Daughter

DAUGHTER is a riveting YA thriller that follows Scarlet, a young woman whose biggest problem seems to be her over-protective mother and wanting to take a trip for spring break with her friends and maybe guy she's interested in. Everything changes when the FBI shows up at her house looking for her and her mother. She soon learns that her birth name was Britney Lake, daughter of the notorious Gentleman Killer, Jeffrey Robert Lake. The FBI is asking for her help in getting additional names from him - Lake is dying, and he has promised to give them more names but only if his daughter is the one receiving them.

Thrown for a loop and questioning everything she has known about herself and her mother, Scarlet agrees to the request. If she can help some of the women and their families to get some peace, shouldn't she? As she enters the fray, she begins to learn things about her father that shock and scare her, as well as the way the public now views and treats her and her mother, themselves victims of Lake.

What I loved: This was a really riveting and thought-provoking read about serial killers and the people they leave behind. Scarlet's life is forever changed by this information, and she reevaluates everything she has known as well as the people around her and how they have molded by their pasts. While all of this is happening, she is also going through normal teenager things, like crushes, challenging friendships, and family drama.

A major theme of the story is around familial connections and the ways that our family shapes us (or doesn't). There are some interesting discussions around nature vs nurture within some of these considerations. Finding out that your parents or family was not who you thought they were certainly changes the way you view the world and yourself, but are we tied to their mistakes and flaws? Even if this question is not asked so dramatically, many teenagers will be grappling with similar considerations around their parents and the ways that they have shaped them, for better or for worse.

Scarlet was an intriguing character, and while the plot certainly holds most of the attention, she was an intriguing lens into this story. The book also contains some news articles and similar things that provide additional insights into the world and characters. These were particularly intriguing touches that added something extra to the telling. The end also contains a good wrap-up that felt like an epilogue without actually being one, but this gave great closure to the story in all.

What left me wanting more: The story remained pretty steady throughout, but did not have the intensity or escalation I would expect when reading a thriller. While some of the visits were disturbing, they did not carry any hefty emotions that you would get with a psychological thriller. In some ways, it felt more like a drama (which is not a bad thing). I would have also liked more connections with the victims and trying to understand these - as well as some other plot threads that did not get unraveled, such as the young woman who seemed to have escaped Lake. Something deeper to really pull you into the story and emotions more.

Final verdict: With an intriguing plot and thought-provoking themes around family and nature vs nurture, DAUGHTER is a compelling YA thriller/drama. Recommend for fans of THIS GOLDEN STATE, SAWKILL GIRLS, and THAT WEEKEND.