Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics
4.25 stars
“It was the land itself. It had been soured by an infection of constant panic, hate and fear.”
Amanda
Verner isn’t the same person she was before last winter. Before she saw
something in the woods. Before her mother gave birth to her baby sister
who was born deaf and blind. Before she met the boy that she meets in
the woods. Now she’s pregnant with the boy’s child and she doesn’t know
what to do. Her father has decided it’s time to leave their mountain
home for the prairies before the harsh winter comes and tears the family
apart this time. The Verners discover that their new home may not be
the best thing for their family. The cabin is covered in blood and the
floorboards and torn up from the floor. Amanda starts to hear things…
kids laughing, crying, and things start to blur between paranormal and
hallucination. What’s real and can the Verners withstand it and come out
alive? This is the perfect Halloween book if you are a fan of ghost
stories/ paranormal settings. Daughters Unto Devils is intense. It’s
hard to put down. Lukavics does a great job of having an unreliable
narrator struggling through her own guilt over her fleshly sins, her
past, her family struggles, and whether or not what she experiences is
real. I read this book so quickly and I didn’t want to put it down,
which is rarity as a college student juggling being an active member of
the color guard and in Chi Alpha. The only time I have to read is when I
walk to class and I couldn’t put this book. I flew through it and when
one of my classes was cancelled I took the time to read this book for
that hour of free time. This is the type of book you want to read in
one-go because if you put it down you’ll lose momentum and you may see
the plot holes or oddities of the story. Lukavics is an author to watch
in YA horror. She does it right. It’s haunting, creepy, unsettling, and
over the top. She pushes boundaries that many are too scared to.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.25
The
main character is Amanda Verner. Amanda is a very interesting
character. She is someone you are not meant to like, but she also has
qualities that make you like her. I think Amanda’s problem is that she
hates herself so much that she thinks everything she does is evil, when
reality she is a good person. This is actually a theme that I really
liked and I don’t know if anyone else picked up on it, but the theme of
evil and whether Amanda is possessed is important to the story and how
it unfolds. I have my own interpretations of that Amanda thinks she is
possessed because she is struggling with her fleshly downfalls. Amanda
has participated in sex at a young age outside of marriage in a time
when that is very against strict religious doctrine and I saw Amanda’s
struggle with her own inner demons as a metaphor for her own struggle as
a human. I’m probably off or just looking for themes that aren’t there,
but I like to see Amanda’s struggle in that light because it makes her
character arc come full circle and make more sense. While Amanda wasn’t
always the best character, there were moments where she shined. Like
when she holds Hannah for the first time and regrets praying she was
dead. My heart melted at that scene and I started tearing up. Also props
to Lukavics for tackling teen miscarriagesthat’s something rarely talked about, much less portrayed in YA literature.
"The only devil inside of you is the one you created yourself.”
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3.5
There
is a wide cast of characters. Mainly because Amanda comes from a big
family, but they are all such wonderful characters. I felt like I was a
part of the family. Emily is the eldest sister after Amanda, but she
acts older than Amanda and gives her a lot of wise advice. There was Ma,
who offered a lot of sweet advice, usually in Bible verses that were
spot on than the girls would care to admit. There was Pa, who was kind
of standoffish, but he loved his family and his actions showed that.
There was Joanna and Charles, who were never far away from one another
and I sometimes thought they were twins. Lastly, there’s Hannah, who was
born deaf and blind, she’s still a baby, but she plays such an integral
part in this story that she feels more prominent than some of the adult
characters. I loved Hannah so much. There is also Zeke and his father, a
doctor, who live in the woods next to the prairie. They play a very odd
role in this story and I’m still not sure exactly what they were doing,
but they were definitely important. Lukavics does a great job of
fleshing out characters with stories of the past to make you feel like
you knew them and have been a member of the family always.
Character Scale: 3.75
The Villain- There
are ants. Those ants. Totally horrifying. There are pigs, which are my
worst fear because 1) they eat people 2) Spirited Away pig parents 3)
that Criminal Minds episode 4) now this story. Pigs and ants were not
something I expected to be used in such a horrifying way, but it worked
out so well. But man, what a ride. I’m still creeped out over this and
I’m glad I’m not a settler in a prairie.
Villain Scale: 5
The
ending also sets up potential for a sequel and I say, yes please. I
want a sequel from another member of the family’s PoV. Anyway, this a
great horror novel that completely surprised and while it isn’t a
perfect novel, it accomplishes what it sets out to do. This novel offers
a scary, fun ride with an atmospheric setting that is memorable and
haunting. Also pigs.
Plotastic Scale: 4.25
Happy Halloween!
Cover Thoughts: This cover is creepy and unsettling. 10/10 creepy enough not to want to look at.
Thank you, Netgalley and Harlequin Teen, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read any horrifying reads this October? What are some of your favorite YA horror novels? I want to read some more! Are you dressing up this Halloween? What are you going as? Let me know down below in the comments!
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I don't an unlikable protagonist. It's just important for me to find them interesting. Amanda sounds like this kind of character. Ugh, I do not like ants and this one will probably give me the heebie-jeebies because of this. Loved reading your review. Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to like unlikable protagonists. They an interesting dynamic to the story. You definitely wouldn't like what these ants do then. It's intense.:O Thanks so much!:D Happy Halloween!!!
DeleteWell this def sounds scary! Too scary for me, I'm terrible with horror lol. But I'm glad you loved it! I don't think there's anything wrong with finding themes in a book, whether the author intended them or not, since books are open to interpretation by the readers once they're published :-) And huh, pigs and ants. That does sound rather strange lol. But I am also rather disturbed by the way pigs will eat anything, including humans.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree! Books are always meant for interpretation, but it feels a little weird to look for themes in a YA horror novel. Slightly out of place? Right?!?! I thought it was such an odd combination, but it freaked me out. I hate pigs! They just eat too many things and I could be one of those things. No thanks!
DeleteI didn't pick up anything particularly scary since I had a bunch of review books to read, but I did listen to Besieged by Kevin Hearne, which was a collection of short stories and a few were creepy!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful books! I think I'd hope that Amanda would stop hating herself, that's depressing. The guilty feelings she deals with sound terrible, too, so I hope she came out of that a bit. I've heard of wild boars being dangerous, but not pigs. Although, they do weigh a lot and if they were coming after you I think they'd definitely do some damage! Eeeek! Great review, Sarah! :)
That sounds interesting! I'm always up for a good scary short story. Hopefully next Halloween you can read all the spooky books!
DeleteI hope you check it out, Rachel! I think you'd like it. She does change, but no spoilers on how.;) Boars are dangerous and pigs are, too. Those animals are vicious. Ah! I never want to imagine one of those things coming after me. :O Thanks so much!!!
This looks terrifying! Definitely the perfect Halloween read
ReplyDeleteIt definitely was! I highly recommend it!:)
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