This was mostly a story about an abusive mother and the trauma she inflicted on her kids, then her daughter takes her in to make her home a kind of hospice when she is sick later in life. There are lots of descriptions of abuse and animal killing, and even more gaslighting by everyone around her daughter as she comes to terms with a demon inhabiting her mother via a rock. The gaslighting really made me mad, and I'm upset that this didn't resolve in a way that wasn't just more frustration. Can't say I'm thrilled that I read it, in all honesty, but it did pass the time.

One of Jennifer McMahon's spookier reads, My Darling Girl is an intricate, foreboding, spine tingling page turner. I did not want to put it down and I'm only sad that I'll have to wait for the next one.

Wow this book is a horror of a headcase but in a riveting way!!!!!!!!!!!!! I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down!!!!!

Wow, this book was awesome. This is definitely one of my top favorites by this author. I tried to read this months ago and just couldn't get into it but this time around I was hooked from the beginning. It went a completely different way than I could ever have anticipated and I loved it. I thought the first twist got me good but then I got to the second twist at the very end and my jaw dropped. Excellent, fantastic thriller with just a touch of horror.

Many thanks to Gallery Books/Gallery/ Scout Press for the gifted copy for my honest review!

Jennifer McMahon does it again. Such a fun, creepy read. The main character, Allison, grew up with an abusive mother, who then comes to live with her. But was she abusive or just possessed? You need to read to find out. Full of family love and spooky atmosphere. Great twists. What more could you ask for??

I love the way McMahon weaves together a story with different character perspectives, information and spooky atmosphere. Poor Alison is trying to do the "right" thing and allow her mom to move in with them for hospice care even though her childhood was filled with abuse. As her mom is present longer in her home things come up that make her wonder is this her mom who is evil or is there a darker energy working in her? And if so how does see keep her children safe while keeping her family from questioning her sanity?

I will read anything that McMahon writes because of their incredible ability to tell a compelling story. We're definitely entering the season where this book is especially appropriate with complicated familial relationships and demonic possessions. Old people are scary and McMahon brings the creepy factor to the story.

Good read for the spooky season! I like how McMahon gives us a not typical ending. It makes me sad, but that happens with these types of books sometimes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! This was creepy and chilling. I was definitely hooked early and it was a page turner.
That ending was BONKERS (in the best way!!!!)!

This book was just OK for me...... Enough to keep me interested to follow through to the end. Although I was initially intrigued and invested, the book fell flat for me about halfway through. Fortunately, picked back up at the end and earned a solid three stars from me. Thank you for the arc of this book.

Another great thriller from Jennifer McMahon.

After surviving an abusive childhood, Alison is now grown and a successful children's author. Her mother, who is dying of cancer, wishes to spend her last days close to her family so she moves in with Allison and her family. That's when strange things start to happen and Allison begins to wonder what is really the cause of all the horrors unfolding at her family's remote Vermont home.

Great book! Really scared the crap out of me. It played a lot with the twisted mother/daughter relationship.

Calling My Darling Girl a horror novel is sneaky--there are horror elements, and they help tell a story about reckoning with toxic parents and mental health.

My Darling Girl was dark with a constant underlying disbelief in what was happening in the story. It was difficult to separate the truth from the lies and manipulation. Even at the end, the reader is left questioning what is real and what is from the depths of an overactive imagination.

Jennifer McMahon has become a go to author for me! She doesn't world build, she makes you dive head first into the story. This one was no exception! My Darling Girl is a book about a daughter who takes in her ailing dying mother into her home that's she's built away from her childhood traumas and opens it up to care for her during her final days. Hoping to make amends and heal from her past, she has opened herself and her family up to a force she was not prepared to take on.

I really loved the atmosphere McMahon created within this story. While looking one way, you're almost blindsided when you get to the twists that are right around the corner. Definitely a thriller that's unique and fabulous! This has become something I've grown to love about this author, she never seems to disappoint you with a good thrill ride. She puts a bit of family drama in there beautifully to make this a well rounded novel. There's really not much to complain about, but I just felt the ending was a bit rushed and dropped off. Although it left me satisfied, I seemed to want something a bit more......overall though, I would HIGHLY recommend this one to everyone.!!

A great horror/thriller as always. Her books are always a must read for me, and this one didn't disappoint. Good plot and interesting characters. I would recommend this to horror fans.

I requested this without even reading the synopsis because I was seeing it all over Instagram and people loved it... and then I kept putting off reading it because I'd just gotten roped into helping my own not-so-great mother sort out her assisted living situation and just COULD NOT with the toxic moms. Whoops.

Anyway -- several months later, I ended up listening to the audiobook version, and it was not what I was expecting (in a good way because it didn't really bring anything up for me in the bad mom department, but also in a not so good way because I didn't really enjoy where the story went). I really struggled to understand Alison' reasoning behind inviting her mother into her home and then allowing her to have unsupervised access to her children, so it was really hard to not think she was a dummy, especially since the mom had money and could have just been parked somewhere to die (which sounds terrible, but some people are not worthy of forgiveness and/or millionth chances). The explanation for the mom's abusive behavior ended up feeling like a copout (though I did like the little twist at the end).

I think this book was just not a good fit for me on many levels, but I'd happily read future books by McMahon.


3.5 rounded down

I don't know what it is about Jennifer McMahon's books. I am not usually a fan of supernatural or other worldly books, but I devour hers in one sitting. They are so readable!

Allison O'Connor and her husband Mark live in Vermont with their 2 daughters-sweet Olivia (6) and sour Izzy (16). Allison is a children's book author based on her dog Moxie saving holidays. The setting is an idyllic little town at Christmas time. But this sweet family setting is about to be interrupted, when Allison's abusive, alcoholic, and estranged mother, Mavis, who is dying of pancreatic cancer comes to live with their family in the last few weeks of her life.

Positives:
McMahon really is good at creating creepy atmospheres. The sweet and cozy Christmas town setting worked so well to juxtapose the eerie atmosphere of the crazy plot
Well developed characters
The ending! It left me so unsettled

Negatives:
Toward the end of the book one of the main reveals was predictable

She has done it again with a great supernatural psychological thriller! eee-eeee-eeeee

Any book by Jennifer McMahon is an instant read for me and this one did not disappoint! It was creepy and the dread slowly builds up throughout the book. I would highly recommend, as this book is the perfect October read.

I love that this book takes place around Christmas. All seems to be going well, but then our MCs estranged Mom calls with stage 4 cancer and wants to spend the rest of her life with family nearby. Harmless right?