Suburban Hell
2022 • 336 pages
Ratings11
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings11
Average rating3.6
A Chicago cul-de-sac is about to get a new neighbor...of the demonic kind. Amy Foster considers herself lucky. After she left the city and moved to the suburbs, she found her place quickly with neighbors Liz, Jess, and Melissa, snarking together from the outskirts of the PTA crowd. One night during their monthly wine get-together, the crew concoct a plan for a clubhouse She Shed in Liz’s backyard—a space for just them, no spouses or kids allowed. But the night after they christen the She Shed, things start to feel . . . off. They didn’t expect Liz’s little home-improvement project to release a demonic force that turns their quiet enclave into something out of a nightmare. And that’s before the homeowners’ association gets wind of it. Even the calmest moms can’t justify the strange burn marks, self-moving dolls, and horrible smells surrounding their possessed friend, Liz. Together, Amy, Jess, and Melissa must fight the evil spirit to save Liz and the neighborhood . . . before the suburbs go completely to hell.
Reviews with the most likes.
Suburban Hell is for sure a mixture of Desperate Housewives, any Bravo reality show about moms and The Exorcist or Southern Bookclubs Guide to Slaying Vampires.
I enjoyed the experience of this book for sure. I enjoyed the plot as it unfolded and as the story grew more and more horrific.
I do find the classification as horror to be a little misleading...it's horror-lite. It's Andy Cohen does horror. It's like watching the Scary Island episode of RHONY where there is an exorcism at the end. When I say that this book is horror fluff, I don't necessarily mean that as a bad thing. If you are a die-hard horror fan this book will not be for you at all BUT...if you want to laugh a little and still experience some scary things (i.e. a vacuum attack, Barbie Dreamhouse of Terror or a school carnival gone awry) then you will enjoy this book.
As I am more of a traditional horror fan I was surprised by the tone of this book, though I guess I shouldn't have been given the title and the description. The writing is quick, quippy and fun. The plotting is dangerously fast and drops you right into the story. I almost never say this but I kind of wanted more exposition and table setting before dropping us right into this group of moms and friends.
I did love the exploration of the inner lives of suburban motherhood and what it means to be looked over or exhausted and what that can really do to someone. The fact that these women are really all they have and they have to do the work to save each other says a lot. I did find that very touching as the book progressed. I also really liked all of the characters which is a real testament to Kilmer's writing and world building.
Overall I enjoyed the experience of this book but it will not be a book that I re-visit in time and i would only recommend this to friends who just want to dip their toe into horror instead of being fully immersed.
Book Grades:
Plot Development and Pacing - 90/100
Character Development - 85/100
Theme and Subject Matter - 85/100
Writing Style - 90/100
Reader Engagement - 80/100
Overal Grade: 86% - B OR 3/5 Stars
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Expected to be unleashed on: 9/27/22.
Grabbed this during the latest audible 2-for-a sale, and gave it a go on a long drive for Spooky Season.
Let me say that I know today's traditional publishing is all about likening books to others (some agents even ask for it when querying), but this one says Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism and unfortunately it's so spot on that it feels almost as if this book exists simply to be those two things blended. It does not read at all unique.
A set of best friend soccer moms unearth a demonic entity when breaking ground on their to-be she-shed. Throughout the summer, their boxed-wine nights become less frequent as their possessed friend slowly marks each of them for doom and gloom. When some of them think moving away might be the only decision left to them, Amy, the lead, decides she has to bring them back together to free their friend for good.
There are some very annoying (to me) stereotypes of husbands not helping, not listening, not being involved. I apologize that women still deal with things that should be from generations past, and it's certainly not a fault of the author's for including it, but it felt like a lot. (Men stop being tone dead and lazy)
I still had a decent amount of fun with this on though. The main character and author's voice were enjoyable and realistic. Personally a 3/5*.
