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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Suburban Hell is Maureen Killer’s debut horror book. In it, we follow Amy, a stay at home mother of two who enjoys the suburban life, for the most part. She just wants something more fulfilling. Having one of her friends get possessed by a demon after breaking ground to build a she-shed isn’t exactly what she had in mind though. The summer was supposed to be about being stress free by the pool, not fighting the forces of evil!
If you are a fan of Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friends Exorcism and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, this book is for you. It has that same kind of humor/horror that makes those books so fun. I think it is exactly the kind of niche horror that I really enjoy.
While I don’t think this book was overtly “horror,” it did have some spooky imagery. That juxtaposed with the summer mom life made it a really good blend of horror and comedy. The first half of this book had me laughing out loud several times. Without doing any research on the author at all, I can tell you with absolute certainty that she is a mother of multiple children. Amy is painfully relatable as a main character if you are a mom. The children characters felt very authentic. I have an issue with children characters in adult books because I feel like they almost never seem like they are true to life. They either act older or younger than they are supposed to be and it always pulls me out of the story. The husbands were the worst in the best way. I also really loved the friendship dynamics between our main characters.
As far as negatives go, I don’t have a lot. The second half of the book is definitely weaker because things become less funny and more serious but it never really felt like it really went all out like it should have. I would have loved more intense horror towards the end. There is also a subplot with Amy’s sister that just felt like it was a different tone than the rest of the story. I know the subplot helps Amy’s character development and creates more backstory for her but it just really seemed pointless for the most part. I would have loved more scenes with the women as a group instead.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I had high expectations and I think it definitely exceeded them for the most part. I think this book would appeal most to moms, in particular moms who feel like they don’t really belong in the “PTA type” mom crowd. This is a book that I will be picking up when it is released.
***Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If you are a fan of Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friends Exorcism and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, this book is for you. It has that same kind of humor/horror that makes those books so fun. I think it is exactly the kind of niche horror that I really enjoy.
While I don’t think this book was overtly “horror,” it did have some spooky imagery. That juxtaposed with the summer mom life made it a really good blend of horror and comedy. The first half of this book had me laughing out loud several times. Without doing any research on the author at all, I can tell you with absolute certainty that she is a mother of multiple children. Amy is painfully relatable as a main character if you are a mom. The children characters felt very authentic. I have an issue with children characters in adult books because I feel like they almost never seem like they are true to life. They either act older or younger than they are supposed to be and it always pulls me out of the story. The husbands were the worst in the best way. I also really loved the friendship dynamics between our main characters.
As far as negatives go, I don’t have a lot. The second half of the book is definitely weaker because things become less funny and more serious but it never really felt like it really went all out like it should have. I would have loved more intense horror towards the end. There is also a subplot with Amy’s sister that just felt like it was a different tone than the rest of the story. I know the subplot helps Amy’s character development and creates more backstory for her but it just really seemed pointless for the most part. I would have loved more scenes with the women as a group instead.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I had high expectations and I think it definitely exceeded them for the most part. I think this book would appeal most to moms, in particular moms who feel like they don’t really belong in the “PTA type” mom crowd. This is a book that I will be picking up when it is released.
***Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this to read and review.
Suburban Hell tells the story of best friends, neighbors, and moms Amy, Melissa, Jess, and Liz, whose wine and movie nights are their precious hours to be together and be themselves. After Liz starts construction on a She Shed in her backyard (a permanent home for their get-togethers), weird things start happening in the neighborhood. The most concerning changes start happening to Liz, who seems to be an entirely different person now. Or is she even still a person at all? It's up to Amy, Melissa, and Jess to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Liz, get their friend back, and save the neighborhood. Oh, and take care of the kids, have successful careers, and plan the annual summer carnival.
I'm not a mom, so I worried that I wouldn't be able to connect to the main characters, but I really liked them! They all had unique personalities, and all seemed like normal people you could meet in everyday life. Amy was the most fleshed out, and we get the story from her perspective. I liked that we got to see details of what Amy's day-to-day was like. I liked that it touched on the anxiety she felt when dealing with the situation with Liz, her job interview, and the carnival planning. I thought her actions and reactions were very realistic, as well as Melissa's and Jess's. I loved all of their families! They were all different, but all supportive and loving. Tony, Mark, and Del had their own personalities, and their interactions with their families were genuine. I would have loved to read more about them and their wives as couples.
I don't think comparing this story to Grady Hendrix or Bad Moms is doing it any favors. Although it's classified as horror, I didn't find any of the "horror" parts scary or disturbing. At most, some of the scenes depicting injuries could be seen as gory, but that doesn't mean they were scary. Also while our four friends do deal with pettiness from some of their neighbors, it wasn't on the level of Bad Moms. There were not many humorous sections of the book either. If anything I would classify this as general or women's fiction. It's more about the relationships between the four friends, and them going through this traumatic event together. It's light-hearted, sure, but it's not horror or comedy, and I think it's setting itself up for disappointment when it says it's both of those things.
Overall, I thought the book was cute and breezed through it. However, the plot is jumbled in terms of a deeper message. It's unclear that it has one until the last quarter of the book, when inner monologues begin about how moms have always been the ones with the biggest burdens and have always been the ones working behind the scenes and doing the hardest jobs. Talk turns to isolation and how it takes a village to raise a child. Amy reveals that she felt isolated when she first moved to the neighborhood and was saved when she met her three friends. There's talk of her sister June, who died of an overdose, who up until this point, had only been briefly mentioned once or twice. Apparently she was a large part of Amy's life and her death sent her spiraling.
This book does a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told about how important June was to Amy, but never shown through memories or items in Amy's house or anything. At the end, a rabbit crosses Amy's path and she says it's a sign from June, but I don't remember anything about a rabbit representing June. We're told that mothers bare the burden, even now in this neighborhood, but no scenes depict this in the story. All the husbands are supportive and caring (except Tim, screw Tim), shown sharing the work and being there for their wives. There seem to be neighborhood support systems set up between groups of people. I felt that even between those who didn't get along so well, if one of them needed help with their kids or something, no one in the neighborhood would have turned them down. We're told that this carnival is a huge deal, but it's barely mentioned in terms of planning, comes together off-screen. and is given only a short chapter of coverage. In my opinion, it did nothing to progress the plot and was unneeded.
I thought the ending was fine. I thought the way they saved Liz was fine. I wasn't a huge fan of the epilogue, but that's fine. Overall I thought the book was fine. I think it will be a fun read for any fan of contemporary, light fiction, but may be a disappointment for those hoping for true horror.
Suburban Hell tells the story of best friends, neighbors, and moms Amy, Melissa, Jess, and Liz, whose wine and movie nights are their precious hours to be together and be themselves. After Liz starts construction on a She Shed in her backyard (a permanent home for their get-togethers), weird things start happening in the neighborhood. The most concerning changes start happening to Liz, who seems to be an entirely different person now. Or is she even still a person at all? It's up to Amy, Melissa, and Jess to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Liz, get their friend back, and save the neighborhood. Oh, and take care of the kids, have successful careers, and plan the annual summer carnival.
I'm not a mom, so I worried that I wouldn't be able to connect to the main characters, but I really liked them! They all had unique personalities, and all seemed like normal people you could meet in everyday life. Amy was the most fleshed out, and we get the story from her perspective. I liked that we got to see details of what Amy's day-to-day was like. I liked that it touched on the anxiety she felt when dealing with the situation with Liz, her job interview, and the carnival planning. I thought her actions and reactions were very realistic, as well as Melissa's and Jess's. I loved all of their families! They were all different, but all supportive and loving. Tony, Mark, and Del had their own personalities, and their interactions with their families were genuine. I would have loved to read more about them and their wives as couples.
I don't think comparing this story to Grady Hendrix or Bad Moms is doing it any favors. Although it's classified as horror, I didn't find any of the "horror" parts scary or disturbing. At most, some of the scenes depicting injuries could be seen as gory, but that doesn't mean they were scary. Also while our four friends do deal with pettiness from some of their neighbors, it wasn't on the level of Bad Moms. There were not many humorous sections of the book either. If anything I would classify this as general or women's fiction. It's more about the relationships between the four friends, and them going through this traumatic event together. It's light-hearted, sure, but it's not horror or comedy, and I think it's setting itself up for disappointment when it says it's both of those things.
Overall, I thought the book was cute and breezed through it. However, the plot is jumbled in terms of a deeper message. It's unclear that it has one until the last quarter of the book, when inner monologues begin about how moms have always been the ones with the biggest burdens and have always been the ones working behind the scenes and doing the hardest jobs. Talk turns to isolation and how it takes a village to raise a child. Amy reveals that she felt isolated when she first moved to the neighborhood and was saved when she met her three friends. There's talk of her sister June, who died of an overdose, who up until this point, had only been briefly mentioned once or twice. Apparently she was a large part of Amy's life and her death sent her spiraling.
This book does a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told about how important June was to Amy, but never shown through memories or items in Amy's house or anything. At the end, a rabbit crosses Amy's path and she says it's a sign from June, but I don't remember anything about a rabbit representing June. We're told that mothers bare the burden, even now in this neighborhood, but no scenes depict this in the story. All the husbands are supportive and caring (except Tim, screw Tim), shown sharing the work and being there for their wives. There seem to be neighborhood support systems set up between groups of people. I felt that even between those who didn't get along so well, if one of them needed help with their kids or something, no one in the neighborhood would have turned them down. We're told that this carnival is a huge deal, but it's barely mentioned in terms of planning, comes together off-screen. and is given only a short chapter of coverage. In my opinion, it did nothing to progress the plot and was unneeded.
I thought the ending was fine. I thought the way they saved Liz was fine. I wasn't a huge fan of the epilogue, but that's fine. Overall I thought the book was fine. I think it will be a fun read for any fan of contemporary, light fiction, but may be a disappointment for those hoping for true horror.
2.5 stars!
I loved the premise of the moms of suburbia coming together but I feel like there was more backstory that needed to be explored which in turn made the book drag in the middle.
I loved the premise of the moms of suburbia coming together but I feel like there was more backstory that needed to be explored which in turn made the book drag in the middle.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Book Details:
-Genre: Horror Comedy
-Published this past week
-Set in the Midwest
-Features suburban moms and demonic possession
Pacing
This book was a really fast and engaging read. It had a lot of comedic elements about living in suburbia / imagining suburban moms fighting a demon.
Horror
This book is very light horror. It has some gore, some scary elements, and demons, but if you are looking for something with more intense horror, this might not be it. In general the stakes felt pretty low in a lot of the creepy scenes. Connected to this, I wanted a more intense ending.
Overall
If you want a fun, quick horror comedy read for spooky season, this could be a great pick! It isn’t anything super mind blowing and can be a bit predictable, but it was fun to read if this fits into your niche!
-Genre: Horror Comedy
-Published this past week
-Set in the Midwest
-Features suburban moms and demonic possession
Pacing
This book was a really fast and engaging read. It had a lot of comedic elements about living in suburbia / imagining suburban moms fighting a demon.
Horror
This book is very light horror. It has some gore, some scary elements, and demons, but if you are looking for something with more intense horror, this might not be it. In general the stakes felt pretty low in a lot of the creepy scenes. Connected to this, I wanted a more intense ending.
Overall
If you want a fun, quick horror comedy read for spooky season, this could be a great pick! It isn’t anything super mind blowing and can be a bit predictable, but it was fun to read if this fits into your niche!
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Amy is best friends with Liz, Jess, and Melissa. They all live close to each other in their Chicago suburb. One night during their monthly wine get together, they start to notice things are off with Liz. They had just planned to build a she-shed in her back yard and started to break ground. They really didn’t expect that their small little construction project would release a demonic force. Can Amy, Jess, and Melissa band together to fight the evil that has taken over Liz and save the neighborhood before the suburb literally goes to hell?
I have learned that I love listening to horror books. So, when I saw this one available from @PRHAudio I rushed to request it. The narrator was great, and really held my interest. This is one that I think only worked so well for me because it was on audio. I felt that the middle of the novel really dragged on, and the only way I held on was because the narrator was so captivating. I felt the plot was lacking a little, I just wanted more. I loved how the group of friends rushed to save their friend. But something just fell off. Why wasn’t Liz’s husband concerned with all the changes to her? Why was it just the friends? Before I knew it the book was almost over, and the big end, was just rushed! This book was all built up with such a rushed release. That disappointed me. I really loved so many things about this one, I just wished the ending would have been flushed out better.
If you are looking for a quick and spooky read, then check this one out.
Thank you so much to @PRHAudio for granting me access to an audio copy of this one. All thoughts are my own.
I have learned that I love listening to horror books. So, when I saw this one available from @PRHAudio I rushed to request it. The narrator was great, and really held my interest. This is one that I think only worked so well for me because it was on audio. I felt that the middle of the novel really dragged on, and the only way I held on was because the narrator was so captivating. I felt the plot was lacking a little, I just wanted more. I loved how the group of friends rushed to save their friend. But something just fell off. Why wasn’t Liz’s husband concerned with all the changes to her? Why was it just the friends? Before I knew it the book was almost over, and the big end, was just rushed! This book was all built up with such a rushed release. That disappointed me. I really loved so many things about this one, I just wished the ending would have been flushed out better.
If you are looking for a quick and spooky read, then check this one out.
Thank you so much to @PRHAudio for granting me access to an audio copy of this one. All thoughts are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!
Suburban Hell is accurately marketed as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism; the concept of a group of suburban moms fighting a demon in their quiet neighborhood is exactly my niche of horror-comedy and I very much enjoyed the execution!
There were parts of this that I LOVED. Some of the interactions with the other moms, the general premise of moms having to run around caring for kids while also learning how to do an exorcism, the actually scary scenes -- all super fun. I also loved that we jumped pretty much right into the conflict! No slow beginnings here.
My biggest issue with the book was that the final conflict seemed really anticlimactic. It was resolved really quickly, considering how much havoc the demon was wreaking, and kind of felt like the author wasn't really sure exactly how to execute the climax. The very last scene was brilliant, though.
I also feel that the theme -- "suburban moms save the world" -- could have been better reinforced with more conflict directly around that concept. There were some offhand remarks about moms being expected to do all the labor, and Liz's husband Tim sucked, but overall, if the author was seeking to empower suburban moms, some more contrast to that idea would have helped drive it home. (This is a double edged sword, though, because I did appreciate that Amy's husband, for instance, wasn't a total dickhead and that she didn't resent her kids, which stories about suburban women can sometimes turn into.)
Overall, though, the concept and the bond of friendship between the ladies was very enjoyable and enough to keep me reading through some of what I thought were the weaker points of the book.
Suburban Hell is accurately marketed as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism; the concept of a group of suburban moms fighting a demon in their quiet neighborhood is exactly my niche of horror-comedy and I very much enjoyed the execution!
There were parts of this that I LOVED. Some of the interactions with the other moms, the general premise of moms having to run around caring for kids while also learning how to do an exorcism, the actually scary scenes -- all super fun. I also loved that we jumped pretty much right into the conflict! No slow beginnings here.
My biggest issue with the book was that the final conflict seemed really anticlimactic. It was resolved really quickly, considering how much havoc the demon was wreaking, and kind of felt like the author wasn't really sure exactly how to execute the climax. The very last scene was brilliant, though.
I also feel that the theme -- "suburban moms save the world" -- could have been better reinforced with more conflict directly around that concept. There were some offhand remarks about moms being expected to do all the labor, and Liz's husband Tim sucked, but overall, if the author was seeking to empower suburban moms, some more contrast to that idea would have helped drive it home. (This is a double edged sword, though, because I did appreciate that Amy's husband, for instance, wasn't a total dickhead and that she didn't resent her kids, which stories about suburban women can sometimes turn into.)
Overall, though, the concept and the bond of friendship between the ladies was very enjoyable and enough to keep me reading through some of what I thought were the weaker points of the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!
Suburban Hell is accurately marketed as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism, although I think I'd actually throw The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires in there too. The concept of a group of suburban moms fighting a demon in their quiet neighborhood is exactly my niche of horror-comedy and I very much enjoyed the execution!
There were parts of this that I LOVED. Some of the interactions with the other moms, the general premise of moms having to run around caring for kids while also learning how to do an exorcism, the actually scary scenes -- all super fun. I also loved that we jumped pretty much right into the conflict! No slow beginnings here.
My biggest issue with the book was that the final conflict seemed really anticlimactic. It was resolved really quickly, considering how much havoc the demon was wreaking, and kind of felt like the author wasn't really sure exactly how to execute the climax. The very last scene was brilliant, though.
I also feel that the theme -- "suburban moms save the world" -- could have been better reinforced with more conflict directly around that concept. There were some offhand remarks about moms being expected to do all the labor, and Liz's husband Tim sucked, but overall, if the author was seeking to empower suburban moms, some more contrast to that idea would have helped drive it home. (This is a double edged sword, though, because I did appreciate that Amy's husband, for instance, wasn't a total dickhead and that she didn't resent her kids, which stories about suburban women can sometimes turn into.)
Overall, though, the concept and the bond of friendship between the ladies was very enjoyable and enough to keep me reading through some of what I thought were the weaker points of the book.
Suburban Hell is accurately marketed as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism, although I think I'd actually throw The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires in there too. The concept of a group of suburban moms fighting a demon in their quiet neighborhood is exactly my niche of horror-comedy and I very much enjoyed the execution!
There were parts of this that I LOVED. Some of the interactions with the other moms, the general premise of moms having to run around caring for kids while also learning how to do an exorcism, the actually scary scenes -- all super fun. I also loved that we jumped pretty much right into the conflict! No slow beginnings here.
My biggest issue with the book was that the final conflict seemed really anticlimactic. It was resolved really quickly, considering how much havoc the demon was wreaking, and kind of felt like the author wasn't really sure exactly how to execute the climax. The very last scene was brilliant, though.
I also feel that the theme -- "suburban moms save the world" -- could have been better reinforced with more conflict directly around that concept. There were some offhand remarks about moms being expected to do all the labor, and Liz's husband Tim sucked, but overall, if the author was seeking to empower suburban moms, some more contrast to that idea would have helped drive it home. (This is a double edged sword, though, because I did appreciate that Amy's husband, for instance, wasn't a total dickhead and that she didn't resent her kids, which stories about suburban women can sometimes turn into.)
Overall, though, the concept and the bond of friendship between the ladies was very enjoyable and enough to keep me reading through some of what I thought were the weaker points of the book.