I can’t say enough good things about this book. I predict it’s going to be a bestseller when it comes out! I requested this book on NetGalley because the cover drew me in and then I read the description. It was Bad Moms meets My Best Friends Exorcism. I was so freaking happy when they approved me to read this ARC.

This book revolves around four suburban moms who aren’t the same as most of the cookie cutter women in the neighborhood. They each have their own entertaining personalities where the reader can really relate to at least one if not all of the women.

It all starts at their monthly get together for a wine/movie night. Just a normal night where you drink and laugh with your friends then end up summoning a demon that possesses one of them. The rest of the story is the unpossesed three trying to figure out what happened to their friend, Liz, and being physically and mentally assaulted by their demon/friend. There is a Roomba incident that has me giving side eye to my little harmless vaccuum. The women can either band together by harnessing the power of friendship or crumble and give up leaving behind their homes and normalcy.

When this comes out please read it! If you are into horror comedies or fun authors like Grady Hendrix then you’ll love this book. It’s due to come out at the end of September.

This book in 3 words: Dark. Shocking. Hilarious.

Suburban Hell takes us to the suburbs of Chicago, where 4 women uncover something hellish while planning to build a she-shed.

This book is such a deliciously dark treat. It goes all-in on making fun of suburban living/families today, all the while creating characters and events you could basically reach out and grab. This book felt so realistic but also has an aspect of a demon... which means, in my opinion, the author did a stellar job. It's also a bit heartfelt... and now I know you're reading this being like, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? It's hard to explain...but it just works!

I really liked our main character, Amy. I feel like there's many ways readers can relate to her... friendships, family dynamics, loss. I was happy to see such a developed character in this genre... which I'm going with soft horror-comedy. Also, the inner monologue of our MC feels genuine and funny... she was so likeable.

My only complaint was I wanted a little more from the ending - felt like it may have went by too fast, but still a very enjoyable read.

I did get some Grady Hendrix and Chuck Palahniuk vibes (more Hendrix than Palahniuk). This one was fun... I recommend!

This book just wasn't for me and I DNFed it at 30%. I couldn't connect to any of the characters. Everyone seemed stuck up. There was no horror to be found, just gore. I didn't appreciate the dead baby rabbits scene at all. I'm sure others might like this book, but it just didn't draw me in. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

I really, really enjoyed this book. I love horror books and I really loved the biting comedy this one had. There were a few writing choices that took me out of the story a little bit, like how the dialogue from the mom's often didn't use contractions, or how some of the last lines in chapters felt almost clickbaity to make me move on to the next chapter. I didn't really agree with having Heather possessed at the end. It seemed like they'd gotten rid of Mavis, so was this just a different demon who slipped through? Why Heather? But overall, I loved the tone of the book and I loved the pacing.

Suburban Hell tells the story of best friends, neighbors, and moms Amy, Melissa, Jess, and Liz, whose wine and movie nights are their precious hours to be together and be themselves. After Liz starts construction on a She Shed in her backyard (a permanent home for their get-togethers), weird things start happening in the neighborhood. The most concerning changes start happening to Liz, who seems to be an entirely different person now. Or is she even still a person at all? It's up to Amy, Melissa, and Jess to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Liz, get their friend back, and save the neighborhood. Oh, and take care of the kids, have successful careers, and plan the annual summer carnival.

I'm not a mom, so I worried that I wouldn't be able to connect to the main characters, but I really liked them! They all had unique personalities, and all seemed like normal people you could meet in everyday life. Amy was the most fleshed out, and we get the story from her perspective. I liked that we got to see details of what Amy's day-to-day was like. I liked that it touched on the anxiety she felt when dealing with the situation with Liz, her job interview, and the carnival planning. I thought her actions and reactions were very realistic, as well as Melissa's and Jess's. I loved all of their families! They were all different, but all supportive and loving. Tony, Mark, and Del had their own personalities, and their interactions with their families were genuine. I would have loved to read more about them and their wives as couples.

I don't think comparing this story to Grady Hendrix or Bad Moms is doing it any favors. Although it's classified as horror, I didn't find any of the "horror" parts scary or disturbing. At most, some of the scenes depicting injuries could be seen as gory, but that doesn't mean they were scary. Also while our four friends do deal with pettiness from some of their neighbors, it wasn't on the level of Bad Moms. There were not many humorous sections of the book either. If anything I would classify this as general or women's fiction. It's more about the relationships between the four friends, and them going through this traumatic event together. It's light-hearted, sure, but it's not horror or comedy, and I think it's setting itself up for disappointment when it says it's both of those things.

Overall, I thought the book was cute and breezed through it. However, the plot is jumbled in terms of a deeper message. It's unclear that it has one until the last quarter of the book, when inner monologues begin about how moms have always been the ones with the biggest burdens and have always been the ones working behind the scenes and doing the hardest jobs. Talk turns to isolation and how it takes a village to raise a child. Amy reveals that she felt isolated when she first moved to the neighborhood and was saved when she met her three friends. There's talk of her sister June, who died of an overdose, who up until this point, had only been briefly mentioned once or twice. Apparently she was a large part of Amy's life and her death sent her spiraling.

This book does a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told about how important June was to Amy, but never shown through memories or items in Amy's house or anything. At the end, a rabbit crosses Amy's path and she says it's a sign from June, but I don't remember anything about a rabbit representing June. We're told that mothers bare the burden, even now in this neighborhood, but no scenes depict this in the story. All the husbands are supportive and caring (except Tim, screw Tim), shown sharing the work and being there for their wives. There seem to be neighborhood support systems set up between groups of people. I felt that even between those who didn't get along so well, if one of them needed help with their kids or something, no one in the neighborhood would have turned them down. We're told that this carnival is a huge deal, but it's barely mentioned in terms of planning, comes together off-screen. and is given only a short chapter of coverage. In my opinion, it did nothing to progress the plot and was unneeded.

I thought the ending was fine. I thought the way they saved Liz was fine. I wasn't a huge fan of the epilogue, but that's fine. Overall I thought the book was fine. I think it will be a fun read for any fan of contemporary, light fiction, but may be a disappointment for those hoping for true horror.

Funny? Yes.
Scary? Oh yeah.
Chick-Lit? Not even close. I'm a guy and I loved it. I can't think of any reader who wouldn't love it, except maybe satanists, and they hate everything.

Whispering Farms, the upscale neighborhood that Amy calls home, is about to be in some hellacious trouble.
This is the community that helped Amy recover from tragedy, by providing what she had been looking for her entire life: True friends.
And she'll fight the devil to keep 'em.

As a child of the 80's, I couldn't help thinking about Poltergeist and the Exorcist, but this novel is so much more than scary.
It's also hilarious. And the focus on good friends and family touched my heart.

When I started this book I had doubts as to whether I was going to like it or not but there was no reason for me to doubt because the book was excellent, it was funny and realistic even though it had some major paranormal aspects it was basically a book about friendship and what good friends mean and how far you'll go for them at the end of the day. And as I said before it had some major paranormal elements but even with those the book was somewhat realistic which I find I don't see very often if a book has paranormal laugh specs. I would love to see what this author does next I would definitely recommend this book 5 out of five!! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Solid 3 stars. Not typically the type of book I read but I liked it overall. I figured I’d branch off to other book categories and this one was a perfect start.
Bonus points because I live where the book takes place (fictionally, anyway). Suburbs of Chicago.
There are a LOT of details in this book. A LOT. I felt like some of them were maybe unnecessary and were more fluff than anything. But it didn’t ruin the book.
I didn’t like how there was such a build up for what seemed like a lacking climax. The “twist” ending was expected.
Amy, Jess, Melissa, and Liz live in a typical suburb of Chicago where everyone drives a fancy SUV and LuLulemon is the official uniform of all the moms in the neighborhood. The four women have a strong bond and have regular get togethers. Everyone takes care of each other, and their kids and husbands are friends, too.
One night changes everything about their friendship, their relationships, and the neighborhood. Awful things start to happen. People get hurt. What is going on in Winchester, and who is responsible?

Similar vibes to the Netflix show, the Santa Clarita Diet. Some suburban women get a taste of the supernatural in this cutesy, soft horror, when one of them gets possessed by a demon during the construction of their She Shed. A lot of stereotypes and a very easy climax, this wasn't 100% my style (I like my horror to actual be horrific, see Grady Hendrix and Stephen King for examples) but it was a fun, easy read for anyone easing into the genre or just wanting something a bit more lighthearted.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this digital ARC to read and review. #SuburbanHell #NetGalley

If you were a fan of "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" then definitely give this one a try!

The story surrounds a group of busy mom friends who meet monthly to get away from their children and husbands to have fun movie aka wine nights. To really get away from the distractions they decide to build a "she shed" as their own little clubhouse. In that clubhouse is where it all changes...

Shortly after they realized they've released some sort of demon who has taken over Liz, one of the girls in the group. She gets smelly and rude and literally just chaotic.

Maureen Kilmer has a way of writing that kept me totally engaged. I don't normally gravitate towards books about demons and possessions and such, but this one was so wonderfully written and hilarious, that I'm glad I stuck it out and finished.

I really loved all of the characters. I felt like I was apart of their group and while this book isn't supposed to be scary per se, I did get the chills a few times!

I highly recommend reading this book if you want some funny horror. I would love to see these ladies battling more demons in the future!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Like the description says, it feels like My Best Friend's Exorcism met Bad Moms and had a child called Suburban Hell. This is a great horror debut by Maureen Kilmer.

In this book we meet four suburban housewives, Amy, Liz, Jess and Melissa, who fall just outside the realm of the typical soccer mom. They were real and relatable. These women could have been my group of friends. The group engages in a monthly "movie night" which is more or less a wine party. Liz, the frequent host of these movie nights has decided to build a She-Shed for the women to hang out in. The night of the ground breaking for the She-Shed, Liz proposes a toast and all hell breaks loose. Liz is invaded by a demon and it's left to her three friends to save her. All while planning carnivals, being a part of block parties and running kids around.

I loved these characters. I loved that they continued to deal with normal mom issues while fighting a demon. Did I want a little more? Yes. I would have loved a little more of the Bad Moms side. It was funny. This book wasn't scary for me, although some readers will find it scary. There were a few parts that creeped me out, but the interlaced humor kept me from getting scared. The exorcism was a little lackluster, but it didn't ruin the story. I loved the ending. It set up well for a sequel, but a sequel isn't necessary. I really hope there is one, however. All in all, a great read. 4.5 stars. I knocked off a half star because I wanted a little more for the exorcism. But I would highly recommend this and already have.

Suburban Hell is one of those books that truly surprises you in the best way! Take a bunch of suburban moms and add a demon into the mix and you get this creepy and unputdownable read! I highly recommend it!

This book was so much fun! It's like Desperate Housewives meets The Exorcist. It has a fast pace and is filled with creepy and funny moments throughout. If you liked My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, definitely check this out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!

Suburban Hell is accurately marketed as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism, although I think I'd actually throw The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires in there too. The concept of a group of suburban moms fighting a demon in their quiet neighborhood is exactly my niche of horror-comedy and I very much enjoyed the execution!

There were parts of this that I LOVED. Some of the interactions with the other moms, the general premise of moms having to run around caring for kids while also learning how to do an exorcism, the actually scary scenes -- all super fun. I also loved that we jumped pretty much right into the conflict! No slow beginnings here.

My biggest issue with the book was that the final conflict seemed really anticlimactic. It was resolved really quickly, considering how much havoc the demon was wreaking, and kind of felt like the author wasn't really sure exactly how to execute the climax. The very last scene was brilliant, though.

I also feel that the theme -- "suburban moms save the world" -- could have been better reinforced with more conflict directly around that concept. There were some offhand remarks about moms being expected to do all the labor, and Liz's husband Tim sucked, but overall, if the author was seeking to empower suburban moms, some more contrast to that idea would have helped drive it home. (This is a double edged sword, though, because I did appreciate that Amy's husband, for instance, wasn't a total dickhead and that she didn't resent her kids, which stories about suburban women can sometimes turn into.)

Overall, though, the concept and the bond of friendship between the ladies was very enjoyable and enough to keep me reading through some of what I thought were the weaker points of the book.

This was such a fun read I really enjoyed it the friendships felt real, It was very creepy enjoyable and I felt like I was in the suburbs while I was reading this will definitely check out other things from this Author.

A morbidly amusing poke at suburban life!

Just as a group of suburban mom friends make plans to build a fun “She Shed,” one member undergoes a startling personality change that coincides with breaking ground for the new hangout spot. Have they unleashed something evil? Is she really possessed? And are all of the strange, scary happenings (like a robotic vacuum attack and a disturbing Barbie scene) connected to her frightening character alterations?

As you may have gathered, this story doesn’t take itself too seriously, although it does touch upon some serious things. I really liked the focus on friendship and the importance of connection, as well as Amy’s backstory pertaining to her sister, who’d been possessed by a different kind of demon. Amy’s past properly explained her devotion to this current danger, even more so than her dedication to her friendship with Liz.

There are some humorously creepy scenes in this, as well as some more unsettling ones. Please be warned that there is an upsetting moment depicting animal deaths early on in the book, but it isn’t frivolous and the author develops the emotional reaction to it well.

The Goodreads blurb describes this as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend’s Exorcism. It honestly didn’t give me Bad Moms vibes at all, but it did feel like a blend of the latter title and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, only with nicer husbands. It’s still its own story, though.

Suburban Hell was a nice treat after several emotional reads and some books I really didn’t like, as well as a nice distraction from real life worries. If you enjoy campy horror, you’re definitely going to want to add this one to your list!

I am immensely grateful to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Suburban Hell will be out in September 2022!

This book was so good!!! Wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the best this year. Not familiar with this author but great story! Took me a while to start it but then I was hooked, the plot kept me guessing and I loved the characters. Super twisty! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Thank you NetGalley and Maureen Kilmer for an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a fun read, I usually find horror comedy to feel glib and forced but the dark humour really shone through without feeling fake.

The dialogue and writing was dry and witty, even with the exaggerated storyline the relationships felt real. With the rise of female ennui stories, I was apprehensive about reading about yet another privileged wealthy suburban woman. It was a pleasant surprise, the horror and comedy meshed together very well - although in my opinion PTA meetings will still be more horrifying to me than a demon running rampant!

I look forward to reading more stories by this author.

I loved this book! Judging by the cover I was afraid it would be somewhat chick-lit-ish, but it was actually rather creepy. I really appreciate it when in author write "possession fiction" and doesn't go over the top with spinning heads, levitating children and such. Ms. Kilmer got it just right. There's a subtle way that the black cloud begins to settle over the small group of friends, with a rotting smell, horrible nightmares and general concern for their friend Liz. whose backyard is emitting the smell of death and sewage. Liz does begin to change overnight, but it was her idea for a She-Shed that started it all, so I guess that's to be expected. Eventually the pals realized what is going on and have to choose to fight or flight and you have to read the book to find out what they chose and how that worked out.
#SuburabanHell #Netgalley

What a fun debut! I have heard this compared to my best friends exorcist and I think the comparison definitely applies. This felt like a mashup between the tv show Desperate Housewives and My best friends exorcism. This book was a whole lot of fun, with likeable characters, told through the point of view of Amy, a woman struggling with the loss of her sister to addiction. As her typically giving and loving friend Liz begins acting weirdly after breaking ground on a she-shed in her yard, things get hairy quickly. This is a fun story full of heart and truths about motherhood, grief, friendship, suburban life, and the power of love and forgiveness. I hope the author writes a sequel! Trigger warning for animal death (off page). Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Randomhouse for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!