Title: Daughters Unto Devils
Author: Amy Lukavics
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Publication Date: 9.29.2015
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Historical
Series: N/A
Source: ARC from publisher
Rating: 4 Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
When sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner's family decides to move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, she hopes it is her chance for a fresh start. She can leave behind the memory of the past winter; of her sickly Ma giving birth to a baby sister who cries endlessly; of the terrifying visions she saw as her sanity began to slip, the victim of cabin fever; and most of all, the memories of the boy she has been secretly meeting with as a distraction from her pain. The boy whose baby she now carries.
When the Verners arrive at their new home, a large cabin abandoned by its previous owners, they discover the inside covered in blood. And as the days pass, it is obvious to Amanda that something isn't right on the prairie. She's heard stories of lands being tainted by evil, of men losing their minds and killing their families, and there is something strange about the doctor and his son who live in the woods on the edge of the prairie. But with the guilt and shame of her sins weighing on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or deep within her soul.
When the Verners arrive at their new home, a large cabin abandoned by its previous owners, they discover the inside covered in blood. And as the days pass, it is obvious to Amanda that something isn't right on the prairie. She's heard stories of lands being tainted by evil, of men losing their minds and killing their families, and there is something strange about the doctor and his son who live in the woods on the edge of the prairie. But with the guilt and shame of her sins weighing on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or deep within her soul.
Review:
I am a horror junkie. I watch horror movies to fall asleep to and as background noise all the time. I watched the scene of Turistas where they were cutting people open to harvest their organs to study for my anatomy midterm. The scarier the better.
Horror books are a little harder sell for me. Because I'm used to creepy and crazy, the book has to balance character development with creepy and throw in some unreal twists. DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS does just that.
Amanda, the main character, is a little hard to read in the beginning. She's made some bad choices and believes herself already claimed for hell (remember, back then it was all about morals and religion and straying outside the designated lines was cause for social suicide and families banishing/disowning members). She's accepted this fact with a calm sort of stoicism that gives the reader a chill. But as the story progresses, you see Amanda come to life and start to fight for herself and her family.
The setting is what helps bring the book to life. The isolated prairie life where you're miles from neighbors and civilization is enough to give anyone the willies, but throw in a house that's drenched in blood and a some sadistic campfire tales, and it takes on a whole new level of OMG.
Like I said before - I love horror and I've watched/read a lot of it. This book gave me an actual nightmare. That never happens. Amy Lukavics gets a major award from me for that fact alone. If you're squeamish and afraid, might be best to let the big kids handle it.
And yeah, that was totally a challenge.
Amanda, the main character, is a little hard to read in the beginning. She's made some bad choices and believes herself already claimed for hell (remember, back then it was all about morals and religion and straying outside the designated lines was cause for social suicide and families banishing/disowning members). She's accepted this fact with a calm sort of stoicism that gives the reader a chill. But as the story progresses, you see Amanda come to life and start to fight for herself and her family.
The setting is what helps bring the book to life. The isolated prairie life where you're miles from neighbors and civilization is enough to give anyone the willies, but throw in a house that's drenched in blood and a some sadistic campfire tales, and it takes on a whole new level of OMG.
Like I said before - I love horror and I've watched/read a lot of it. This book gave me an actual nightmare. That never happens. Amy Lukavics gets a major award from me for that fact alone. If you're squeamish and afraid, might be best to let the big kids handle it.
And yeah, that was totally a challenge.
I know it Hannah!!! I don't even watch horror movies, I'm a coward for that kind of stuff :(
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this book, I was all about it. I love horror. I love a good story.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I hit enter too early when I was entering my twitter handle under the @amylukavics so only part of it got entered! *cries*
I'm excited for this! I love a good scary story especially this time of the year!
ReplyDeleteoooh yes you're review made this book sound like a perfect book for me. especially for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteWhoa whoa whoa...this book sounds EPIC!! So excited to read it!
ReplyDeleteAhh I can't wait to read this one! I'm so glad it's as scary as promised.
ReplyDelete