Suburban Hell

What do you get when you mix chick/mom lit with horror? You get "Suburban Hell," the perfect melding of both genres. Not too horrifying and not too mom-ish. Just the ideal book for a beach read or when you want something lite!

Four women with the prerequisite toddlers and Kindergarteners -Melissa, Amy, Liz, and Jess want a "She Shed". Well, one starts to get built but unbeknownst to Liz, the mom building it, something horrible is going to be unleashed. And it really isn't pretty!

Now Amy has to take steps to release what has been unleashed. So she reaches out to the others in their little group to stop what has taken over their pal.

I loved this book. The women were so diverse. The author made them come alive for me. I would want these women for my own friends, and the neighborhood was just so perfect. It was like stepping back in time what with the parties that would close off the streets and the school fairs. However, this book also had the feel of the modern what with the kitchen reveal that one neighbor devised.

Frankly, I don't know why I loved this book but suffice it to say that I did, and it is going to go on my 'comfort book' shelf so I can re-read this book for Halloween!

*ARC supplied by the publisher PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, the author, and NetGalley.

Described as Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism, Suburban Hell is a horror comedy. I would also throw in The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires minus the vampires. Amy, Jess, Melissa, and Liz like to avoid the PTA and "Mom Mafia". They decide to build a well deserved She Shed in Liz's backyard. The night they get together to christen the space with a little toast something else opens up besides a hole in the ground. After that Liz begins to change and their neighborhood becomes a nightmare.

I love the premise of this book and the combination of suburban humor and horror. It never gets too scary so I think readers who usually avoid horror might like it. It's the perfect Summer read. There are a lot of Summer activities going on and I felt like I was really there. I loved the creativity of some of the horror scenes. Let's just say I feel justified in my mistrust of Roombas.

A strength of the book is the characters. I liked the four friends and love how the overall theme of the book is friendship. I would love them as neighbors! And even though i am not a Mom or live in the suburbs I could relate to them. This book is everything I hoped it would be. After I was finished I wanted to look up the author's other books but this is Maureen Kilmer's debut!

Suburban Hell will be published August 30! Thank you to Putnam Books and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Awesome ! If you loved The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires this is your type of book!
Amy is not a fan of suburbia and does very little to fit in. She does however, cherish her neighbor group of Jess, Liz and Melissa and notices right away when her best friend Liz begins acting strangely. Could it be the hole in the yard she is digging to build a She Shed for the four of them to hang out in? If you like campy thrillers and have a healthy disdain for suburbia and PTO bullies then Suburban Hell is for you!
#NetGalley #NetGalleyreads #PENGUINGROUP #Putnam #GPPutnamsSons #SuburbanHell #MaureenKilmer

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

This was an absolutely fantastic horror debut. I really love horror that juxtaposes the horrors of everyday life with even more sinister things. For example, Buffy the Vampire Slayer did a really good job at showing that vampires weren't the only monsters - high school could also be hell, parents could die, relationships were hard. Suburban Hell showed that being an adult is difficult, but even more so that being a mother in today's world is challenging. Women still face societal expectations of filling the subservient role of childrearing and housekeeping, and men seem to find excuses to not carry their share of the burden.

But alongside this, we also see a group of friends face off against a possession... and that entity wants them DESTROYED.

Absolutely loved this book. Highly recommended for horror fans.

Great book! Scary and funny (always a winning combination). Reminds you of Grady Hendrix and 70s horror movies. Interesting characters full of female/maternal wisdom and badass-ery. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.