A review by kalypsowolf
The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

dark tense

3.75

I haven't read Frankenstein but I do know the general story and I think this is a really interesting interpretation. I can see the inspirations taken. Not to mention both the book and numerous Frankenstein movies are mentioned multiple times. 

It's well known that psychiatric treatments in history have often been horrific and cruel. This book uses very real "treatments" that have been used at one point or another to really drive the horror of this book. The descriptions of the equipment and specimen jars can sometimes get a little uncomfortable, but it never really veers into the gruesome territory. I honestly kinda wish it did though, but that's just me.

There are certainly quite a few twists in this. I think how it handles information is one of the best things about this book. It lulls you into a false sense of security by feeding you just enough information for you to feel like it's obvious what the twist is going to be, only to subvert those expectations. But when things are revealed it doesn't feel entirely unbelievable either like a lot of thrillers do, though it does dip into getting a bit weird for a few pages there (which I'm not sure I love for this story in particular, kinda wish it either fully committed or didn't do it at all)

The writing is fine, but with a setting like this I really think it could have leant more into the atmosphere of it all. I imagine it didn't do that just to save on time and pages, but if done right I think it could have really elevated the story.

There are a few scenes where I'm just...unsure if they served a purpose? They kinda felt like maybe they were leading to something, but it never pays off and what the book actually ends up doing would have had the exact same impact even without those scenes.

In terms of the ending, I'm kinda loving where it went. It was what I can only describe as darkly wholesome.
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