I loved this book. Women coming together to save a friend and fight a demon?! Count me in! Our main characters were suburban moms, and they were funny, tough, and real- basically I could see myself hanging with them and I loved that. For a horror book this was creepy, but not too scary which I always appreciate.
- Do not miss out on this one when it comes out on August 30th, 2022!

A She Shed that brings out the worst in Suburban Moms. An actual demon from hell. All Liz wanted to do was build a she-shed for entertaining. She got more than she bargained for & it's up to Amy, Jess & Melissa to break the curse and send the demon back to hell. Mafia Moms unite! I originally thought this was going to be a book about a zombie outbreak, but to my surprise it was a demon possession. The sarcasm was hysterical, the fight for friendship truly inspiring. If you want a fun romp through suburbia, with demons and possession thrown in, this one is for you

ARC Review
Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Once again, a debut novel knocks it out of the park!

What a solid fun time this comedic horror was! If I had to make an example it's Desperate Housewives meets The Exorcist (it's also said to have a Bad Moms meets My Best Friend’s Exorcism comparison) and boy, I couldn't stop turning the pages!! An absolute delight.

Amy, Jess, Liz, and Melissa are the best of friends but something or something is testing them at all odds.
If you're looking for something with a little substance and nothing to take too seriously, this is it! I read this at the right time and it left my spooky loving soul satisfied. So yes, 5 stars it is!

The opening line is "None of this would have happened if it weren't for the She Shed."

Note to self and others: NEVER attempt to build a she-shed, and if so? builder beware.

Big thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this e-arc!!

Suburban Hell is expected to publish on August 30th

Suburban moms Amy, Liz, Jess and Melissa are all best friends living in Whispering Farms an upscale suburb of Chicago. One evening as they gathered at Liz’s house to drink and gossip they share a toast to the “she shed”, a sanctuary Liz is going to build for herself in her backyard, but as their glasses clink the air shifts with the feeling of something sinister.

Soon after that night the group begins to notice changes in Liz and it becomes clear that she has become possessed. Amy, Jess and Melissa have to battle the forces of darkness for their friend’s soul all the while keeping up with PTA meetings, school carnivals, neighborhood barbeques and their kids.

Accurately marketed as “Bad Moms meets My Best Friend’s Exorcism”, Suburban Hell is a really fun page-turner chock full of horror references and tropes all the while exploring the pressures of motherhood and the value female friendships.

For such a unique premise, this was a bit of a disappointment. I wanted more of everything - more dread, more horror, more thrills. This was such a wasted opportunity. It was a fun read, but not nearly as over the top as I wanted it to be.

This was such a good book! It was fun, spooky, and heartwarming, and would make a great movie! It had me sucked in from the first page and I didn't want to put it down, keeping me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen next, and laughing out loud in the next moment.

I loved the friendship between the ladies and how they will stand together to help each other through thick and thin, protecting each other from the horrifying PTA moms, and other things... like the evil entity that seems to have attached itself to their friend Liz...

This story was just what I was hoping it would be, and I can't wait to see what Maureen Kilmer will be coming out with next!!

Wow 4.5 stars

I enjoyed this book so much. This was funny, heartwarming, so relatable, and just an overall good time.

Amy is a SAHM living in an ordinary neighborhood just outside of Chicago. Outside of being a loving mother and wife, hanging with her group of mom friends offers a much needed break in her monotonous suburban routine. Things get really interesting one summer when Amy and her friends battle an unsuspecting darkness that takes over one of her closest friends and threatens to take over the neighborhood. We follow along as the ladies band together to combat this looming danger, save their friends and family, all while still trying to hold it altogether.

I enjoyed how the author explored motherhood, she manages to capture the essence of the idea that a mother has to be the "superhero" all the time in such a relatable and funny way, then balances it out with light elements of horror. I would say that this book is a cross between "My Best Friends Exorcism" and ''The Burbs'. If you enjoyed those I highly suggest you check this one out.

The only side downside is that the horror elements are very minimal. We get some horror elements throughout the store, but they are very light. I didn't mind it, but for serious horror readers they may find this to be very light on the horror. As long as you go into it knowing that I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Aside from the story itself, the writing was so simplistic and fun and is such a breeze to read through. I would highly recommend reading this during Summer months, this book captures the Summertime perfectly.

Thank you to netgalley, Putnam Books, and the author for this arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

Started out strong, I enjoyed the friendship between Amy, Melissa, Liz, and Jess. Amy was an easy protagonist to follow in her journey to save Liz. I felt like the ending fell a little flat. But all in all a very fun read!

After reading some heavier books, this book about a group of wine moms who try to solve their friend’s demonic possession was just the ticket for some good laughs. The book begins with suburban mom friends, Amy, Liz, Melissa, and Jess enjoying a night together and making plans to build she-shed to escape in Liz’s backyard. Unfortunately, Liz’s personality changes the next day and the friends begin to suspect that a demon has possessed her body. The tight-knit group works to help rescue their friend while also caring for their families and navigating relationships with PTA moms. The humor throughout the book is spot on. It does not go unnoticed that organizing the school carnival for the PTA is a bigger nightmare and challenge than dealing with demons and ghosts. As a mom who has run school events, I think that is likely accurate. Despite the light-hearted tone of the book, the relationships seem genuine and the entire book highlights the importance of finding friends that support you while dealing with parenthood.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. From the book description, I was expecting a Desperate Houswives type affair, and I was not wrong, with a little demon possession thrown in. As such, I was expecting a lot of fun, but to be honest, the book was underwhelming and I found myself skimming threw it much more than I should have been. Between the condescending writing toward men, (maybe I wasn't supposed to read it), to just too much dialogue, I give it Three stars.

This book was such a wild ride. Suburban moms dealing with a demon possession while still trying to keep it together and meet family and school obligations. Trying to support the PTA while your best friend has been possessed makes for a scary and campy romp. Recommended read for all those who loved The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. This was a fun, light read. When a group of friends loses their fourth member to a demonic entity unearthed when she's digging a foundation for a new she shed, the remaining three in the group band together in an effort to save her. This was a fun horror-comedy that did a good job of touching the surface of mothers and step mothers balancing family life with honoring themselves.

SUBURBAN HELL is a sheer delight! Despite dealing throughout with some serious and depressing issues [addiction, death, postpartum depression, isolation, murder, demonic possession], SUBURBAN HELL never relinquishes its foundation of Hope, Friendship, and Trust. I was reminded throughout of the great Feminist novels of the 1960's. In keeping with those clearsighted female authors, Maureen Kilmer never loses sight of what it means to live female in a patriarchal Society, and emphasizes the strengths of her female characters without wholesale dismissal of the males.

This is a story about a little possession, just between friends!

This reminded me of an adult version of My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which is a favorite of mine.. it was sardonically funny and full of humorous commentary about suburban life, but it also had an effective undercurrent of dread woven through. It was so much fun! If you enjoy horror comedy, neighborhood horror/thrillers I would totally recommend this one.

Thank you so much netgalley & Penguin Group Putnam books for the eArc!

I was drawn to this book because of my love for Grady Hendrix and Maureen Kilmer did not disappoint! This book is the most fun mixtures of "My Best Friend's Exorcism" and Desperate Housewives. With all the drama of a suburban neighborhood that feels all too real, this book hooks the read in quickly and doesn't let them go until the very last sentence. This book also has one of the most terrifying entities known to man today - the PTA. Some of these characterizations felt so familiar and I'm sure that will be shared by many readers.

Oh and if you wanted a twist - just you wait until that last sentence.

You won't be disappointed and you SHOULD read this book!!

I loved this. I didn’t actually expect to love this – I thought it might be too fluffy. But it’s just so much fun!

This is edgy, snarky and manages to be both creepy and funny. Definite shades of My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, and old school The Exorcist all wrapped up into one.

I loved our women and, surprisingly for this kind of book, loved most of the husbands as well.

This is a sharp and entertaining read and I just wanted more.

Looking forward to reading the author again!

• ARC via Publisher

Not a terrible book, but very underwhelming. The summary compares it to Bad Moms and My Best Friend's Exorcism which implies comedy and horror, no? But there wasn't really anything that funny that happened. Or scary. (Was the possessed Roomba supposed to be funny? Cause it definitely wasn't scary. A weed wacker taking on a life of its own in the real world would be horrifying, true, but reading it was just silly.) "Is this supposed to be funny?" is definitely something you DON'T want your readers to ask.

There was no bite to it, and a lot of the "moms do everything - even save the world!" talk felt like pandering. (I think you can definitely talk about the invisible workload of moms and women in general without veering into condescension.)

The premise sounds so fun, and the cover is AMAZING. Don't get me wrong. I love the weird-stuff-going-down-in-suburbia genre, but with this one, I ended up just being disappointed.

This book was a lot of fun. Suburban life drama becomes hell, literally, when one neighbor is possessed. This book showcases what society expects from moms, the hoops you are expected to jump through and the power of friendship. Well written and full of relatable characters Suburban Hell is a hell of a time.

"Moms were the ones who had to fix problems. From small things like a skinned knee, to bigger ones like supernatural forces trying to take over our families. It was up to us to save the neighborhood."

This reads like a campy version of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires that still has all of the horror elements of a demonic possession. Suburban Hell is the sweet spot between humor and horror.

We're following a friend group of suburban moms who are united by the fact that they don't fit in with the uptight PTA moms, the 'Mom Mafia' as they call them. The plan is to move their monthly wine nights out to the She Shed that's soon to be built in Liz's back yard to have a getaway from their husbands and kids. They share a ceremonial wine toast and the next day when construction begins, it unearths a demonic force that takes over Liz. Liz changes overnight and creepy things begin happening all over the neighborhood that escalate in severity and its up to Liz's friends to save her and the neighborhood.

This was such a fun read. Not being middle aged or a mom, I didn't expect to connect and root for these characters as much as I did. It was fast-paced and the chapters were short so I was compelled to binge the last 60% in one sitting. Also I believe Maureen Kilmer is a debut author? I'm always excited to find new thriller/horror authors I like so I'll definitely be looking forward to her next release.

Thank you NetGalley, Maureen Kilmer, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

I enjoyed this story for the most part and found most of it to be creepy enough. The story however dragged a little towards the later half. I would have loved maybe some of the story line to be on what the kids or even Tim was experiencing inside the home.