Release: April 6th, 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
Source: Netgalley
Find it at Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, Kobo.
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Be careful what you wish for.
Social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie. She assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. Hence, Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things. There, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. As such, she dives deeper into the research herself. However, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.
In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hoped desperately for a baby. To distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont. At Vermont, a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes. She never suspects that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.
A haunting, twisty, and compulsively readable thrill ride from the author Chris Bohjalian has dubbed the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson.”
The Drowning Kind is a modern-day ghost story that illuminates how the past, though forgotten, is never really far behind us.
About the Author:
Jennifer McMahon is the author of nine novels, including the New York Times best-sellers Promise Not to Tell and The Winter People. Also, she lives in Vermont with her partner, Drea, and their daughter, Zella. Visit her at Jennifer-McMahon.com or connect with her on Instagram @JenniferMcMahonWrites and Facebook @JenniferMcMahonBooks.
The Drowning Kind Review:
I enjoyed how the author narrated the story. We get a parallel storyline between Jax, and Ethel, shifting between the present and the past. Even in Jax’s timeline, we get flashbacks of her growing up with Lexie and the strange moods that Lexie displays. I thought the author did a brilliant job in narrating the story in this style, as it never got boring.
The author also sets the mystery thriller’s pace nicely, where you wonder what coordinates and numbers Lexie mentions. Moreover, I didn’t know if Lexie imagined all of this or if it happened. The author keeps you guessing what could have happened to Lexie and how Ethel’s storyline connects to Lexie. I enjoyed Jax and Ethel in the lead and was at the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen.
The storyline gets creepy when Ethel realizes she is pregnant, and we wonder what special powers the spring has. Some of the moments creeped me out, like the part where Jax takes measurements of the pool and when Ethel starts getting the news of her friends. However, there are also heartbreaking scenes, for instance, to see how the family fell apart because of Lexie’s behavior. The author paces the story in a compelling manner where you don’t know what will happen.
I loved the story because the author did not try to build an unnecessary romance between them. She focuses the novel primarily on Lexie, Jax, and Ethel. The story leads to a gripping climax that shocked me and made the book very memorable.
Overall, I loved reading “The Drowning Kind” and thought it was the perfect blend of a mystery thriller with a splash of horror.
