This was not bad but also not my favorite, which means it’s getting a solid 2.5 stars from me. The premise was interesting, and seeing about the lives of three generations was interesting too, but overall this one just didn’t grab me in the way that some other books have lately. It wasn’t a miss, and I love a good ghost story, it just wasn’t one that hooked me into avoiding other things to read it and that’s okay! They can’t all be new favorites, right?!

I’m seeing in other reviews that if you liked her book The Winter People, you’ll enjoy this one. If you like stories spanning decades, ghost stories, and overlying plot styles, this could be a good one for you!

Helen and Nate leave their jobs and the life they’ve built in Connecticut for a more simple life in rural Vermont. As they build their house, the secrets of the town they’ve moved to swirl around them, reeling them in. Helen and Nate begin seeing strange things, and as Helen is drawn to the history of the land she and Nate now live on, it becomes clear that something is speaking through the years to Helen, and that danger is close at hand. Rumors of treasure and a missing woman tie them to Olive, a young girl who lives nearby and is searching for her own truth, one that will change things for herself and Helen forever.

I’ve read several books of Jennifer McMahon’s — The Night Sister, Burntown, The Winter People — and liked them all, but The Invited really impressed me. McMahon writes of a haunted house, but not one that was made haunted by negative events, rather a house that was made haunted by choice, a fascinating take on a popular theme. The characters were well crafted, flawed but compelling, making it easy as a reader to enjoy the book and get drawn in ourselves, tied to the characters before we realize it. The switching POV from Helen to Olive and other women tied to the land Helen lives on and that Olive searches gave scope and heart to the story, as well as ramping up the suspense as these women’s lives become tied closer and closer together, leading to the climax of the story.

While the book started off slow to me, I quickly became engaged and could barely put the book down, needing to know what happened to Helen and Olive, what happened to the missing woman, what happened to all of the women who had been hurt and lost in the story. There was so much happening, from Helen and Nate’s relationship to Olive’s relationship with her father, the secrets that a small town can hold, how fear and anger can ruin not just one’s own life but also the lives of others, and that the past is never truly so far behind us as it affects the present quite deeply. I know I’m going to be thinking about this one for some time yet.

The Invited is set to be released on April 30, 2019.

The Invited is a gothic ghost story set in Vermont that follows a couple, Helen and Nate, as they build their new home on a plot of land that is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of a woman named Hattie. Helen becomes obsessed with Hattie and her story, and begins to research her story to find out the truth behind her life.

I absolutely loved the scenes in this book with Hattie and her ghost. McMahon is fantastic at writing creepy, unsettling scenes. I also adored Olive. She was precocious, sure of herself, and determined to reach her goal of finding Hattie's treasure, as well as her missing mother. I especially appreciated that Olive was a strong young woman, but in a believable sense. She wasn't a 30 year old in a 14 year old's body, like characters often seem to be.

The biggest problem I had throughout the book were the super easy coincidences. All of the artifacts that Helen found came to her way too easily. It's hard to go into details without naming spoilers, but she really didn't have to work hard at all to find out everything about Hattie and her life.

I also appreciated the underlying theme of victim blaming, and history's tendency to believe men and demonize women.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys ghost stories and extended family dramas-this one blended those two story elements very well.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an early copy of this book for review!

Such a fun and creepy read. Another solid read from McMahon who deserves real props for this one. The mysterious bog, magic, superstition and ghosts, all make fora successful yarn. Happy to push this one .

Helen and Nate have decided to quit their pedestrian day jobs as teachers in the city and move out to the wilds of Vermont where they plant to build their dream house. Trouble begins when their personal belongings begin to disappear, not to mention Helen keeps thinking she's seeing ghosts. As Helen's curiosity gets the better of her, she starts researching the history of the land where they are building and the mysterious woman who may have been hanged on their property back in 1909.

Suspense builds as the story of Helen and Nate intertwines with the (mis)adventures of a local girl. Together they discover that the past doesn't always stay buried.

5 Stars!!

First thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me review a advance copy of this book.
Jennifer McMahon has written a great suspense story in The Invited. If you liked her book The Winter People you will certainly enjoy this one as well. With a great combination of history and a little bit of supernatural it is a enjoyable read.

I absolutely loved this multi-layered, multi-generational ghost story and mystery, steeped in tragedy.

Jennifer McMahon is masterful ghost storyteller - she has gone back to her roots with The Invitation with a straight up ghost story that will scare your socks off. I haven’t been this spooked by a book since reading Simone St. James’ The Broken Girls which had a similar gothic, haunting vibe. And I so appreciated the nod to history geeks such as myself here.

I have long been a fan of this author and I think this is one of her strongest books yet! Recommend!

Thank you to Doubleday Books for my advance copy.

I don’t usually read ghost stories, but as a fan of Jennifer McMahon, I automatically read her latest book without even knowing what it was about. Even if it wasn’t what I’m used to reading, I was far from being disappointed!
Helen and her husband make a life-changing decision to leave city, buying 44-acres of property out in the sticks and building their own home in pursuit of a much simpler life. Once they find out that the land has been reported as haunted, and they each begin to experience very strange occurrences, their lives become anything but simple. As Helen attempts to uncover the full story of the property’s original owner, she finds herself pulled into a very complex history. Again, these types of stories aren’t usually what I gravitate toward, but this one definitely held my interest and made me want to continue reading until I could find out the full story right along with Helen.
NOTE: Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Helen and Nate abandoned their city lives for rural Vermont, where they will build their dream home on their new property, amidst the woods and the nearby bog. Helen, formerly a history teacher, is intrigued when learns about Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there nearly a century ago. Hattie's tragic story becomes merged with the house when Helen used materials related to Hattie (such as a wooden beam made from the oak tree where she was hanged) to decorate the interior of the house she's building, unwittingly inviting Hattie in. Hattie wants something from Helen, and she can't rest until she gets it.

The Invited draws you in right from the start, with a prologue from 1924, told in Hattie's perspective, relating the events that lead up to her death. At the end of it, two mysteries remain—the location of the Breckenridge "treasure" (if it even exists) and what happened to Hattie's daughter after her mother's death.

Decades later, the subject of Hattie and her treasure has dominated the imagination and gossip of local residents. They say Hattie's ghost roams the bog, luring unsuspecting victims into its depths, never to be seen again, and people are warned to stay away from the area when darkness nears.

Newcomers Helen and Nate are unaware of the legend when they move to the area, learning about it only after experiencing several unexplained events that leave them feeling uneasy. Meanwhile, their teenaged neighbor Olive relentlessly searches the bog for the elusive treasure, hoping that finding it will result in her missing mother returning home.

The story is told in the alternating perspectives of Helen and Olive. It was intriguing to follow Helen in her mission to discover everything there is to know about Hattie and her descendants, and interesting to see her relationship with Nate alter somewhat as they go through the stress of building their home. Olive's treasure hunt, as well as her search for her mother, and her relationship with her father and aunt, were equally enjoyable to read about, and I felt a great deal of sympathy for her every time she faced obstacles in finding out what really happened the night her mother left. It was Hattie whom I was most interested in, however, because she was the most fascinating character of all.

Overall, this was a great read. Layers of mysteries, lots of unexpected twists, and a cast of characters that will long linger in my memory. If you enjoy reading books were dark histories of the past affect the lives of those in the present, then this is definitely a book for you.

This is the first novel of McMahon's I've read, and I'm not sure how her work managed to escape my notice until now, but I'll absolutely be reading more of her books in the future!

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Doubleday via Netgalley.

Thank you Doubleday Books/Netgalley for allowing me to read this! It was my first Jennifer McMahon novel, and I was not disappointed.
My actual rating is a 3.5.
This novel is about a couple who pick up their lives and move to a piece of land where they want to build their own home. It turns out that their little bit of heaven has a chilling past. Helen, a former history teacher, is naturally drawn to figuring out what exactly happened. The legend has it that Hattie Breckenridge lived and died on that property a century before. As she collects pieces for her future dream home, she also conjures up the answers to what happened to the three generations of Breckenridge women.
That synopsis drew me in as soon as I read it. I love a GOOD ghost story. This didn't disappoint as far as the story goes. The writing style, on the other hand, was not my favorite. It was very repetitive, and choppy at times.
I enjoyed the journey that Helen went through in this novel. She annoyed me a little at first, but then she grew on me. I would have wanted to know about the past of the place I was building my dream house on. In case you didn't know, the story has a witchy vibe to it! She unravels all of this in-depth information that I found very interesting. There is a lot of murder, and burning of buildings. I didn't want to read anything about the present day, but it did eventually catch up to the current times. In the present is a young girl named Olive, who would like to find out where her mother is. She left and never came back. This story is just one big vicious circle.
It was a very average book, but I didn't hate it. I would definitely read other books from McMahon. I'm interested to find out what her older books are like. If you're thinking about reading this I recommend that you at least give it a try!

Ms McMahon's latest novel is an extremely well done ghost story. An exception in the genre that looks to terrify above any considerations of being a well done literary work. The story opens at a point in the early 20th century in a small town in Vermont. After a fire in the school house killing some students the townspeople are met running to the home of Hattie Breckinridge who is suspected of being a witch and causing the blaze. This is not Salem,Massachusetts in the 17th century and the area does not have a near term history of hunting down and killing suspected witches. But the villagers do capture Hattie and hang her while Hattie's daughter Jane, hides from the horror done to her mother.
The author than moves to a period about a century after the killing of Hattie and centers on two groups of people. The first are Helen and her husband Nate who are both middle school teachers in an upscale private school in Connecticut. The have reached the conclusion that their lives would be bettered if they gave up teaching and moved to a rural area to live a much simpler life of self maintenance. They make this happen and buy land on the outskirts of the village that Hattie and her daughter lived in. They immediately begin building their own home based on plans and a budget Nate draws up.
Olive, a 14 year old girl and her father are long term residents of the village. They have just gone through the trauma of Olive's mother deserting the family and completely disappearing. They are also aware of an old legend that is "common knowledge" in the town. It is that Hattie, before being killed had hidden her not inconsiderable treasure somewhere near her home in order to preserve it for Jane. Olive's mother was always stating that she and her daughter were destined to find the treasure and greatly improve their lives.
The novel describes events following the moving in of Helen and Nate. This involves a series of purchases by Helen of material connected to Hattie for her new home, the appearance of a ghost like figure to her, and Nate's discovery of an albino deer. Such a deer is indicated as being a manifestation of an attempt by a person departed to communicate with the living.
The events of the story are definitely causes of the reader unable to put the book down until reaching the end. The writing is crisp and there are no undo descriptions of ghostly horror. It is a mesmerizing novel and one that continues Ms McMahon's already well earned literary reputation and the desire to continue to look for her books.

Another great read by Jennifer McMahon. Would be an excellent title for a book club read. The Invited is a work history combined with the small town drama, wrapped up in a well written ghost story. A smooth, easy read from start to finish.

Cannot wait to order this title for our patrons!

This was an interesting ghost story, in a small town with a haunted history. This gave me gothic vibes, a la Susan Hill, but set in America (Vermont). A mysterious bog, witches, hidden treasures, family trees - The Invited was different and intriguing. I liked the characters and the alternating POVs. The middle was a bit slow and the ending was predictable, but I enjoyed the read overall. I’ll always check out a Jennifer McMahon story, given the chance. This one is perfect for October or a cold winter night.

Jennifer McMahon does it yet again with another unputdownable book. . The novel centers around Nate and Helen who leave their teaching jobs to build their dream home in rural Vermont . Helen begins seeing ghosts and Nate becomes obsessed with a white doe. They become acquainted With Olive whose Mother is missing and father is distraught. Legend of Hattie Breckinridge a woman who hanged a century ago ties all these together . Thriller , ghost story and tragedy makes another must read by this fantastic author

Thjs was my first experience with this author, and I was blown away. Her writing was flawless, and the story came together seamlessly. The chapters alternative between a couple different perspectives, but not so much that I lost my place or lost any interest. While I figured out about halfway where the story was heading, I didn't figure out how it would get there until it was basically spelled out for me, which was kind of nice, since it kept me fully invested in the mysteries at the core of the story. I love the fact that after experiencing so much tragedy in life, several decades of women have a "home" they can all return to in death. A VERY strong five stars.

This was an interesting ghost story with some twists and turns.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for this advanced readers copy.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Invited by Jennifer McMahon. I loved the Winter People - and McMahon's next installment is just as eerie.
Although there are two timelines, McMahon keeps the reader mostly in present time with a young couple, Helen and Nate, that buy land in a small Vermont town.. They want to build their own home. They find that the land was once owned by a woman who was hanged many years ago - a woman that the townspeople said was a witch.
Strange things start to happen to the couple as they start to settle into their new home.and they hear the whispers that the land they own is haunted by the past.
McMahon weaves characters like a loom - they are interesting and add to the story line. This is a good read and I was not disappointed.
Recommend.

I loved it. If you like books with a little supernatural element to them then this is for you. I scare easily so I don't read horror, but Jennifer McMahon adds just enough "spook" to keep you on edge, but not terrify you.

Right off the bat, I have to say I LOVED this novel!! In full disclosure, I read the synopsis for The Invited and was a little hesitant because I had a feeling it wouldn’t be up my alley. Well being that I am a huge Jennifer McMahon fan, I decided to dive in anyway and boy am I thankful I did!!!

It’s been a long time since a book has drawn me in the way The Invited has. The storyline was extremely original, which is what initially hooked me. As I got deeper in, I found myself entranced by the fascinating characters and the multi-layered plot— so much so that at one point I found myself staying up into the wee hours of the morning because I simply could not put this book down!! The Invited is a 5 star read that could quite possibly be my favorite from Jennifer McMahon to date! This novel is an absolute must read- you definitely won’t want to miss this gem!

Jennifer McMahon knocks another one out of the park with The Invited! I have read every book she's written but this one was the most creepy of them all. I typically devour her books in one sitting but this one I savored and read strictly during the day because I was afraid Hattie was lurking outside my window at night. In true McMahon style, she expertly weaves past and present in this alluring ghost story with an ending that blew my mind. I really came to love Opal and Helen, feeling towards the end that they were long-time friends of mine. Jennifer McMahon has a knack for scaring the daylights out of me and connecting me with her characters. This book was stellar!