Okay let me start off by saying Jennifer McMahon is an auto buy author for me. I love the usual mix of creepy family drama in her books. However this book took me a while to get into and I hate that. I got bored with some of the portions of this story and I felt like there was some fluff that wasn't relevant to the story or it could've done without.

The good: This story had a turn I definitely didn't see coming and it totally shocked me. I was going along thinking I knew exactly what was happening then all of a sudden I felt like I was flipped upside down and found myself rereading paragraphs to be sure of what I had just read. I absolutely love those twists that come and slap you in the face.

If you liked The Girl in the Mirror or The Broken Girls you will like this one. Overall I gave it 3.5 stars. It wasn't my favorite by Jennifer McMahon but it was an original story that played with what's right and wrong.

Amazing. The secrets this book has. I thought I had it pinned but nope. Just the mystery novel I needed. The book flowed well with the back and forth. I wasn’t confused on the timeline as some novels get with the back and forth in time. Highly recommend .

Jennifer McMahon does it again! The Children on the Hill sucked me in from the very beginning. Each one of her books is such a captivating story. The Children on the Hill was the perfect balance of thriller and mystery.

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon embodied what a psychological thriller is meant to be, a page turner with twists and turns that you never saw coming. The book opens with Vi and Eric, two siblings living with their grandmother, a renowned psychiatrist. Their upbringing is slightly uncharacteristic, as they live next to a mental institution, and never engage with the children in the town in which they live. They are homeschooled by their grandmother. One day, Gram brings home a young girl named Iris to live with them. What ensues after that, is the basis for this story and what has happened in the 30 years after. It was impossible to put this book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of psychological thrillers. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Once upon a time there was an old manse just outside of town. It belonged to an old lady who wielded a not inconsiderable amount of power. There were two kids in her charge. And then there were three. The kids who thought they were happy and content in their lives until they started asking questions and found the answers to be impossible to live with.
That can be any old witch story, can’t it? Leave to McMahon to make something genuinely original and terrifying out of it. McMahon is an author I absolutely love and read regularly. She seldom disappoints and all too frequently delights with her dark tales of her beloved Vermont.
Over the years, McMahon has veered from straight up thrillers that overpower the markets right now into the spookier, more supernatural of a territory, a bold and most welcome transition. This book, to be fair, stays away from the supernatural, relying instead more on the unnatural and, oh yes, there is a difference.
A pretty interesting angle from a book that’s all about monsters, isn’t it, but rest assured the monsters here are all of the horrifyingly people-like variety.
This is in a way a very Nietzschean story about abyss gazing. The old lady is in fact a renowned psychology expert in charge of a small prestigious mental institution and her grandkids are a happily homeschooled boy and a girl, both very smart and both completely obsessed with monsters. A new girl is placed in their charge, someone their grandmother has been helping, a traumatized girl with scars visible and otherwise, a girl who won’t say a word.
The three of them get along, though, and soon the girl is coming out of her shell, much to the delight of Vi, her adopted sister. The girls find themselves alike, two peas in the same scarred pod, and soon a very close friendship develops. So close, that Vi decides to defy her grandmother’s strict orders and invade her privacy, hoping to find out about her adopted sister’s past. What she finds will change everyone’s lives. Forever.
And that’s just one of the storylines. The other one features Lizzy, the 53-year-old version of one of the girls, who became a proper monster-hunting expert, devoting her life to investigating paranormal reports but secretly all the while the person she is hunting, the person she is hoping to find the most is her long-gone sister. It’s been four decades, but Lizzy believes that her sister might be responsible for a string of disappearances – all young girls from difficult situations/families/circumstances.
It’s a collision course that’ll eventually take Lizzy back to Vermont, a place she had so staunchly avoided this entire time, because sometimes to solve a mystery you have to go back to the beginning.
So, that’s basically the story, a very compelling one and not just because of my personal interest in things like asylums and eugenics. The entire thing is fascinating, excellently written and extremely emotionally engaging.
Tone-wise, though, it does a very strange flip toward the end - you know, that place that thrillers allot for wowing the readers with twists and turns. So the book is uniformly very dark in tone and then in the end it does this odd flip toward the light only to (at the very, very end) remember itself and turn dark once more. Peculiar. But good all the same. The entire thing is good…great even. So much fun to read. I enjoyed it tremendously. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

My first Jennifer McMahon book and definitely will not be my last! I loved the alternating dual timelines that appeared to be completely different storylines but tied together perfectly near the end of the book. I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't as many "paranormal monsters" as the book made it seem, but I really loved how it all came together at the end and revealed who the real monsters were all along. Thank you NetGalley for my ARC and I will definitely purchase a physical copy of this one upon release!

This book was very unique.

As a serious nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it works well as a mystery/thriller story.

The hook does grab you and drags you into the story quite quickly. Then, there' s a few bumps and hiccups in the 1st third of the book as you get introduced to the characters, timelines, etc.

Once you're there and you know who is who and what is what, the 2nd third lags just a tiny bit I found myself wanting to just get to the good stuff and it took a while. However, as it's taking a while, you're treated to chills and such great atmospheric writing, I could almost smell the crisp in the air and the fire burning.

Then you get to the last third and it's incredible with a lot of WOWS and OH MY GOODNESSES to keep you sitting on the edge of your seat long after you finish the book. I was exhausted by the time I finished, which was within 24 hours of starting.

I'm off to find more by Jennifer McMahon. I have to read more of her books!

I’ve been reading books by Jennifer McMahon for many years. I have enjoyed them all, but this is her best one yet. I couldn’t put it down. I read late into the night, needing to know what happened to Vi, Iris and Lizzy. The plot just kept building and getting better and better. I thought that the idea of monsters and how are they made was fascinating. I highly recommend this book.

Dr. Helen Hildreth is a renowned psychiatrist in 1978 at a famous treatment center in Vermont. When Helen is away from her demanding job she is a perfect grandmother to Vi and Eric. One day Helen brings home a girl named Iris to stay with them. Iris is silent and very skittish, not behaving like a normal child would. This doesn’t bother Vi and Eric, as they are excited to have a new playmate in their home.

Fast forward 41 years and Lizzie Shelley is a popular pod cast host, her show is called Monsters Among Us. Lizzie is heading to Vermont to investigate a recent monster sighting that has the town absolutely buzzing. Will Lizzie be able to track down this monster and help this small town?

And now for something totally and completely different! I have not ever read a book involving monsters before, but I really liked this one. The writing was top notch and the storyline was totally engaging which kept me guessing the whole time. A great twist at the end sealed the deal for me, this was a great book and I would highly recommend THE CHILDREN AMONG US.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Genre: thriller
Pub date: 4/26/22
In 1978, Psychiatrist Helen takes care of her grandchildren Violet and Eric - but everything changes when the mysterious Iris joins their family. In 2019, podcaster Lizzy tracks the story of a monster and a missing girl - suspecting that the monster is her sister.

This book is inspired by Frankenstein, and I loved the exploration of fictional and real-life monsters. The action switches well between the two timelines, and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. This is a fast read that will keep you turning the pages! It's more horror-inspired than true horror (I say this as a bit of a scaredy cat myself), so I'd recommend this one to anyone who likes thrillers.

Thank you to Gallery Books/Scout Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 12/21/21, to be posted to Instagram closer to pub date.

I have to be incredibly careful with this review--it has so many thematic currents, some of which could be considered spoilers. Reading the novel, we consider the monsters amongst us parading under other masks, historical monsters whose reverberations are still felt in our current culture, and the monster-as-misunderstood-Other in the classical Frankenstein sense. Perhaps even the monster as liberator.

Even without delving into those deeper thematic ideas, the story itself is a fantastic and fast paced thriller. Dripping with gothic elements, infused with fascinating characters, and propelled by suspense, this novel will have you reading "just one more chapter" until the early morning.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for a fair review.**

Omg! This book was exactly what I was looking for in a Mary Shelley sort of way!

You can read the Synopsis yourself! Here’s my little thoughts:

I loved the twists in the book. I love how the author kept me guessing. I hated that I couldn’t finish this book sooner with real life happening! It’s one of those you don’t want to put down, at least I didn’t.

Vi and Eric live with their Gran in the house on the hill. Gran runs a mental ish place next door ish. But, what is really happening in this facility? And who is this Iris girl that’s come home to be their sister and where did she come from?

There is creepiness and horror but you can decide for yourself what exactly is the horror. There is evil all around…what form do you think it will take..

Kudo’s Jennifer McMahon for another wonderful book!!

*Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book!

Review of The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Creepy. Spooky. Scary. Just like always, this book was all of the above. There were twists I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed it. Fans will love this one too.

Brief synopsis: Vi and Eric are siblings who live with their grandmother, a psychiatrist named Dr. Hildreth. She treats children and the hospital know as “The Inn” is right by their house. The year is 1978 and the children are happy and thriving and then Gran brings home a young girl named Iris. Iris doesn’t know how to dress herself and does not speak. Vi works hard with her and soon she is thriving as well. The trio is obsessed with monsters and learn all they can while writing a book. Flash forward to present day when Lizzy Shelley is a world renowned monster hunter who has had a tv show and she is drawn back to her childhood town to hunt her latest monster who is responsible for many girls/ women disappearing. She knows the monster is here sister and plans to find her.

Expect the unexpected friends. This one comes out in April. A big thank you to @netgalley and @gallerybooks for my advanced digital copy.

Dr. Hildreth, a renown surgeon, runs Hillside Inn, a mental hospital in the picturesque countryside of Vermont. Some of the patients at Hillside come and go. Some have been there a long time, have scars, and act very strange.

Her grandchildren, who have no memory of their parents, live with her near the Inn. Vi, Eric, and Iris started a Monster Hunters Club and have written a the "Book of Monsters", a handbook for hunting, identifying, and killing monsters. What at first seems like harmless play, becomes something much more sinister.

When a nurse becomes suspicious of unexplained things happening at the Inn and a journalist starts nosing around, the question begs asking, "Who are the real monsters here?" Very good.

You might also like "A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw or "The Last House on Needless Street" by Catriona Ward.

Jennifer McMahon has such a fresh interpretation of horror/suspense fiction and I’ve immensely enjoyed all of her books. Her latest is about a modern day monster hunter podcaster who must come to grips with the tragic events of her past in order to solve the mystery of so many girls who have gone missing after spotting monsters.

I loved this so much. The writing was excellent and the plot so unique and like nothing else I’ve read. There were several jaw dropping twists throughout that had me on the edge of my seat. And the ending was completely unexpected but very satisfying. McMahon has hit the hall out of the park once again.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Gallery/Scout Press and Jennifer McMahon for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

If there is one thing you should know about me, it's that Frankenstein is my favorite piece of classic literature. I wrote about it so many times in college, not to mention introduced many friends to Young Frankenstein, and went on a Mary Shelley-inspired college trip to Europe. When I saw that one of my favorite authors, Jennifer McMahon, was writing a retelling of Frankenstein, I think I screamed, actually.

I'm not going to give any twists away, but trust me when I say that between McMahon's writing style, narrative structure and plot points, this is a very, very worthy retelling of an already excellent story. I highly recommend to anyone who likes their thriller with just a hint of fantasy. Or just loves well-written stories. This one's for you!

I love Jennifer McMahon. This one fell a little flat for me, but it was still a very enjoyable read. I think that it was missing some of the spookiness that McMahon does so well, as well as the supernatural elements.

I liked the suspenseful scenes in 1978, but the present day stuff was a little boring. The twist was very good! I didn't see it coming.

Are monsters real? Read this book and you will discover that they are. We meet them each and every day whether we know it or not. This book isn't that classic horror, scary, hide under the covers book. It's more complicated and lets the reader figure out what exactly happened and how the story ends. This book kept me guessing all the way to the very end!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I loved this book! Told from the POV of Violet Hildreth, a book about Hill House, and Lizzy Shelley, the novel moves in time from 1978 to 2019. As a child, Violet lived with her younger brother Eric and her grandmother, Helen Hildreth, a renowned researcher in mental health on the estate of Hill House, a mental care facility. When Gran brings home Iris, a mute girl Violet's age, the kids take her under their wing. They introduce Iris to their Monsters Club and share with her the secrets of monsters. In 2019, Lizzy Shelley takes the knowledge she has of years of hunting monsters around the US to dive into the mysteries surrounding missing girls. The girls always go missing in a town with a local legend. Past and present clash as Lizzy looks deeper into these disappearances and has to confront her tragic past.

Jennifer McMahon writes dark, creepy novels so well, and this one is no exception. From the opening words, there's a feeling of darkness and that darkness builds wonderfully over the course of the book. The characters are fleshed out and well written, and the movent between different POVs is smooth and makes it easy to stay in the narrative, even with the time jumps.

This is a book about monsters. Are they born or are they created? what is true evil? Can evil and good exist in the same person...or monster? I love how this book played with the question of what a monster is and how it is born. I love that it was deeper than the supernatural. I really, really enjoyed this book!

Loved the atmosphere here, and a great twist I didn't see coming. A good creepy read for a cold winter night!