Great spooky story!!! Jennifer McMahon's books go a little slow but once they build up, they make fantastic ghost stories. There was so much I loved about The Drowning Kind. I loved how it had a bit of mystery and madness behind it as well.

Thank you @netgalley and @scoutpressbooks for my copy of THE DROWNING KIND. This book is creepy! The supernatural elements are done so well, I found myself unable to read late into the night for fear something might go wrong! At times, I felt like the story was just a little too far fetched. But that ending 😱 totally chilling and goosebump inducing.

The Drowning Kind is a psychological mystery paranormal thriller with a creepy gothic vibe by Jennifer McMahon. Released 6th April 2021 by Simon & Schuster on their Gallery imprint, it's 336 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written, extremely creepy and atmospheric, character driven mystery with a very strong paranormal ghost story subplot central to the story. It's told in a parallel timeline narrative which resolves at the denouement. I found the plotting quite uneven throughout and there were a lot of plot threads which were never resolved which niggled at me annoyingly.

There is some potentially triggering content including self harm (a *lot* of it), suicide ideation, death of a child, mental health issues, death by drowning, and a shed load of paranormal death in addition. There is a nebulous plot, but nothing linear at all. The scenes are strung together sequentially, but don't resolve to any meaningful degree. The end (for me) was something of an anti-climax. Despite the drawbacks, the scenes are beautifully rendered with clear and evocative prose and the characters are finely drawn with believable motivations and dialogue. The author is clearly good at her craft.

Three and a half stars, rounded up for the writing. This would be a good fit for "women's paranormal"/ghost story readers. For me, the ending was the weakest part of the story.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I really liked Jennifer McMahon The Winter People which was a good thriller. Yet, this novel left a lot to be desired. There was not much going on in the story. Also, there were many plot holes. The book never answered any of the questions in the story, which made for a disappointing read. I suggest to skip this and read her other books instead.

Thank you Netgalley for this copy of Drowning King by Jennifer McMahon.

This is only the second book Ive read from Jennifer McMahon, but I can say with certainty that:

1. Her writing gets better.
2. The plots get creepier.

The Drowning Kind was emersive not only do you become part of the family in present time, but you also have a sense of time shifting when she reaches you into the past. Not only will this book give you chills, but it will leave you with a sense of foreboding long after youve read the last page.

Wow!

That epilogue was the strangest part of the whole story.

This story is interesting and intriguing but maybe it wasn’t for me. The time jumps kept confusing me and things didn’t make sense. I couldn’t keep the characters straight and it drove me crazy, but I was able to finish the story, so that is an automatic 3 stars and I’ll give another star for the epilogue.

I didn’t find it thrilling or a horror, it was suspenseful-ish. If you want a dark story where you won’t get scared, this is your story.

I truly do not understand some of the less-than-stellar reviews on this one. I love Jennifer McMahon in general, but this one blew me away. Each one of her books just seems to get better than the last. I would have given this more than 5 stars if I could. I could not put it down and finished it in two sittings.

It's 2019 and Jax receives a whole bunch of missed calls from her sister Lexie. She doesn't answer, thinking Lexie is just in the middle of another one of her manic episodes. The next day Jax learns that Lexie is dead, having been found drowned in the pool on her grandmother's estate. Since she's basically the last living member of the family, it is up to Jax to head to the estate and figure out what to do with it. While she's there, she starts digging deeper into Lexie's death and the disturbing history of the estate.

This was a chilling gothic tale that's incredibly atmospheric and engrossing. There's a bit of magical realism involved, lending the story a ghostly, supernatural air that's hard to shake off. This is one that will stick with me for a long, long time. All the stars!

I always enjoy a Jennifer McMahon book for her creepy, supernatural, storylines. This one didn't disappoint and, although I did figure out a few of the twists early on, it was still a compelling and entertaining read. I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Supernatural stories always work for me. ALWAYS. The idea of an unknown element driving people / things to do weird actions interest me. But whats incredibly fascinating about THE DROWNING KIND is, how can a story about sorrow and grief be so chilling and haunting.

Jax goes searching for answers after her sister Lexie is dead, after drowning in the pool. But did she really drown? Jax isn’t sure about that. The path Jax takes reveals secrets about their family and history! Altering timeline of 1920s tells a concurrent story of a newly weds who come across a rumour about a pool that grants wishes. Ofcourse you should be careful with what you wish for.

4.25/5 —After The Winter People, The Drowning Kind is my second favourite from McMahon. A must read if you are seeking a atmospheric paranormal thriller.

Thank you Gallery / Scout Press via Netgalley for the arc.

A chilling novel of family secrets that will leave you searching for a warm sweater even on the hottest of days.

Jax has come back to the family home, after years away, only because of the death of her twin sister Lexi. Immediately Jax knows something is terribly wrong. How could Lexi, a competitive swimmer, have drowned in the home’s backyard pool? Upon entering the house, Jax also becomes very concerned about Lexi’s mental state, as evidence of Lexi’s mania is seemingly scattered all over the home.

Flashing back and forth between the modern day and 100 years ago, to the origin of the home on a former hotel site, the eerie mystery and magic worm their way into your subconscious, leaving you eager to pick up the story almost before you put it down.

A big thank you to Jennifer McMahon, Gallery/Scout Press, and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.

Should you like a copy of The Drowning Kind, please consider buying from BookShop.org – the online bookstore that gives 75% of each’s book’s profit margin back to independent bookshops. Find it here: https://bookshop.org/a/13638/9781982153922

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TW: sibling death, cutting, mental health, sibling jealousy, infertility, alcoholism, scary images, murder

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.
In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.
Release Date: April 6th, 2021
Genre: Family Thriller
Pages: 319
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
• The 1929 storyline was a nice change
• Jax sounding like a real person

What I Didn't Like:
• Jax being annoying and whiney
• Jax has a lot of headaches and you'll hear about everyone of them

Overall Thoughts: We get two storylines; One in 2019 and another in 1929.

2019 - Upon starting the story we meet Jax. We go about the day with her and how is she talks about how difficult having Lexi as her sister is. It's pretty much exhausting for her so much so that she's in therapy to deal with her emotions with her sister. The therapist advises not having a cell phone so that she's not in constant contact with her and so she has house phone. Lexi precedes to call the house phone over and over explaining that something important and only Jax would understand. Jax doesn't answer the phone and decides the next day that she is going to call Lexi back, unfortunately Lexie does not answer the phone despite all the times that she tries to call her.

This book is FULL on Jax putting out how jealous she was of Lexie. It kind of gets annoying. Who thinks these thoughts after finding out their only sibling is dead? As we move forward and get to meet Jax's family; her dad & aunt we get more of an idea about why she is the way she is. Her dad is an alcoholic who suffers from a mental illness and encourages Lexie to be off her meds. They are super close. Jax feels left out. She does acknowledge that this is her own fault. As we read on Jax finally comes around to that she misses her sister and was never there for her. The funeral has a ton of towns people show up and say kind words about her. Jax feels like she never knew her.Isn't it ridiculous how complicated family relationships are? Jax is jealous of her sister Lexie because she's a natural at things and makes them look easy but she suffers from Manic episodes. It's so silly that you would be jealous of someone who has to deal with so much. That is family and being human I suppose. Jax slips into madness. Is it the house or her grief that's making her question everything.

1929 - We meet a Ethal. She struggles with wanting a baby and no matter what she does nothing seems to work. Her husband decides to take her to a hotel with a natural spring that promises to heal the sick and wounded. In desperation she makes a wish to have a baby. She becomes friends with the owner of the hotels wife, Eliza. Skip ahead and we see that she's died of a drowning. Ethal finds out the hard way that she has to continue drinking the spring water or she'll lose the baby. They end up having to keep giving their daughter spring water or her health will rapidly deteriorate. They decide to build a house close to the spring so it's easier to give her the water.

There's a part that Maggie says, "They all shook their heads, clucked their tongues. I said nothing. Let them think what they will." ohhhh that's from Psycho! He's talking it his mother "Norman Bates: People always mean well! They cluck their thick tongues and shake their heads and suggest, oh so very delicately! [beat] Of course, I’ve suggested it myself. But I hate to even think about it. She needs me. It . . .it’s not as if she were a. . .a maniac . . .a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. [beat] Haven’t you?"

Final Thoughts: That's about it. I guess I thought this book was going somewhere that provided more like an A-ha moment. It's definitely a wonderful ghost story that has you going back to are they ghosts or aren't they? 1929 ruins the 2019 storyline as you already know that Maggie survives and what happens to Shirley. Mental illness runs in the family and you start to wonder if it's all bringing down Jax, Lexie, and Ted. Plus as you notice Jax is now drinking way more than when she got to the house. Poor Diane (who is a little crazy because she's also taking water to give to her girlfriend) but for having to be the sane one in all of this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

ax and her older sister, Lexie, have had a complicated relationship. So much that Jax moved across the country to put some distance between them. And then one day Lexie calls her - nine times - and Jax ignored them all. The next day their aunt, Diane, calls Jax to give her the news that Lexie drowned in the pool at their grandmother's estate, Sparrow Crest. The very pool that has claimed life before. The very pool that was at the center of Lexie's mania. As Jax tries to come to grips with her sister's death, she realizes that there may be something more sinister at play and that the pool at Sparrow Crest has a history going back nearly a hundred years.



Jennifer McMahon knows how to write a good ghost story. When I hear the word "gothic" I always think of stories where the home (usually a large, historic home) plays a huge part in the story. Sparrow Crest fits the billing perfectly. But not just the home, but the pool. And the water that feeds the pool. Jax is a sensible character. She looks for the reason in the unexplainable. She moved across the country to get away from her flaky sister. The story moves between past and present, starting with Ethel Monroe and her desire to have a baby taking her to the Brandenburg Springs Hotel, which is the future home of Sparrow Crest. Jax struggles to understand what drove Lexie to her final act of madness, but in the end it doesn't matter. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. I will say that the twist took me by surprise.



Bottom Line - The Drowning Kind is a ghost story, through and through. As a reader you have to decide if you are in the "believer" camp with Lexie or the "non-believer" camp with Jax. Either way, you are in for a thrilling read!

Gee, I'm super late with my review of this book! But better late than never! so, here it is:
This is a review of both the audio and ebook edition of the book. I read this one together with the ladies in my reading challenge group. We divided the book into chunks and discussed those after reading them. I have to say that made reading the book a fantastic experience. While I'm a horrible reading buddy because I have a hard time stopping at certain spots to discuss if the book draws me in so much, I did manage to read this one without reading too far ahead. I loved the discussions we had about our theories on what was going on in the story and why the characters did what they did, said what they said, and the things that happened to some of the characters. This is a great book for book discussions and buddy reads!

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon is a thrilling supernatural historical horror novel. This is one story that is told with different points of view and different timelines, one in the current and one in the past in 1929.

Jax hasn’t had much contact with her older sister, Lexie, lately due to her manic behaviour but after finding numerous missed calls Jax gets the news that Lexie has died. Jax immediately head to their grandmother’s estate that Lexie had inherited and finds that Lexie had been looking into the past.

In 1929, Ethel Monroe is married to her husband, Dr. Will Monroe, and she desperately wants to have a child of her own. Ethel tries everything she can to have her own child but nothing has worked so in order to cheer her up and distract Ethel her husband plans a trip to Vermont.

For me when starting The Drowning Kind it was the type of book that felt as if I were reading two different stories. It didn’t take long though to get into both sides as I wondered how and when all of this would tie together. There was just enough intensity to the events to give a slightly chilling vibe while reading that also slowly built along the way to it’s highly chilling ending.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really wanted to like this book but I found the story to be dull. I did like how Ethel story connected to the present day, but over than that this story was a miss for me. Also that ending left me confused as to what happened with the main character.

" Some flowers bloom late But the late ones, they always smell the sweetest"

The Drowning Kind, by Jennifer McMahon, is a supernatural, thriller story based on a family who owns a mysterious pool.

The story starts in current days, social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie saying that someone is in their house pool and haunting her.
Jax thinks that it is just one of her sister's episodes But soon found that her sister is drowned in the pool at their Grandma's estate.

Jax returns for the funeral and to settle affairs and found that her dead sister was doing research about the family and grandma's house history and her finding was way more sinister than what she thought.

This story is dark, haunting, sinister, and captivating. The story unravels in two different timelines alternates between the late 1920s and the present day with narrators, Ethel in the past, and Jax in the present day.
I loved the plot, characters, and Jennifer McMahon's writing style. The overall story had balanced thriller, suspense, and horror elements and I enjoyed the history of the family/Pool. Also, the story shows another aspect of human life that we do whatever it takes to fulfill our desperate needs.
Jennifer McMahon has become one of my favorite thriller authors and I enjoyed her previous books a lot and I'm looking forward to reading her future books.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a good spooky, horror, thriller. This will be a great pick for Halloween read!

Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First of all I love the cover! It was the first thing that drew me to the book. But then as I began to read I mean holy moly what a ride!

The story itself is told from two different points of view while also going from last to present timelines. I typically have trouble when there is that much going on but I get like the author did a good job describing the differences.

The twists and turns that this story takes left me on the edge of my seat! This was a spooky, creepy thriller that left me totally in disbelief!

Another great novel by Jennifer McMahon. She has a great talent to immediately draw you into her world and make you care about her characters, even when they seem rather unlovable. It's good to remember not to read her books right before bed....

Usually, I really like McMahon's books. But this one for me sort of fell a little flat. I did like it, but it wasn't for me this time around. I was really looking forward to it though. There's always the next one!

2/5 Stars

One of my all time favorite authors once again hitting it out of the ball park. WOW! Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.