornate fixtures" and "the scales...glinted in the dying light". This is the dilemma when writing from a child's POV. Should the prose be dumbed down to Sesame Street level? Or should we ignore the character's age entirely and write as we normally would? Or a mix? I would personally go with the second option for the sake of clarity and consistency. Some vivid showing coupled with internal dialogue would give the story the same (or more powerful) effect.

Before the Day Is Done is definitely an intriguing read. The premise is fascinating and the writing is good. It challenges your perception of the world around you: what's good, what's bad, the right thing to do. You'll see a cruel world through the eyes of a child and experience how she copes with it. Check it out and see what you think!