Title: The Atheist’s Daughter
Author: Renee Harrell Publisher: Hunting Monsters Press
Publication Date: September 2011
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Kristin Faraday is finding life after high school difficult: she can’t manage to find a job and leave the small town of Winterhaven. Kristin is also known as a local nutcase after spending time in a psychiatric hospital when she was younger. But Kristin isn’t crazy: she can tell when people are lying to her. Although she doesn’t know it, it was the mysterious Mrs. Norton who gave her this gift, before murdering Kristin’s father. When Mrs. Norton reappears in Winterhaven accompanied by her family members, Kristin seems to be the only person who can see them for what they really are. Thanks to her strange gift, she might be able to stop Mrs. Norton and her companions from terrorizing the citizens of Winterhaven. Will Kristin be able to protect the peoples she loves from the monsters who have taken so much from her?
Let me just start by saying that I love how this book is dedicated to “Danger and Adventure.” I thought that was amazing! This book starts off with Kristin’s diary entries from her time in a psychiatric hospital. These worked very well as an introduction and they also appeared sporadically throughout the novel. I loved these entries because they showed so much of Kristin’s personality. I could relate to Kristin: other than her ability to see whether someone is lying, she’s pretty average. She’s stuck living at home and can’t manage to get a job. I loved Kristin’s relationship with her Mom, and enjoyed all of the secondary characters. I’m looking forward to learning more about Hawkins and Liz in the next novel in the series. Mrs. Norton and her family members were pretty creepy, and made excellent villains. They were very original and helped make this book memorable. The plot was gripping and made reading The Atheist’s Daughter fly by. It was well written and I loved the dark tone of the novel. The plot was fairly fast paced and unique. I wish it had been more character driven, but I think that’s just my preference, not an actual flaw of the novel. I would definitely recommend this as a Halloween read (or just an every-day read,) since it was eerie and unique.
Thanks to the authors for sending me a copy to review!