User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Holly molly chips without guacamole! Another mind blurring, nail biter, soul shaker, stomach churning novel just crushed my mind!!!
Okay: there are two types of books: the forgettable ones: you give your self a mental high five when you finish them as another trim from your Mount tbr and you just already get another one in your hands, moving on your intellectually fulfilled life!
But the second type is a little complicated one. As soon as you finish it, you sit a few minutes, mouth agape, dripping saliva and then you start to hit your head against the wall or wash your face with ice cold water to loosen up and wide the stupidly shocked expression from your face. But the story of the book keeps occupying your mind and you start to think about the characters, twists, WTF moments over and over obsessively: that means book is already cursed you and it will stay in your mind for longer days you’ve expected and you need a strong drink, probably Irish products will be your life saver! (Probably Jameson Neat soothes your smoking brain cells)
As you can guess: this book represents the second type. As soon as I read the last page, I started to scream and throw the book away as if my hands were on fire! Side effects of last minute you didn’t see it coming twist.
The facts i enjoyed:
Jennifer McMahon is extremely talented author who writes brilliant spooky, blood freezing, ghost, spirit, paranormal tales. Invited was at my top 10 favorite reads of 2019.
Truly captivating, hooking storyline: Well, after reading two sisters’ haunted bound, dysfunctional family story about grief, loss, dark secrets takes at dark, terrifying house reminds you of Dracula’s castle named Sparrow Chest which is also famous with its pool healing the people and making your wishes come true with a price you never wish to pay made me shout “ yes, bring it out! This is absolutely my cup of Chardonnay!”
Breathtaking Pacing: going back and forth between 1929s and present time: learning about the dark history of Brandenburg Springs Hotel and Resort and the family’s secret history was such riveting and exciting experience.
At late 20’s, New Hampshire: Ethel Monroe’s true desire to have a child in expanse to risk everything in her life, her self destructive tendencies, her wish which comes true with a result of trapping her family in a cursed place. Because there’s a simple rule: Spring does not give without taking.
And I’m the present time: we’re introduced Jax, running away from her unhealthy relationship with her sister Lexie who is suffering from bipolar. But after one night getting nine missed calls from her sister who seems like out of her meds, delirious because of another manic attack, the very next day her aunt Diane gives the bad news. Her sister who is skilled swimmer was drowned at the pool: the very same pool so many women have lost their lives including their aunt Rita.
Lexie always tries to convince her: there was a woman at the bottom of the pool calling her. And Jax of course thought that it was another mind game her sister played. But what if she told her the truth from the beginning!
Overall: the writing was intriguing as always but I found some little plot holes and I mostly enjoyed the supporting characters: especially Aunt Diane and eccentric father Ted were my favorites.
I have complex feelings about Jax. She was too overshadowed by Lexie’s dominant, shiny, vivid characteristics. From the beginning she seemed lost, barely holding together, suffering from grief, visiting her childhood memories to find out the secret of the pool.
For those reasons: I cut some points but it was still breathtakingly alluring, head spinning reading that you hardly put it down. So I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 horrific, ghostly, dazzling stars! I loved this author’s books so much and I cannot wait to read her upcoming works!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books / Simon&Schuster for sharing this epic ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.
blog
instagram
facebook
twitter
Rating: really liked it
The Drowning Kind, by Jennifer McMahon, is one supernatural, creepy, spooky, twisty, story. I enjoyed the different timelines and working to figure out how the various characters connected to the old family home, with the dank, dark, stinky spring fed pool, all tied together. Deep murky water, with plant growth that can touch your legs, is a big fear of mine. It's hard to believe that I swam a mile in a brown, Texas lake, years ago. That's what I kept thinking about with this creepy, smelly, pool of "healing" spring water...shudder.
Social worker, Jax, flies across the country to take care of affairs after her older sister Lex, drowns in the old spring fed pool at the house that Lex inherited from their grandmother. Jax has avoided her sister for over a year, when Lex inherited everything from their mom's and their grandmother's estate, including this old, creepy house with the pool that is rumored to be haunted. Jax has a lot of guilt to work through, having been very close to her sister but also having been very jealous of her sister, who seemed to charm everyone, seemed so perfectly talented at so many things, despite her inherited mental disorder.
We don't know the origins of the supernatural things going on with the pool but the story does show us how the family is drawn into the spell of the pool, years ago. The pool is like a living thing (or things) and once it gets a person in it's grip, it's never letting go. Or, is this all a complicated ruse, someone wanting the pool to have such a bad reputation that Jax and her family will be willing to give up the house, pool, and property?
This is a very enjoyable story but it did have people diving in (sorry for the pun) and doing things most sane people would not do. There is always a tradeoff for doing unwise things and I think this pool thrives on people who are willing to run headlong into bad decisions. Still, the author made me feel the pool, feel the house, feel the eeriness of the entire situation and even feel the townspeople backing away from the wacky family that kept living at that old, haunted place.
Publication: April 6th 2021
Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press/Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
Definitely creepy and delightfully exciting!Jax is a social worker, trying hard to be analytical and rational. Her sister, Lexie, is the opposite: creative, dreamy, and artistic. The world is in enraptured with Lexie, and the beauty that follows in her path. However, Jax receives some unsettling news about Lex. What will Jax discover? Where will all of the clues lead?
Mrs. Ethel Monroe is longing for a baby, but month after month Lady Luck hasn't smiled upon her. She is desperate for solutions even old wives tales. Will Ethel finally get her wish? And at what cost?
This book involved two different POV's and timelines: one following Jax in 2020 and one following Ethel in the 1920's. The storytelling in this book was superb and engaging - I devoured this in 2 or 3 days! The author knows how to draw you in so that you want to discover each secret and uncover the truth. The characters were well developed; the characters were imperfect, flawed, but trying to do their best. It gave the book a realistic feel.
Additionally, this book hit on a topic that is not discussed very often: mental illness. The medical community is often extremely quick to dole out a pill to anyone especially if someone comes in with a complicated illness. It is very easy to say "That person is depressed. Here's your pill, Sweetie." instead of trying to find out the real problem. These medications can be extremely beneficial to many, but it can also dim the recipient's inner light, the overflow of energy, the zest for life, and can leave the person a compliant but empty shell of a person. Are the pills for the recipient or to make society feel better? Sounds like a good book club discussion!
*Thank you, NetGalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion!
2022 Reading Schedule
Jan Animal Farm
Feb Lord of the Flies
Mar The Da Vinci Code
Apr Of Mice and Men
May Memoirs of a Geisha
Jun Little Women
Jul The Lovely Bones
Aug Charlotte's Web
Sep Life of Pi
Oct Dracula
Nov Gone with the Wind
Dec The Secret Garden
Connect With Me!Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
Rating: really liked it
The year is 1929 in Lanesborough, New Hampshire. Ethel Montrose is married to Will Montrose who is called Dr. Montrose to everyone else. Ethel calls herself Mrs. Will Montrose. Ethel wishes to have a baby and Mrs. Tuttle tells her about a folk remedy for anybody who wishes to be with child and Ethel tried to do this remedy.
Will later tells Ethel he has a surprise for her. He asks her if she has ever heard of the Bradenburg Springs and Ethel tells him that she has never heard of it. He tells her that there are four underground springs that bubble up and form a pool. The minerals are suppose to be healing. He has patients that swear that a soak in the springs will cure anything. He tells her that there are spooky stories about the place. Some say that the springs are cursed, haunted even. Some people go and never return. The truth is, the most beautiful hotel in Vermont has opened there. Would you like to go there next weekend, he asks her, and she says, of course it sounds like an absolute dream.
Ethel then learns that the water is rumoured to grant wishes never expecting that the spring takes on equal measure to what it gives.
The year is 2019 and Jax receives nine missed phone calls from her older sister Lexie. She thinks that it is just one of her sisters episodes. Her sister has bipolar. She thinks that her sister is manic and out of touch with reality. But she then learns that Lexie is dead and she drowned in the pool at their Grandma's estate. Lexie then does some research and finds out that the land holds a far darker past than she could ever imagine.
I love this author! This one was my favorite book by her. Her books get better and better. If you love supernatural stories like me, then this one is a must read. This one is one haunted creepy tale. Look at that cover, isn't it beautiful!! It is such a chilling gothic atmospheric read. I could not put this book down and I didn't want to. I loved the characters. I also loved the ending, a jaw dropping what the heck moment!
I want to thank Edelweiss, Gallery/Scout Press Simon & Schuster for the copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Be prepared to turn on the lights, because they could visit you during the night... This book blew me away! I loved reading both POVs (Jax, in the present, and Ethel, in 1929) and I enjoyed the eerie setting so much! Some parts spooked me
(that pool!!😱) while others touched me. There was everything I look for in a good story: unique and endearing characters, mystery, no plot holes and, above all, an
ending that gave me goosebumps.
The Drowning Kind was my first read by this author, even if some of her books have been on my TBR for a while. I'm so happy I've been approved on Netgalley for this one and got to read it after seeing so many great reviews! I'm definitely gonna read her previous books now that I know what a great writer she is.
4.5 rounded up
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for the ARC.
Rating: really liked it
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!
There was a nursery rhyme recited by the children of Brandenburg, Vermont in the 1900's.
A time when people like Ethel O'Shay, believed in Superstitions, like carrying a sparrow's egg close to your breast when trying to become pregnant.
Or, that the underground springs which fill the pool at the Brandenburg Springs Hotel can not only heal what ails you, but can also grant wishes...
People flocked to the hotel from miles around, to bathe in and drink from the Springs...ignoring the warnings, laughing about the spooky stories which claim that the Springs are cursed.
THE WATER DOES NOT GIVE WITHOUT TAKING.
Sisters- Lexie and Jax, grew up swimming in a pool, on their Grandmother's property in Vermont.
But, it was no ordinary pool.
It was one that was fed by the famous underground Springs from the area.
Made from stone and granite, filled with moss and algae, and FREEZING cold.
Their Aunt Rita lost her life in the pool at aged 7, and the girls, spurred on by Lexie, would play "The Dead Game" when in the pool- floating facedown, holding their breath, eyes OPEN, looking for a glimpse of Aunt Rita, who Lexie believes lives on, in depths of the murky water.
"She's coming for you! Coming for us, both!" Lexie would warn her sister. "Don't you hear her at night?"
SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH
Now, Jax has returned to the family home, where Lexie had been living.
Where Lexie has now mysteriously drowned after calling her estranged sister Jax, nine times.
If only, Jax had answered she may have learned what Lexie had discovered.
Now, she will need to piece together the puzzle, on her own, and hope that she can assuage her own guilt at not answering the phone.
This ATMOSPHERIC story is told from the alternating timelines of :
1929: Ethel O'Shay Monroe and 2019: Jackie (Jax).
But, THE POOL, feels like a character with a story of its own, too.
It gave me CHILLS.
If you enjoy SUPERNATURAL stories with a strong sense of FOREBODING-this one is for you!
It was UNPUTDOWNABLE for me!
AVAILABLE NOW!
I received a gifted copy and it was my pleasure to provide a candid review!
Rating: really liked it
Sisters, Jax and Lexie, were very close when they were young. Some of their best memories were from the summers they spent in Vermont at their Grandmother's house. Lazy days of exploring and play.
Lexie, the older of the two, was very different than Jax, however, in a lot of ways. Lexie was more like their father, flighty, free-spirited and at times, manic.
As the girls aged, their personality differences became more apparent. It was clear Lexie's mental health wasn't stable. She struggled to remain rooted in reality. It became a real problem for her.
Jax was always the more focused of the two. She followed the rules, excelled in school and became a social worker. Over the past year, she's become estranged from her sister.
When Jax receives nine calls from Lexie one night, none of which she answers, she assumes Lexie is just having another one of her episodes.
The increasingly frantic messages Lexie leaves don't even make sense. Jax isn't dealing with it. Not her problem.
The following day, Jax receives news that Lexie is dead; drowned in the pool on their Grandmother's estate,
Sparrow's Crest, which Lexie had inherited.
Jax is shocked. Why didn't she pick up the phone when Lexie called? Heart-broken and full of regret, Jax makes the journey to Vermont to bury her sister and settled up her affairs.
Once there, reunited with family, including her Aunt and Father, Jax discovers that Lexie had been researching the history of their family and the property.
It turns out
Sparrow's Crest has a dark past and it could possibly be linked to Lexie's death. Jax dives into the research herself, mostly centering around the property's infamous swimming pool and the natural spring it is fed from.
As with Jennifer McMahon's other stories,
The Drowning Kind follows two timelines. The present, mentioned above, and then a historical perspective focusing on the history of the property.
The more the Reader learns from the historical perspective, the more the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place for Jax. It is such a spectacular format. The pace is excellent!
I have found that sometimes when an author tries this dual timeline format, one of the perspectives will be more interesting than the other. Because of that, you rush through one perspective in order to return to the other.
That is definitely not the case here. Both the present and past timelines are equally foreboding and intriguing. I was fully committed to both.
Another aspect of McMahon's work that I always enjoy is her sense of place.
Sparrow's Crest is a character within this story. It is so well developed, you can almost hear it talking to you.
The idea that places remember, that pieces of history live on through the land and the structures upon them. I love that whole concept and it is tangible here.
In short, this is a phenomenally-constructed multi-generational ghost story that will stick with me for a long time.
The ending, chills. Exceptionally well done. I can certainly say I didn't see it coming!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Audio, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
I highly recommend it and cannot wait to see what McMahon comes up with next!
Rating: really liked it
** this author has a new book coming next spring, read this one first if you want to get a feel for her writing 😊
This was the first book that I’ve read by this author and I think it’s a good one. I found this to be engaging, page turning and “ghostly”, although at times I had some problems with believability. I wasn’t expecting this amount of supernatural elements but it was something new to explore.
There are dual timelines. One is told by Ethel Monroe, the time is 1929. Ethel has married the town doctor and after one year of trying is desperate for a baby. Ethel has already tried numerous “folk” remedies, one including carrying a sparrow’s egg close to your heart. Her husband Will wants to do anything to make Ethel happy. They learn of a new resort in Vermont built on the site of a spring fed pool which is said to have healing powers. The couple goes and Ethel makes a wish for a baby while in the water. There are people in town, however, that feel that the waters are dangerous, that the pool extracts a price for whatever wishes it grants.
The second timeline is 2019 told through Jax’s point of view. Jax and her sister Lexie had been very close as children. They spent every summer at Sparrow’s Crest, a huge stone house built on the site of what once was a hotel. The original small spring fed pool had been enlarged so that it could be used as a swimming pool. The water was always black and cold and had a strange smell to it. Jax was never much of a swimmer but Lexie loved the water. She was an excellent swimmer and also loved to play games like floating face down to see who could hold their breath longer, Lexie or Jax. Jax hated these games but went along with it.
Years later, after their grandmother dies, she leaves the entire estate to Lexie. The girls have now been estranged for at least a year. Lexie was diagnosed as bipolar and Jax is used to her calling at odd times and forcing Jax into long discussions of things that she has seen or heard.
Jax is now a social worker and one evening she is exhausted and lets the phone ring numerous times, the calls are from Lexie. The next day her aunt Diane is sent to check on her and Lexie is found dead, in the pool.
That is about all of the plot that I can reveal to you without ruining the entire story. I think I would classify this as a thriller/mystery with strong supernatural vibes. The best way to enjoy this book is to go in blind and just let yourself get immersed in the story without questioning too much.
I predict that this is going to be a huge hit next Spring!
This novel is set to publish on April 6, 2021
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
Rating: really liked it
DARK, CLEVER, ATMOSPHERIC, ENGAGING and SPINE TINGLING.It’s been a while since I have read a good horror mystery and I would be lying if I didn’t say that the main reason that I was drawn to this book was because ,
1.That deliciously beautiful cover, this cover has definitely made it into my best covers list for 2021
With added bonus of
Small town mysteries, sister relationship, dysfunctional family, mother-daughter relationship , some of my fav tropes!
“Come swimming with me”
Well lets dive into the detailed review.
1.
PLOT/ THEMEThis ATMOSPHERIC story is told from the alternating timelines of :
1929: Ethel O’Shay Monroe and 2019: Jackie (Jax).
Well speaking of the plot it wasn’t something original but then again it’s a horror story, from years we all have been listening the stories of haunted house, small town mysteries and dysfunctional families, and it never fail to amaze us, well same with this book the plot engaging and what makes it engaging is the characters and the writing skill ( I will talk about that later on). Author touches on some different themes throughout the book including loss, grief, mental illness, family bonds, found sister love, the mother/daughter relationship, intergenerational trauma, and paranormal activity. All of these themes impact one another and intertwine effortlessly with each other. The book follows the story of Jax and what happened when Jax return to the family home, where Lexie(her sister) had been living. Where Lexie has now mysteriously drowned after calling her estranged sister Jax, nine times.If only, Jax had answered she may have learned what Lexie had discovered.
Overall , the story is well thought out and everything had its place and purpose.
"The past is always alive in the present, in the walls, in the shadows and sometimes in the ripples on the water."
2.
CHARACTERSWell I don’t have any particular liking for any character , but they are developed beautifully.I appreciate author for creating such a realistic characters and such a perfect-dysfunctional family.
3.
WRITING Jennifer McMahon has written a Mystery/Thriller that has the eerie, gothic feel that other novels lay claim to and fail to deliver. The writing in book is incredibly fluid and engaging from the very beginning which captures reader’s attention from the very start and Jennifer has created an entertaining novel that is very easy to read. At times I felt I have truly stepped into the Sparrow Crest , living every moment and exploring it with Jax. Both the timelines are truly amazing and well crafted.
All those things you imagine beneath the surface might truly be there, waiting to pull you down to your watery grave.
Overall I really enjoyed it, it is an atmospheric and subtle ghost story; it’s creepy, the mystery of the past is as captivating as the present circumstance, and the ending gave me chills. It could have been better but I guess it was near perfect to me.
Totally recommended..
Rating: really liked it
The past is never dead. It's not even past. - William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun
--------------------------------------
Captain Louis Renault: What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick Blaine: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters, what waters? We’re in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.
- If you don’t recognize this, for shame.
It may be that many of the people who have come for the
special, healing waters to Brandenburg, Vermont over the years were likewise misinformed, or were they? Miracle cures
did indeed seem to happen there. Even wishes of a non-medical sort were known to have been granted. Of course, the Springs had a reputation. Many thought it was haunted, and even darker theories were abroad. More than the usual number of accidents and deaths had occurred on the property. Rick Blaine may have lost the love of his life. But some of the visitors to the Springs lost a lot more. Miracles have a price.
Jennifer McMahon - Photograph by Zella McMahon – image from Simon & Schuster
The book opens in 2000. Jax and Lexie Metcalf are kids, spending summers at Sparrow Crest, which features a castle-like house. The suspect waters having been expanded from holes in the ground to a large, spring-fed pool. To you and me it might seem a forbidding place. To the girls, it is Grandma’s house. They are playing
The Dead Game in the pool, seeing who can hold their breath the longest. Lexie does her best to terrify her younger sister that a dead girl named Rita will rise up from the stygian depths and drag her down. Sweet kid, no?
After the Y2K intro we settle into two (mostly) time lines. In 2019, Jax (Jacqueline) is a social worker in private practice in Seattle, providing therapy to kids. She is brought back to her grandmother’s home on news that Lex (Alexia) had drowned in the pool. It does nothing for her state of mind that she had been ignoring her sister’s frantic calls for some time. Lexie was known to go off her meds. But Lex had thought she was on to something sinister about the pool and had been gathering data to support her notion.
We take a step back in history for timeline two, 1929, to follow the travails of Ethel O’Shay Monroe of Lanesborough, New Hampshire, and her physician husband, Will. (great name, that) It is their eagerness to have a child, and their lack of success at that enterprise, that first brings them to the Springs. At that time a fancy hotel graced the grounds. As the mysteries and terrors of the present confront Jax, Ethel’s adventures in the past peel back layer after layer about the place. Jax and Ethel both provide first person POV for their portions of the book.
There are plenty of atmospherics, omens, signs, and dark suggestions about, so that we never forget that there is, or might be, anyway, supernatural goings-on at work. The nearby peaks, for example, are called Lord’s Mountain and Devil’s Mountain. Uh oh. In 1929, local shopkeepers, despite selling jelly jars of the special water, (Genuine Brandenberg Springs Water, 5¢, SURE TO CURE WHAT AILS YOU!) warn Ethel and Will.
“Those springs are a dark place,” the woman said. “You’d do best to keep away from them.”
I know it’s New England, but I cannot keep from hearing the shopkeepers in a strong Slavic accent, and seeing the Monroes heading to the hotel in a black horse-drawn carriage driven by a coachman, instead of driving themselves in their upscale car.
Jax investigates what might have happened to Lexie, and wonders about the reality of the spooky springs (now the spooky pool). Did she really see what she thought she had seen in the insanely dark water? Are the misfortunes at Sparrow Crest driven by…um…misfortune, or bad actors, or something spectral?
Water is often seen in literature as a symbol of cleansing, or rebirth, of a baptism of one sort or another. Not this water. If anything, what the Spring offers is an anti-baptism. Cold water bearing the presence of the dead and demanding a payment for the miracles it gives to those who ask. Like a Djinn with a dark sense of humor, who grants wishes in such a way that the wisher is sure to regret having asked for anything. Instead of cleansing, when one bathes in this Spring, one takes on a coating of fear and regret. Well, that is the take of at least some of the (superstitious) locals.
Readers who have crossed paths with McMahon before will recognize elements that appear frequently in her stories. (her favorite haunts?) The multiple time lines are common, as are skipping from childhood trauma to adult trauma, and a need to dig through the past to explain both the past and the present. Missing diaries emerge. One must wonder if imaginary friends are really imaginary. Old legends may or may not have a basis in reality. A Vermont resident, McMahon sets most of her stories there, away from civilization, and imbues them with ghosts, or at least the possibility of a ghostly presence.
“I’m fascinated by the way the past — both my past and the past of my characters shapes the present. I’m especially interested in secrets that people keep and how that has shaped them. A secret has power, and if you keep it for years and years and it suddenly comes to the surface, lots of exciting things can happen,” she says. - from the Union Leader interview
She clearly enjoys, and takes inspiration from, many of the tales she has heard of the unexplained.
“Things do seem idyllic and beautiful, but every now and then you learn some creepy backstory or hear about a haunted house or a local story that just kind of turns it on its head, and you realize things are not always as idyllic as they seem,” McMahon says of New England living. “I like that. I like to look for those dark corners. I love living in a rural state with all these woods.” - from the Union Leader interview
In a way her stories, this one certainly, present a story-telling pincer move, as contemporary and historical timelines both advance to common points of revelation.
There is plenty in
The Drowning Kind to disturb your sleep. But maybe if you need to chill out for a bit you might consider a dip in your nearest pool. No, you did not see anyone at the bottom of the pool. Don’t be silly. That was just your imagination. Come on in. The water’s
fine.
I just feel like all of us, this family, we’re drowning in secrets…that all the secrets were what gave it its power.
--------------------------------------
Open your eyes…the dead have nothing to fear
Review posted – April 2, 2021
Publication dates
----------April 6, 2021 - hardcover
----------January 4, 2022 - trade paperback
=============================
EXTRA STUFFLinks to the author’s personal, Instagram, GR and FB pages
Interviews-----Writing Routines - Bestselling Novelist Jennifer McMahon On Index Cards, Getting Out Of Creative Ruts, and Her Magic Writing Cauldron - she gives one of her characters a feature of this sort described here
-----Union Leader - Welcome to the creepy, yet surprisingly cheerful, mind of "The Invited' author Jennifer McMahon
Songs/Music-----Mazy Fly - Haunted Water
-----Fats Domino - I Hear You Knocking – referenced in Chapter 29
-----America - Tin Man
Item of Interest from the author-----How to Write a Novel: 7 Tips Everyone Can Use
Items of Interest-----Haunted Eureka Springs
-----When Death Comes - poem by Mary Oliver – referenced at a service for a character who has died
-----Screaming peacocks - Ok, so maybe they’re just calling out, as peacocks do
-----I was misinformed
-----There’s Something in the Pond by WB
Rating: really liked it
Be sure to visit Bantering Books to read all my latest reviews.My swimming days are over.
Jennifer McMahon has creeped me the hell out. No way will I be dipping so much as a toe into a pool anytime soon, thanks to her ghost tale of a thriller,
The Drowning Kind.
Told in dual timelines, the narrative flips between Jax in 2019, a woman grieving her dead sister after she drowns in the pool at their grandmother’s estate, and Ethel in 1929, as she visits a mineral spring rumored to miraculously grant wishes and heal. The magical gifts of the spring come with a steep price, however, and those who accept its bounties must also give of themselves equally in return.
McMahon’s weaving of the two timelines is flawless. The story is beautifully written, eerily atmospheric and foreboding, and she does an excellent job of slowly ratcheting up the ominous, spooky tension. To the point where, by the time I arrived at the novel’s shocking conclusion, I was so on edge I jumped out of my skin at every squeak, creak, and bump I heard in the night.
Humiliating, really. But YOU should try reading
The Drowning Kind at 11 pm on Halloween with all the lights off while your family sleeps. We’ll then see how you fare with it.
(No? Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.)
All joking aside,
The Drowning Kind is well worth the fright. It’s thrilling. It’s chilling. It’s
spooktacularly entertaining.
I just may never swim again. A small price to pay for a ghostly-good read, right?
My sincerest appreciation to Jennifer McMahon, Gallery/Scout Press, and Edelweiss+ for the Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own. Bantering Books Twitter Facebook
Rating: really liked it
Be careful what you wish for...Jennifer McMahon knows how to write creepy, atmospheric and haunting reads with underlying dread and tension. You know there is something sinister going on in this book but what?
2019: Jax has received nine missed calls from her sister, Lexie. Believing her sister is manic, she goes to bed and learns the next day that her sister is dead. Lexie has drowned in a pool at their grandmothers’ estate. Prior to her death, Lexie has been researching their family history including the history of their grandmother's estate.
1929: Ethel Monroe wants a baby. When her husband takes her on a trip to Vermont where a new hotel boasts having a natural spring. Vacationers love it, while the townspeople whisper about it, they fear it, they warn others that
"the springs give miracles, but they always take something in return."What do you wish for? If you thought your wish would be granted, would you make that wish? Would you care if there were consequences? Do you believe the warnings? Is there truth to the warnings or would you think someone was trying to mess with your head? Is your imagination getting the best of you? Would you swim in the springs?
Both storylines are enjoyable and as each plot line provides history on the hotel, the estate and Jax and Lexie's family. As the story unfolds, the book gets creepier, atmospheric and has a supernatural haunting vibe to it. I enjoyed how both storylines unfold.
Do not swim in a pool of water where you cannot see the bottom. End of story. That and Jennifer McMahon's books are awesome. The Winter People is my favorite but this one was another solid, creepy read. Ever notice her books are always perfect for reading on dark fall and winter nights???
Fans of McMahon and atmospheric creepy tales will enjoy this one. It is not graphic or overly scary, but it is chilling, dark and haunting.
Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Rating: really liked it
Something’s in the water… and it’s not a crap ending this time!
With The Drowning Kind, Jennifer McMahon has turned me from a hater to a believer. I’ve only read one other book by her, and she ended it THE LAMEST WAY POSSIBLE (per my GR bio: conclusions that rely on a character pulling out a gun in a kitchen or some such place while he/she neatly and conveniently answers all your questions about who/what/when/where/how/why). I was so turned off I skipped her next few novels, but early buzz for her latest convinced me to give her another shot.
I’m so glad I did.
The Drowning Kind is an atmospheric dual timeline thriller. Readers follow Jax in 2019 as she deals with the aftermath of her older sister Lexie’s drowning in the pool of their family estate. Those chapters are intermixed with others set in the 1930s, which reveal the history of the mysterious pool. It's fed by a natural spring and is said to have magical, healing powers, but those powers come at a price. For every gift it gives, it takes something in return.
Sound spooky? It is. McMahon does a fantastic job weaving the two timelines together until they merge in an ending that’s so creeptastic I had to read it twice.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Joy Osmanski and Imani Jade Powers. The reading is slow enough that I had to play it on 1.75 speed to make it sound normal. The performances are good, though I do think The Drowning Kind is the type of book that wants to be read in a dimly lit room, by a fireplace, if you’re able. Or you could read it while lounging by a pool, but beware… there might be something in the water.
My thanks to the author and Simon & Schuster Audio for the gifted advance listeners copy to review. The Drowning Kind is now available.
Blog: www.confettibookshelf.com
IG: @confettibookshelf
Rating: really liked it
Wowwww!! This whole book was fantastic.. but that ending.. blew me away❤️ Jennifer McMahon is now on my "must read" list of authors. When you have to reread the ending, because you are just in such shock...😳...well you know it was a good one! Creepy, a bit gothic, supernatural, dual timelines...YESSS! 🖤We are talking my kind of book!
A swimming pool made from a natural spring that is rumored to heal people. Sounds wonderful doesn't it? Well everyone in 1929 thought so when a grand hotel was built around this wonderful healing spring pool. Yet tragic event after tragic event happens. Some thought the water was demanding to be paid back for all it gave. 🤔
Fast forward to 2019 when Jax finds out her sister Lexie drowned in that same swimming pool. Funny thing is...Lexie was an excellent swimmer...🤔😬
This was so intense, so creepy, so atmospheric! The water was cold, dark and you couldn't see the bottom. Was there even a bottom? 🤷♀️The smell...ewww the smell...It made me question why anyone would venture into this pool...given all the people who have died in it...yet they did...they begged for a chance to swim and dip into the pool, even drinking the water. 🤢
The ending was spectacular for me! As I read the ending, it literally unraveled for me in my mind....I thought..wait..what? Is it? OMG...then I reread it! I can't recommend this book enough! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
I will be reading all the backlist books by this author. I can't get enough of her writing! Huge shoutout to Scout Press for my gorgeous gifted copy!
Rating: really liked it
“The pool gives and the pool takes.”
Jax is a social worker who receives many missed calls from her sister, Lexie, one night. Unable to answer, she wakes up the next morning to find out Lexie drowned in the pool at Sparrow Crest...the house Lexie lived in, and where they used to spend every summer with their grandmother.
Jax returns for the funeral and to settle affairs. The pool is just how she remembered it: Pitch black as night, earthy smells, freezing cold, unknown depths, a strong presence in the water.
Segue to 1929 as Ethel Monroe and her husband have a rare chance to visit the new Brandenburg Springs Hotel. It’s new, and quickly becomes popular due to the pool’s source of water...the springs. The water is known to have many positive effects on people. Ethel quickly finds out that when you let the water heal you or someone you love, you have to give something back.
Brandenburg Springs Hotel burnt to the ground less than a year later, and is now the home where Lexie lived.
Told in concurring storylines, Jax, in the present day, feels like there might be more behind Lexie’s drowning. Some of the reasons include: flashes of hands reaching out from the murky depths of the pool, the squish of wet feet walking on the floor, buried secrets that are uncovered.
Be careful what you wish for.
This is a haunting and extremely atmospheric tale. The fantastic writing provokes a strong sense of unease that doesn’t let up. I felt as if I was in both timelines. The pool is a character itself, and it’s a place I never want to get near.
“In the water, dark and deep
Where she waits, fast asleep
All alone, pale and cold
Don’t wake her up, or she’ll catch hold”
Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press, Jennifer McMahon, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is now available!
