Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer hit the stop for me! I started reading this because the thought of four suburban moms fighting demons sounded fun.

Ms. Kilmer clearly has either lived or visited Wisconsin enough to have a wonderful understanding of life here. As a fellow Wisconsinite, I loved her fun notes scattered throughout the book about Wisconsin. and life in the cheese state. I really enjoyed the four main characters (Amy, Liz, Melissa, Jess) as well.. The depth given to each woman was wonderful in that it allowed them to all bring different things to the close relationship the characters shared and made their fight against evil more plausible.

I look forward to reading more from Ms. Kilmer!

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This was a fantastic possession horror story that has suburbia, mom's going day to day with children and the Pta super-moms all mixed in with it.

I loved the main character, Amy. I really related to her easy going style and her dedication to friends and family. One night Amy and her friends get together, like usual, to have wine and watch a movie. But, the next day, when friend Liz breaks ground for her new she shed things start heading from everyday suburban life to demonic suburban life. And, this book does a great job of keeping the reader in both of those worlds at once.

I loved this book so much and I'm really hoping for a sequel!

Out August 30, 2022!

Found my new summer fun read. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. How to describe this book, without telling the story is very hard. This is one of those stories that should be gone in knowing less. You will thank yourself after reading. This writing is tight. The read is fun and hilarious! This is my first read by this author, it won't be my last.

#netgalley #suburbanhell

Amy Foster considers herself to be a lucky person. After herself and her family decided to leave the city behind and move to the Suburbs, she meets her new neighbors who slowly but surely become her best friends. Liz, Jess and Melissa are snarky just like Amy, and they stick together outside of the PTA group of moms in their neighborhood. One night during their monthly wine meet up at Liz's house, they come up with a plan to build a She-Shed where no husbands or kids are allowed. But on the night they decide to christen the She-Shed, something in the universe shifts. Liz starts acting strange, almost as if she's been possessed. These suburban moms cant justify these strange burn marks showing up, self-moving dolls, and horrible smells coming from Liz's back yard.

Suburban Hell was such a good change of pace for me. I really enjoyed this one. I love a good thriller novel, but I like that this one tied comedy into this neighborhood nightmare. This book showed that the bonds of friendship really can get you through anything. If you're looking for a lighter thriller with comedic relief, I highly suggest picking this one up!

Thank you to Netgalley, Maureen Kilmer, and Putnam Books for this ARC of Suburban Hell. Suburban Hell will be available on August 30th!

Rating: ★★★★☆

I’m a big fan of suburban dramas. I love neighborhood politics and block parties and white picket fences that hide all sorts of secrets. If those secrets happen to include the supernatural, I’m definitely in! This book, on the surface, was if Desperate Housewives met The Exorcist. The action starts pretty quick, but some of the chapters felt a little similar to each other. I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters very well, even our narrator, Amy. I did really enjoy the ominous and unsettling tone that the author laid out, but I never really felt completely pulled in by the story. It was certainly entertaining though. I also would have liked the reason for the possession to be a bit more sinister and scary. I’d call this one a contemporary fiction with a tiny hint of fright. I think part of why I didn’t connect with it was I was expecting more of a humorous take on an exorcism instead of the more serious route it took. Even still, it kept my attention and overall I liked it.
TW: animal death, violence, religious trauma

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!

i thought this horror debut was absolutely amazing! i loved the suburban setting and i normally hate reading books about moms and kids but this was done really well. i actually didn’t want to punt the children over a fence, they were tolerable.

i loved how this book focuses on the power of friendship and nothing is stronger than the love for your best friends/found family. i looooooved the possession parts of this book and the hauntings truly put me on the edge of my seat and actually made me very nervous. so that alone made this a great book!

Let’s talk about Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer. This book focuses on four friends and after one of them breaks ground on their She Shed, strange things start to happen. Now, the friends think one of them is possessed by a demon, and they have to try to save Liz before it is too late.

What I liked: The author’s take on weaponized incompetence. Kilmer brings a whole to meaning to how women are expected to have it all and do it all, to the point where the husbands do not even care that they are running around trying to exorcise demons at the same time as setting up school fundraisers and taking care of the house. I liked the idea of these friends who just wanted their own place to be themselves, but ended up starting the end of the world, or the neighborhood. Kilmer’s writing further shows the power of women and how friendship is what saves us in the end.

To keep in mind: While I loved the concept, I wish we had more interaction with the evil going on in the neighborhood. The scene with the Roomba was one of my favorites, to the point where I had to check mine to make sure it was not going to eat me. If the author added more instances like that, it would have taken the horror aspect to the next level.

Rating: I really liked this book and I thought the ending was well executed. The writing was easy to follow, and the characters were well developed. As someone who grew up in a neighborhood just like the story, it felt so accurate to what I experienced growing up. The author’s writing really shined when incorporating the supernatural into the day-to-day lives of these women.

The horror in this book is really well-done. There are fantastic moments of suspense and an underlying sense of wrong-ness. The characters are fully fleshed and wonderful. The premise is really well-executed. The main character was very relatable and easy to root for. This book was fantastic, and I highly recommend it.

Suburban Hell is a fun parody of MLM, PTA, and moms having to do everything. It is also about friends, family, and community. A few lol moments and I could see this as a movie with Anna Faris, Kristen Bell, Reese, and maybe Zoe Saldana or Jurnee Smollett. Reminiscent of Grady Hendrix The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group. Quick easy read, would read more by this author.

Favorite quotes:
“The plant will be kept alive by witnessing our friendship”

"...many applications of sunscreen (the spray kind, for which I would always get a few dirty looks as I applied it, because other children only wore sunscreen that was nontoxic, made from fairy dust and recycled water bottles)"

“The eighties called and want their Satanic Panic back.”

...the neighbors talked so dramatically you would have thought something actually serious had happened, like garbage day being moved.

“She did something last night.” I swallowed hard. “Something terrible to me.” Jess gave a laugh. “What, did she make you go to a Nickelback concert?”

"All they’ll do is tell us to make a large donation to their church and maybe give us some fake holy water and a plastic crucifix made in China by five-year-old laborers.”

“The Exorcist. Another reason not to use that Ouija board. The demon contacted the little girl through the board and then she started doing unnatural things with a crucifix,” Melissa said. “That would be a badass stripper routine.”

Two weeks ago, she’d wanted to run a nursing home for swingers but then realized there were hurdles like insurance and licensing. (Not to mention the potential medical costs of elderly swingers’ breaking their hips.)

"I’d learned long ago that distraction is better than anticipation"

Susie, who she said was a half-unicorn, half-tiger who wanted to make melted crayon art.

"I have to go back to the office and lead a team meeting on not sending porn emails on company accounts.”

...looked like an Instagram filter that had taken a picture of a much younger woman and aged her.

Catching flies with honey when vinegar was available had never been her style.

“Grew up in a religious laser-light-show cult.”

The forces of darkness beware, for we have wine and snacks.

A quiet suburb of Chicago becomes the battleground for a fight between good and evil in Suburban Hell, when a group of PTA drop-out moms take on the demon that has possessed their friend.

Amy Foster and her friends just wanted a space of their own to enjoy their monthly wine nights, away from their hapless husbands and their needy kids. But when they break ground on their new She Shed in Liz's backyard, they dig up more than just piles of dirt. When Liz begins acting strangely, they realize that she's possessed by an ancient evil -- and only they can save her from its clutches.

If Grady Hendrix was a script writer for Desperate Housewives, the result would probably be something like Suburban Hell. This was such a fun read. It's a book that doesn't take itself too seriously while also striking the perfect balance between horror, humor, and heart. There are frightening scenes, but they involve the trappings of suburbia, like vacuums and Target runs. I was creeped out, but also laughing.

It's over the top and utterly ridiculous, but also rooted in reality by the authentic, touching bond shared by the four central characters. By placing these women in increasingly outlandish scenarios, Maureen Kilmer makes some thoughtful points about the importance of friendship, community, and autonomy for mothers.

Suburban Hell is darkly funny, touching, and thoroughly entertaining. I'd read an entire series about these women and their demon-exorcising adventures.

*Clink* is the sound of a cheers with margaritas among friends one evening.
*Clank* is the sound of your secluded She-Shed door shutting.
*CLUNG* is the sound of your heart stopping because the sweet suburbs now has a neighborhood PTA mom possessed by a demon!!!

That escalated. 🫢 This book was hysterically frightening. I love that we have a group of moms who are the typical over sharing bunch trying to survive motherhood with small kids in tow. Now we add in demonic possession and things get a whole lot harder. This never had a dull moment in it, and I am never getting a robot vaccum.

This book is trying way to hard to be the next The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and failing miserably. It was poorly written and a struggle to get through.

Suburban Hell is a fun comedy mixed with hints of horror. I liked the focus on four strong women who love and support each other, even though, well... hell! LOL.

The premise of this story is about a possession, demons, friends, women, and home. The story has a great pace, every page flowed well into the next and there was a hint of fear in every chapter. I enjoyed the women's growth, their personalities and how individual and fun they each were in their lives. It is so fun to read about women without the backstabbing, fighting and the like that so often follows women relationships. These women were strong and friends and found family.

The horror was on the lighter side, much more about the humor and had a women's fiction feeling; but the scenes it was in were a joy. I like that this story wasn't full bore dark bloody and vicious. It was such a fun read.

There was animal death and harm as well as blood, death. Nothing that was too detailed or graphic but still there. I would recommend this story to those looking for a lighter really fun read. I received an ARC via NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and I am leaving an honest review.

The woman of Whispering Farms have a problem. Evil has come to their cozy suburban neighborhood and it’s up to three friends to banish the darkness and save one of their own.

As hilarious as it is creepy, this book is sure to appeal to fans of Grady Hendrix or anyone who likes their horror with a large dollop of humor.

Highly recommended.

Easiest 5/5 I’ve given all year. Very southern book club guides to slaying vampires esque. This was so fun and a debut? 😮 Can’t wait to see what she writes next - highly recommend

Amy has 3 close friends that live in her quienessential family neighborhood - Melissa, Liz, and Jess. They have a monthly get together to destress from motherhood and plan to build a She Shed so they don’t ever have to be disturbed. In the midst of contrasting the She Shed, a demonic force comes from underneath Liz’s backyard and possess her. Now it’s up to Amy, Melissa, and Jess to save their friend from being possessed from the forces of a long ago neighborhood tragedy and save their neighborhood from turning into a suburban hell!

This was a fun comedic horror story with friendship and family at the forefront. Each character had their own personality and opinions and didn’t immediately agree with the main character which I thought was well written and realistic. The demonic scenes were so fun to read and I loved the strong friendships these character had. In conclusion, mom’s save the day, once again.

I recommend reading if you enjoy:

- possessions
- demonic forces
- strong friendships
- suburbia vibes
- a splash of comedy
- mom’s saving the day

Amy, Liz, Jess, and Melissa are suburban moms and best of friends. They live in an idyllic neighborhood, a cul-de-sac, in which you can find children running through sprinklers, woman sipping wine on patio's while the menfolk chug beers around a bonfire. A place anyone would be happy to call home. A nice place. A safe place.

During ladies night at Liz's house and after drinking copious amounts of wine she decides what they need is a She Shed. A place for the ladies to get together without children nagging them and without their husbands eavesdropping on their inappropriate conversations and jokes.

What they hadn't bargained for is the She Shed summoning a demon. A demon that decides to inhabit Liz's body. At first they assume she's having a mid-life crisis but when strange things begin to happen and Amy's daughter begins having visions of death and destruction they know this isn't the midlife crisis they were assuming and they now have to band together to exorcise the demon to save the neighborhood from calamity. Did I mention they are demon hunting all while planning the summer carnival? A women's work is never done!

This book doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the reader. It's absurd in the best way possible. It's a book whose sole purpose is to put a smile on your face and it most definitely succeeds. It gave me The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires vibes for sure. Well written, humorous, and with likable characters this book is sure to be a hit. Also, two 👍👍 to that amazing cover! 😍 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group- Putnam for my complimentary copy.

Suburban Hell is a great summer horror read. The story is about a group of women who live in a calm environment which is threatened by the presence of a demon after trying to create a “she shed”. Perfectly atmospheric and relatable. The writing was approachable and the story felt like it could happen in any suburb. The women in the story are such a solid group of personalities which helps the reader understand that although they are flawed at times, their friendship is solid. This is a great possession story.

Thank you to Netgalley,and the publisher for a chance to review this book.



I had fun with this book. It was funny,and had some horror elements to it too. Not much scares me anymore, but I still enjoy horror. I'm not a mom....to human children anyway, (my child is a cat) so some of the dialogue or jokes, etc I might not of fully got the jist of, but I still enjoyed this book.

The cover art is awesome too. a demon zombie hand coming out of the ground. While housewives look in the background is totally eye catching. I also love the use of colors in the cover.

Again, not a mom to human children, so I don't know what it's like to sit in the carpool lane, but I can picture someone reading this while waiting for their spawns to come running from the halls to the minivan.

Check this book out!

This horror-comedy has my heart! It was such a fun and refreshing read! I laugh out loud at some points and was actually kept on my toes! I love the demonic/paranormal quality of the book being a magic and supernatural lover and it was just a fun and fantastic read! If you read this your in for horror, friendship, good times and so much fun!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!