Daughters unto devils

So creepy. Wow.

So, I mostly enjoyed this book, so I'll give it a lenient review.

Yes, the dialogue isn't very good. There aren't any really lovely sentences. The setting is never delineated, which is unfortunate for a tale that relies on setting. Yes, there are many flaws, even for a first novel.

However, I have read far worse by seasoned authors who are respected (cough cough, FLIERS! cough). I wasn't really bored, and there were even a few creepy bits at the end I appreciated.

So what we have here is a tale of a teenager in the good ole pioneer days. The exact location is never given, and only one town (if it exists) was even mentioned. She lives in a very religious and, of course, large family. After surviving a horrible winter on their mountain home–during which the horribly ill mother gives birth to a deaf and blind baby–the father decides he needs to move his family somewhere safer for winter, where they won't go mad because their all snowed in together. Meanwhile, the eldest daughter, Amanda, finds herself pregnant from trysts with a mailman, er, boy, who spurns her when she tells him. She naively thought he'd marry her. Her sister finds out, and they proceed to not get on well at all. Then they move to the prairie and end up finding a house that is bloody and demolished to live in, but the father decides to fix it up. Because that's a smart idea, right? And the excrement hits the air conditioning.

So, yeah. There are flaws. But I appreciated the insistence to endure Amanda and her sister Emily have, even after everything goes to crap. And I could understand a bit Amanda's guilt issues, because guilt is actually not a just a Catholic thing. It is a hardcore Protestant thing. And that underpins everything she does and thinks, even when she's saving her family.

I would have liked this to be fleshed out more, to actually know where it takes place, to understand the mythology better, but it'll do for a fun read. I would like to see what Ms Lukavics does in the future.

Holy crap, I haven't been so freaked out by a book since Scowler, and it is incredibly hard to freak me out. This one gave me chills!
At first, I just wanted to read it because Amanda was an awesome character. I never expected anything that came after the move to the prairie. Perfect for October!