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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
This was a lot of stuff I did not care about. I wanted demonic possession and the first half of the book was just talking about their neighbors, pta moms, and a carnival.
I got lured in by some great reviews on Instagram, plus the fantastic cover and fun premise: A group of suburban mom friends are forced to battle a demon/ghost when it possesses one of their own. Unfortunately, the story didn’t live up to my expectations.
{{{{{ There are some light spoilers ahead }}}}}
This book was not scary. AT ALL.
For a book that focuses heavily on the importance of establishing and maintaining female friendships, especially as an adult and a mom, the group’s friendship felt situational, forced, and shallow. None of them seemed to actually like each other very much. Melissa and Jess were constantly rude to each other and they were all patronizing and condescending to Liz about her gross pink box wine — if they’d joked about it properly it could have been really funny, but it just came off as mean and dumb.
The characters were boring middle aged (assumed white) suburban lady stereotypes. Liz was the Martha Stewart Mom, Melissa was the Hard-Ass Career Mom, Jess was the CrossFit/Exercise Mom (stepmom), and Amy was the Vaguely Unfulfilled Mom Looking for More. Also, unclear on why Jess needed to start 98% of her sentences with “Yo!” - that got annoying real quick.
Also, Amy was kind of a jerk. She constantly whines about her neighbor Heather and her Mean Mom Mafia (or whatever she called it - can’t make myself flip back through to find the exact phrase), but Amy and her friends were just as (if not more so) snotty and judgmental and cliquish (which, again, I could have appreciated if they were funny).
This book could have been hilarious and scary and so much fun, but instead it was a tedious slog to get through, and the exorcism may as well have been on an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but more boring.
* thanks to Putnam for the NetGalley review copy. Suburban Hell is out now.
{{{{{ There are some light spoilers ahead }}}}}
This book was not scary. AT ALL.
For a book that focuses heavily on the importance of establishing and maintaining female friendships, especially as an adult and a mom, the group’s friendship felt situational, forced, and shallow. None of them seemed to actually like each other very much. Melissa and Jess were constantly rude to each other and they were all patronizing and condescending to Liz about her gross pink box wine — if they’d joked about it properly it could have been really funny, but it just came off as mean and dumb.
The characters were boring middle aged (assumed white) suburban lady stereotypes. Liz was the Martha Stewart Mom, Melissa was the Hard-Ass Career Mom, Jess was the CrossFit/Exercise Mom (stepmom), and Amy was the Vaguely Unfulfilled Mom Looking for More. Also, unclear on why Jess needed to start 98% of her sentences with “Yo!” - that got annoying real quick.
Also, Amy was kind of a jerk. She constantly whines about her neighbor Heather and her Mean Mom Mafia (or whatever she called it - can’t make myself flip back through to find the exact phrase), but Amy and her friends were just as (if not more so) snotty and judgmental and cliquish (which, again, I could have appreciated if they were funny).
This book could have been hilarious and scary and so much fun, but instead it was a tedious slog to get through, and the exorcism may as well have been on an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but more boring.
* thanks to Putnam for the NetGalley review copy. Suburban Hell is out now.
A funny book about demonic possession in the suburbs. Suburban moms adventure to save their friend and neighborhood from becoming a hellish wasteland. A fun and silly read.
A fun horror comedy that focuses on the power of women’s friendship to defeat the powers of darkness. This is definitely a fun read, but I wish the haunting had played a bigger part. There wasn’t anything particularly scary about the plot or descriptions. Some bigger stakes could have made it seem a bit creepier. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It did seer itself up for a sequel, and I would definitely seek it out tor was it!
This book was smart and funny and definitely creepy. I loved the back story and the characters. Looking forward to reading more by this author.
⭐️4.75 stars⭐️ *rounded up
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I loved this book. Perfect amount of horror, humor, and suspense.
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I loved this book. Perfect amount of horror, humor, and suspense.
Fun little horror book. Feel good ending with a nice setup for a sequel. Despite knowing there won’t be one , it’s fun to think about the suburban mom’s next adventures.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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