Published by: Simon & Schuster Children's UK, October 8th 2015
Genre: YA, Horror, Historical
Pages: 304
Format: Ebook
Sometimes I believe the baby will never stop crying.
Sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner fears she is losing her mind. When her family move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, Amanda hopes she can leave her haunting memories behind: of her sickly Ma giving birth to a terribly afflicted baby; of the cabin fever that claimed Amanda's sanity; of the boy who she has been meeting in secret. . .
But the Verners arrive on the prairie to find their new home soaked in blood. So much blood. And Amanda has heard stories - about men becoming unhinged and killing their families, about the land being tainted by wickedness.
With guilty secrets weighing down on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or within her soul . . .
Perfect for fans of American Horror Story, Stephen King and The Others
Daughters Unto Devils marks the first YA horror I've actually finished. All the others I DNF'ed because nothing ever seemed to happen, and when things did they were cliche (faces popping up in mirrors, squeaky hinges on doors, strange and mysterious noises written off as pipes groaning.) This book I did actually finish, even if I do feel that very little of substance actually happened in most of it.
This book is creepy, and that's probably what kept me reading. I was never fussed on any of the characters, the setting and historical period wasn't my thing, the archaic treatment of women made me angry, and the flat tameness of the story didn't exactly keep my interest. But maybe you need to have patience to enjoy this genre, because these books tend to start super slow and build even slower. However, when Daughters Unto Devils did actually get going (at like 75%) I got really into it, and I really loved it. I was flying through the pages.
The end is seriously better than the rest. It's in-your-face horror, as opposed to the general hinting of the rest. For that ending, which I shan't forget soon, I've given this book an extra .5 star. If this is your genre, you're gonna love Daughters Unto Devils; if it's not your genre, try it anyway and stick around for the end.
This book is creepy, and that's probably what kept me reading. I was never fussed on any of the characters, the setting and historical period wasn't my thing, the archaic treatment of women made me angry, and the flat tameness of the story didn't exactly keep my interest. But maybe you need to have patience to enjoy this genre, because these books tend to start super slow and build even slower. However, when Daughters Unto Devils did actually get going (at like 75%) I got really into it, and I really loved it. I was flying through the pages.
The end is seriously better than the rest. It's in-your-face horror, as opposed to the general hinting of the rest. For that ending, which I shan't forget soon, I've given this book an extra .5 star. If this is your genre, you're gonna love Daughters Unto Devils; if it's not your genre, try it anyway and stick around for the end.
(Side note: I don't know why it says knock knock all over the cover. It should say sinner...)
Characters ★★★☆☆
Setting/world ★★☆☆☆
Congrats on finishing your first YA horror! This is definitely my type of read so I know I'll devour it, I may opt to get it from the library though! :)
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