I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics Published by Harlequin Teen on September 29, 2015
Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror & Ghost Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 231
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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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.
I figure that the first day of this year’s Fortnight of Fright is the perfect time to share my review of DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS by debut author Amy (great name!) Lukavics, a creepy historical fiction story about a family who moves away from a troubled home in the mountains to a cabin on the prairie, where old horrors and new threaten to disrupt their new life. DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS was certainly creepy, and I enjoyed reading about Amanda Verner and her family, but I also think it could’ve used a little more meat. Not the worst thing, right?
So Amanda Verner is a young girl who lives with her family–mom, dad, three sisters, and a brother–in a cabin in the mountains. The previous winter was a very harsh one, not just weather wise: Amanda’s mother was pregnant and became very ill. When the baby, Hannah, was born, it almost killed Amanda’s mother, and Hannah was born deaf and blind. Also during this winter, something happened with Amanda that hangs over the entire family and eventually, months later after Amanda has been sleeping with the post boy on the sly, leave their cabin in the woods and move into a larger cabin on the prairie. Starting over doesn’t start well and doesn’t necessarily improve for Amanda and her family. Might have something to do with that BLOOD-COVERED CABIN they move into. EEEP!
I really enjoyed reading DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS from Amanda’s perspective. Being pregnant and struggling with the secret she must keep from her family, moving to the cabin on the prairie is an ominous start to what is supposed to be her new life after the baby’s father spurns her, and trying to repair her damaged relationship with her sister all take a toll on Amanda. She often wishes for her baby to die and is haunted by unsettling visions and thoughts she had during the winter when Hannah was born. There’s a lot of guilt and torment on Amanda’s part, and I liked that she’s not always a good person. I thought Amy Lukavics did a really good job creating a morally ambiguous but also empathetic character.
The atmosphere on the prairie–and, for the few chapters we were there, the mountain forest–was really excellent. Even when big things weren’t happening, there was a very ominous vibe over the whole thing. Something is clearly wrong with the cabin on the prairie. Something is clearly not right with Hannah, the youngest Verner. Something is not right with Amanda, for that matter. Whatever happened to her during the previous winter has residual effects on everyone. There is always a sense of foreboding, even when things move slowly. Which they do.
There was something unsettling about the pace of DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS for me. The beginning is so slow that there were times when I found myself making that “ok, let’s go, speed up” gesture at my kindle. But then the end felt very fast. So even though things were creepy FOR SURE, I wasn’t ever SCARED. Not sure if that’s just me or if it has something to do with the slow-fast pace, but it definitely affected my reading.
Even though the end of DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS is fast, it’s also pretty good. There’s some good build-up, a few things that surprised me, and some real heebie-jeebies, ESPECIALLY the very end. THAT was a nice little chill. I wish DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS had been a little bit longer so that things could’ve been evened out a little bit more, because I did think Amy Lukavics’ debut was solid.
If you maybe don’t do super well with scary stuff, I think DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS would be a great book for you to pick up this Halloween! It’s creepy, and the end is the creepiest part, but it’s mostly a lot of atmosphere and strange happenings. Or maybe those are reasons why DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS isn’t a good Halloween read if you don’t like scary stuff. Either way, a good debut. I’d definitely read more from Amy Lukavics.
