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The Curse of Sara Douroux
Her past has come to reclaim her.
The year is 1985 and Sara Douroux lives with her deeply religious, elderly parents in a rural area of Maui. Discouraged from building friendships in school, she leads a private and old-fashioned life. When the family receives an odd letter that announces the impending arrival of four mysterious young cousins, Sara’s life soon turns tumultuous. Trying to make sense of the peculiar children, she forms a tenuous friendship with an unlikely pair: Jenny, a shy newcomer to the island from California, and Sunami, a tomboyish local girl.
As the girls uncover clues about Sara’s cousins, a chilling truth begins to take shape. An insidious terror is sweeping through the small valley where they live, threatening the lives of the community. In a race to discover the truth about Sara’s relatives and the secrets of her dark past, the girls realize to their horror that time is running out.
The year is 1985 and Sara Douroux lives with her deeply religious, elderly parents in a rural area of Maui. Discouraged from building friendships in school, she leads a private and old-fashioned life. When the family receives an odd letter that announces the impending arrival of four mysterious young cousins, Sara’s life soon turns tumultuous. Trying to make sense of the peculiar children, she forms a tenuous friendship with an unlikely pair: Jenny, a shy newcomer to the island from California, and Sunami, a tomboyish local girl.
As the girls uncover clues about Sara’s cousins, a chilling truth begins to take shape. An insidious terror is sweeping through the small valley where they live, threatening the lives of the community. In a race to discover the truth about Sara’s relatives and the secrets of her dark past, the girls realize to their horror that time is running out.
- GenresHorror
411 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 13, 2013
46 people are currently reading
621 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 17, 2019
This is a 3.5 star read, rounded up.
Leaves more questions than answers.
Rating System
3 Stars - It's good or great. There's a few issues or a really unlikeable character that ruined it (I.e. build a vaccine for a fungal infection. Star crossed lovers after two pages. Catchphrases. Moist.).
Leaves more questions than answers.
Rating System
3 Stars - It's good or great. There's a few issues or a really unlikeable character that ruined it (I.e. build a vaccine for a fungal infection. Star crossed lovers after two pages. Catchphrases. Moist.).
February 7, 2019
Sara is an adopted child who is only allowed out of the house to attend school, and rarely at that. After having recovered from a mysterious illness she is still given doses of a strange medicine that her mother didn't get from a doctor. After her recovery she is somehow changed, and animals including her once beloved dog seem to hate her. When 4 children arrive to spend a month in her home, Sara is told they are her cousins even though her parents have never spoken to her about any relatives in the past. The children are unnaturally pale and are never to be fed. They burn easily in sunlight and are to subsist only on "medicine." Jenny, the daughter of one of the school teachers, forms an uneasy alliance with the school bully Sunami to try to help Sara and find out what is really going on in her house.
This YA horror was a bit longer than it needed to be and because of that the story dragged at times. Much of the dialogue was phonetically spelled and used odd word choices to reflect that English was not the first language of several characters and this did not work in favor of the book, but the story itself was quite creative and the cousins were creepy.
3 and a half stars rounded up to 4 out of 5
I received a complimentary copy for review.
This YA horror was a bit longer than it needed to be and because of that the story dragged at times. Much of the dialogue was phonetically spelled and used odd word choices to reflect that English was not the first language of several characters and this did not work in favor of the book, but the story itself was quite creative and the cousins were creepy.
3 and a half stars rounded up to 4 out of 5
I received a complimentary copy for review.
August 28, 2022
I absolutely enjoyed the premise of the book and the new fear and excitement as I turned every page. I had some difficulty with the language, and this turned me away from the book. I choose to read it through to the end and I was glad that I had done so. I note that this is the author's first novel and I look forward to the next as I anticipate the author will make some changes according to the reviews that she receives. I received this novel as an ARC. This is my true and honest review.
February 16, 2020
Such a wonderful book that kept me hooked with every page. Couldn't put it down. I was a little annoyed at all the words I didn't understand and the way some of the "spoken" English was written phonetically, made it a little bit more difficult to read. But the story as such was really good! The ending was too abrupt. Seems there will be a second book by the looks of it...
July 19, 2020
I won this novel in a goodreads drawing.
A girl gets sick, and her mother gives her mysterious medicine, and mysterious cousins show up. I was never scared.
A girl gets sick, and her mother gives her mysterious medicine, and mysterious cousins show up. I was never scared.
March 30, 2019
The starting to mid of the book was engaging. In fact the start drew me in quickly. You immediately learn that Sara was wrought with a terrible sickness, and that illness was out of the ordinary.
The suspense was entertaining, and it build up with every turn of the chapter. I was stuck to the book, eyes running through page by page. Who are the four children? Who is Sara? Though the frequent use of French and Hawaiian left me frustrated, I was enamoured by the mysterious identity of these 5 characters.
As I read on, the characters became even more confusing. One moment Sara was first in line of the high servants, and the next moment she is a Master. Who is she really? Is Samuel the only fatalist among the four cousins? If so and Carmilla and Michael were supposed to stop fatalists, why were they hidden together? Why were they even hidden in the first place? The background as to why the 5 of them are in this predicament was not explained well.
Was there a need to bring in so many side characters? Kawika, ikaida, etc. They play negligible roles in the book and only served to clutter the storyline.
The ending was rushed. A brief background of the vampires/demons were inserted hastily towards the end. I felt that the story could be more organised.
Overall, it had good potential and entertainment quality could have almost been on par with Stoker’s Dracul. But the organization of the book and the culmination was sub par and could have been done better.
The suspense was entertaining, and it build up with every turn of the chapter. I was stuck to the book, eyes running through page by page. Who are the four children? Who is Sara? Though the frequent use of French and Hawaiian left me frustrated, I was enamoured by the mysterious identity of these 5 characters.
As I read on, the characters became even more confusing. One moment Sara was first in line of the high servants, and the next moment she is a Master. Who is she really? Is Samuel the only fatalist among the four cousins? If so and Carmilla and Michael were supposed to stop fatalists, why were they hidden together? Why were they even hidden in the first place? The background as to why the 5 of them are in this predicament was not explained well.
Was there a need to bring in so many side characters? Kawika, ikaida, etc. They play negligible roles in the book and only served to clutter the storyline.
The ending was rushed. A brief background of the vampires/demons were inserted hastily towards the end. I felt that the story could be more organised.
Overall, it had good potential and entertainment quality could have almost been on par with Stoker’s Dracul. But the organization of the book and the culmination was sub par and could have been done better.
January 28, 2019
The Curse of Sara Douroux is definitely a case of a book being better in theory than in execution. While I can appreciate what C. A. Wittman was trying to do, the story just got away from her. There were too many ideas forced to fit into one story, and there wasn’t enough space for all of them.
Wittman did do an excellent job of setting the scene for her story, and the use of region specific language really brought her characters to life. Her descriptions of the various locations made it possible to really see where everything was taking place. Her attempt at creating a new version of a traditional “monster” is also admirable, if poorly executed. She seemingly had too many ideas she wanted to incorporate, and the result is confusing and jumbled. I just finished the book, and honestly have no idea what happened at the end, or in several scenes from the book. Unfortunately, this is not one I would recommend.
Wittman did do an excellent job of setting the scene for her story, and the use of region specific language really brought her characters to life. Her descriptions of the various locations made it possible to really see where everything was taking place. Her attempt at creating a new version of a traditional “monster” is also admirable, if poorly executed. She seemingly had too many ideas she wanted to incorporate, and the result is confusing and jumbled. I just finished the book, and honestly have no idea what happened at the end, or in several scenes from the book. Unfortunately, this is not one I would recommend.
April 5, 2020
Horror Thriller
“What must her life be like, I often wonder, living as a human.”
Sara Douroux lives on the island of Maui with her elderly adoptive parents. She doesn’t remember anything of her childhood or of coming to live in Hawaii. She can remember a year ago she got very sick, so sick she almost died. Her parents are set in the old ways, no doctors, no telephone, and very private, Sara is not allowed to have friends. A letter comes in the mail one day to her parents and they tell Sara that four cousins will be coming to stay with them for a month.
Not long after, four pale white young children arrive. They are so sick that they can barely walk or talk but Sara is told that under no circumstances is she to feed them. As soon as the children arrive, strange occurrences start to happen. The children seem to be growing daily, even through they never eat. Locals begin to see a pale white woman watching them at night. Sara knows that things are not right but her parents refuse to tell her the truth about their visitors or her. As a group of local kids start to investigate, they reveal a terrible danger and Sara may be the key to saving the whole valley.
“Sara looks like a ghost in the mirror and she feel like one too.”
“Who is Sara?” River asks again.
“She’s the cousin to the White Lady, but I don’t think they is blood related. I don’t think the White Lady is like peoples.”
“Animals are afraid of her,” Jenny adds.
“What happens when she’s around animals?”
“They go berserk,” Sunami says, eyeing him.”
A new take on vampirism. The premise was there but the execution was lacking, I was left a little confused. How did Hawaii play into this, was it just a faraway island they could hide in or was there some connection to the past? What are the old Hawaiian stories about Night Marchers? Where did Night Hunters come from and do they have anything to with Night Marchers? Will there be a prequel to help us understand how the dynamic of Master, High Servant, and slave come about and where and when it all began? What about the haunted house? I don’t feel like that added to the body of the story and only provided a distraction. I feel like the story got away from the author a little. That there were all these great ideas but when all put together they did not flow well, rather just made the story a little convoluted and hard to follow.
The story was thrilling and I was captivated throughout especially at the end. There were several shocking turn of events that kept my attention rapt, not wanting to put it down. I would definitely read a prequel or sequel, hopefully it would answer some of the lingering questions I have.
“What must her life be like, I often wonder, living as a human.”
Sara Douroux lives on the island of Maui with her elderly adoptive parents. She doesn’t remember anything of her childhood or of coming to live in Hawaii. She can remember a year ago she got very sick, so sick she almost died. Her parents are set in the old ways, no doctors, no telephone, and very private, Sara is not allowed to have friends. A letter comes in the mail one day to her parents and they tell Sara that four cousins will be coming to stay with them for a month.
Not long after, four pale white young children arrive. They are so sick that they can barely walk or talk but Sara is told that under no circumstances is she to feed them. As soon as the children arrive, strange occurrences start to happen. The children seem to be growing daily, even through they never eat. Locals begin to see a pale white woman watching them at night. Sara knows that things are not right but her parents refuse to tell her the truth about their visitors or her. As a group of local kids start to investigate, they reveal a terrible danger and Sara may be the key to saving the whole valley.
“Sara looks like a ghost in the mirror and she feel like one too.”
“Who is Sara?” River asks again.
“She’s the cousin to the White Lady, but I don’t think they is blood related. I don’t think the White Lady is like peoples.”
“Animals are afraid of her,” Jenny adds.
“What happens when she’s around animals?”
“They go berserk,” Sunami says, eyeing him.”
A new take on vampirism. The premise was there but the execution was lacking, I was left a little confused. How did Hawaii play into this, was it just a faraway island they could hide in or was there some connection to the past? What are the old Hawaiian stories about Night Marchers? Where did Night Hunters come from and do they have anything to with Night Marchers? Will there be a prequel to help us understand how the dynamic of Master, High Servant, and slave come about and where and when it all began? What about the haunted house? I don’t feel like that added to the body of the story and only provided a distraction. I feel like the story got away from the author a little. That there were all these great ideas but when all put together they did not flow well, rather just made the story a little convoluted and hard to follow.
The story was thrilling and I was captivated throughout especially at the end. There were several shocking turn of events that kept my attention rapt, not wanting to put it down. I would definitely read a prequel or sequel, hopefully it would answer some of the lingering questions I have.
November 1, 2020
I received this book in a newsletter. I am always down for a good ghost story. This is one of those stories that, honestly, I was lost from time to time. We are introduced to Sara, whose family keeps to themselves, that is until the cousins come. Something is wrong with these new visitors, and no one truly knows what is going on until it is too late to save people. Jenny, who has moved into a house that no one wants her family to live in, wants to help Sara as she knows she does not have friends and requires help. Yet, she does not understand what she has signed herself up for. Sunami, her home life is horrible, and she turns that anger into being a bully to others like Jenny and Sara. Though we see a whole other side of Sunami when the time comes, one that shows you that she is smart and strong and loyal to friends. There was a couple of things that bothered me with this book the way the characters talked. It truly bothered me; it felt like I was having a hard time reading the book properly. I am not sure if this is how true Hawaiians talk or what. It just kept pulling me away from the story.
Sunami having feelings for her cousin Junior. Even though they are not blood-related, they are cousins, and it just seemed strange that they both had feelings, and even Junior trying to make advances was super weird.
What did Hawaii have to do with the cousins coming to be there? Was it because it was far away from people in general? Was there a meaning behind it? What are these creatures that grow? Why was there such an issue within the four creatures? Was exactly is a fatalist?
What did Manuel have to do with it all? Why was he in hiding? I felt that the story could have been executed a bit better than what was given to us.
Sunami having feelings for her cousin Junior. Even though they are not blood-related, they are cousins, and it just seemed strange that they both had feelings, and even Junior trying to make advances was super weird.
What did Hawaii have to do with the cousins coming to be there? Was it because it was far away from people in general? Was there a meaning behind it? What are these creatures that grow? Why was there such an issue within the four creatures? Was exactly is a fatalist?
What did Manuel have to do with it all? Why was he in hiding? I felt that the story could have been executed a bit better than what was given to us.
March 27, 2019
In a remote island community, Sara lives with her deeply religious elderly parents. Discouraged from building friendships in school, she leads a quiet, secluded life, but when the family is forced to take in four mysterious young cousins, Sara’s life soon turns tumultuous.
Something wicked, something dark has Sara’s family in its grip.An insidious terror will soon sweep through the small valley where Sara lives, threatening the lives of her neighbors. In a race to discover the truth of who her cousins really are, Sara forms a tenuous friendship with an unlikely pair: Jenny, a shy newcomer to the island, and Sunami, a tomboyish local girl. As the girls discover a chilling truth, they realize to their horror that time is running out and some secrets should never be disturbed.
This book has a heavy, Gothic feel, which I definitely enjoyed, especially against the backdrop of Hawaii.
I found it very suspenseful and intriguing. It's a very unique story.
The characters were developed well, along with the setting.
I love that the author tried to create a new version of a traditional “monster”.
I found the story very creative and the cousins were very creepy.
I recommend giving this one a go.
Something wicked, something dark has Sara’s family in its grip.An insidious terror will soon sweep through the small valley where Sara lives, threatening the lives of her neighbors. In a race to discover the truth of who her cousins really are, Sara forms a tenuous friendship with an unlikely pair: Jenny, a shy newcomer to the island, and Sunami, a tomboyish local girl. As the girls discover a chilling truth, they realize to their horror that time is running out and some secrets should never be disturbed.
This book has a heavy, Gothic feel, which I definitely enjoyed, especially against the backdrop of Hawaii.
I found it very suspenseful and intriguing. It's a very unique story.
The characters were developed well, along with the setting.
I love that the author tried to create a new version of a traditional “monster”.
I found the story very creative and the cousins were very creepy.
I recommend giving this one a go.
November 5, 2023
Sara is an adopted child who is only allowed out of the house to attend school, and rarely at that.
After having recovered from a mysterious illness she is still given doses of a strange medicine that her mother didn't get from a doctor. After her recovery she is somehow changed, and animals including her once beloved dog seem to hate her.
When 4 children arrive to spend a month in her home, Sara is told they are her cousins even though her parents have never spoken to her about any relatives in the past.
The children are unnaturally pale and are never to be fed. They burn easily in sunlight and are to subsist only on "medicine."
Jenny, the daughter of one of the school teachers, forms an uneasy alliance with the school bully Sunami to try to help Sara and find out what is really going on in her house.
This YA horror was a bit longer than it needed to be and because of that the story dragged at times.
Much of the dialogue was phonetically spelled and used odd word choices to reflect that English was not the first language of several characters and this did not work in favor of the book, but the story itself was quite creative and the cousins were creepy.
After having recovered from a mysterious illness she is still given doses of a strange medicine that her mother didn't get from a doctor. After her recovery she is somehow changed, and animals including her once beloved dog seem to hate her.
When 4 children arrive to spend a month in her home, Sara is told they are her cousins even though her parents have never spoken to her about any relatives in the past.
The children are unnaturally pale and are never to be fed. They burn easily in sunlight and are to subsist only on "medicine."
Jenny, the daughter of one of the school teachers, forms an uneasy alliance with the school bully Sunami to try to help Sara and find out what is really going on in her house.
This YA horror was a bit longer than it needed to be and because of that the story dragged at times.
Much of the dialogue was phonetically spelled and used odd word choices to reflect that English was not the first language of several characters and this did not work in favor of the book, but the story itself was quite creative and the cousins were creepy.
March 5, 2019
I received an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
I found this book pretty disappointing. It had a heavy, gothic feel, which I definitely enjoyed, especially against the backdrop of Hawaii. That being said, this not only moved painfully slowly, but the secrets, when they came, where just lackluster and flat. It doesn't help that you could figure out the "cousins" pretty easily, so nothing's really a surprise. The first 60% of this book is a snoozefest, though, and I had a hard time picking it up to keep reading.
I also felt like the characters were really one dimensional, except Sunami. I liked her--I liked that she was a character who was capable of changing after our first impression of her. The rest just seemed kind of flat and predictable. And I LOATHED Sara's "mom", and found it unconscionable that her "parents" kept her so firmly in the dark about herself.
I forged through until the end, but I don't know why. I suppose I kept waiting for it to become more evocative and interesting. It just never did.
I found this book pretty disappointing. It had a heavy, gothic feel, which I definitely enjoyed, especially against the backdrop of Hawaii. That being said, this not only moved painfully slowly, but the secrets, when they came, where just lackluster and flat. It doesn't help that you could figure out the "cousins" pretty easily, so nothing's really a surprise. The first 60% of this book is a snoozefest, though, and I had a hard time picking it up to keep reading.
I also felt like the characters were really one dimensional, except Sunami. I liked her--I liked that she was a character who was capable of changing after our first impression of her. The rest just seemed kind of flat and predictable. And I LOATHED Sara's "mom", and found it unconscionable that her "parents" kept her so firmly in the dark about herself.
I forged through until the end, but I don't know why. I suppose I kept waiting for it to become more evocative and interesting. It just never did.
March 17, 2019
I don’t know exactly what I was expecting this book to be, but it was far different than I had anticipated. I found it to be long and, at times, confusing. I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone, but the tale of what the “cousins” are within the creature world is not explained to my satisfaction. The author leaves a great deal up to interpretation, and without background knowledge, this leaves the reader confused and frustrated.
Overall, 3 stars because the premise is good, but I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted to.
Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!
Overall, 3 stars because the premise is good, but I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted to.
Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!
May 1, 2019
I wanted to like this book and did enjoy it up to a point but then things started dragging and I began to loose interest as so many characters were introduced making it hard to keep track of who was who and how they were related to one another.
The story did have a creepy feel to it which was entertaining for a while, unfortunately this was not enough to maintain my enjoyment much past the middle of the book. The dialogue between characters also became an annoyance at times.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review
The story did have a creepy feel to it which was entertaining for a while, unfortunately this was not enough to maintain my enjoyment much past the middle of the book. The dialogue between characters also became an annoyance at times.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review
January 7, 2023
The Curse of Sara Douroux is a twisted tale that had me searching for extra free time to read more. Despite the predictability denoted by other reviewers, I was completely in the dark as to the true identity and nature of the mysterious characters. The storyline gets away from the writer at times, and there are characters and scenes that don't seem to have any relevance plot, and I found myself googling translations for the Hawaiian slang used in some of the dialogues, but none of these things were enough to have me give up on the book, which will be a great addition to the YA Horror genre.
March 27, 2025
I feel like this book had so much potential, but lost it about three-fourth's of the way through. I really liked the writing style, but I was left with more questions than answers, and it just kind of dropped off without any closure of any kind. The ending felt rushed, like the author ran out of time and immediately ended it. I thought maybe there was supposed to be a sequel but it doesn't look like there is. To be honest, the book felt pointless at the end.
February 11, 2019
I give this book credit for being quite original. I liked it but seemed to drag a bit at times. The characters were developed well, along with the setting-but felt like it took forever to get anywhere. Decent read if you want something fresh, but it’s going to take a little while to wrap it up.
April 4, 2019
I had such a hard time getting into this book. I wanted to like it but it's all over the place and the way some of the characters talked made it hard to understand exactly what they were trying to say.
August 26, 2021
This book was so engrossing! I could hardly put it down. It was so creepy and gross and sad! It left me kind of desolate in a weird, but understandable way. Don’t really know how to process it! But, if you want a book with lots of thrills and chills, this is it.
January 27, 2019
I was in the mood for a good vampire story and this one hit the spot. I did find it a bit confusing near the end, but enjoyed it. Thanks Goodreads Giveaways.
February 10, 2019
Very different story
I was intrigued when I picked this book up . I wound up reading it nonstop. It was a totally unique story
I was intrigued when I picked this book up . I wound up reading it nonstop. It was a totally unique story
February 24, 2019
Pretty weird book. It is kind of all over the place and I wouldn't call it a scary book. Hard to recommend.
April 22, 2019
Another one that tried to fit too much into one book! Having said that, I did love the story in theory just not the delivery in whole.
Vivid, imaginative and unusual!
Vivid, imaginative and unusual!
July 3, 2019
Creeptastic. Eerie. Some images will never leave my brain.
July 17, 2020
Yet another boring vampire story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2020
Doesn't elicit any fear and is incredibly far-fetched. This book could do with a complete re-write. Very disappointed as I was looking forward to the premise of this one.
July 3, 2023
This is amazing story. Something different in the spirit books. The characters and the storyline just kept me reading. This was my first book by this author and I truly enjoyed it. I would recommend if you like this type of stories.
April 9, 2019
An engrossing and fascinating paranormal YA novel with significant twists, THE CURSE OF SARA DOUROUX kept me riveted throughout. By turns multicurally diverse, historically referent, and wide-ranging in mythology, this novel I would rate in both supernatural and paranormal categories, and at the upper end of the YA range due to significant levels of violence, adolescent pregnancies, and substance addiction.
March 27, 2019
Sara’s life has always been odd, with her parents secretive ways and not letting her go anywhere besides school and church, but when they have to take in four cousins that Sara has never met, Sara feels that things are about to get really bad.
I didn’t finish this book. I was expecting this to be spooky from the beginning, but it just wasn’t. I thought the story was slow and the characters fell flat, because there wasn’t enough character building. I’m not trying to criticize the authors writing style, because I know that some people loved this book, but it just wasn’t for me. Most of the dialogue was extremely stiff, especially between the teachers. The Hawaiian slang was hard for me to understand, and Sunami wasn’t a fun character for me to read about. It was neat, however, to see Sunami and Jenny become friends, after Sunami’s original prejudice towards her. It shows that even though you don’t like somebody at first, you can eventually become friends with them once you’re forced together enough times.
I only read about 30% of this book, and just couldn’t make myself go any further.
I didn’t finish this book. I was expecting this to be spooky from the beginning, but it just wasn’t. I thought the story was slow and the characters fell flat, because there wasn’t enough character building. I’m not trying to criticize the authors writing style, because I know that some people loved this book, but it just wasn’t for me. Most of the dialogue was extremely stiff, especially between the teachers. The Hawaiian slang was hard for me to understand, and Sunami wasn’t a fun character for me to read about. It was neat, however, to see Sunami and Jenny become friends, after Sunami’s original prejudice towards her. It shows that even though you don’t like somebody at first, you can eventually become friends with them once you’re forced together enough times.
I only read about 30% of this book, and just couldn’t make myself go any further.
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