I don't think I'll be climbing in any bodies of dark water soon. This was nice and creepy.

I loved how it was told from two points of view, one in 2019 and one in the 1930's. The books is filled with wonderful characters and creepy but also heartfelt moments.

Both stories revolve around a spring outside a resort that is thought to have healing properties. Yes, the spring gives, but it also takes away.

I enjoyed reading The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon. A story that will keep you wonder what is real and what is only in the minds of the characters.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for an advanced audio copy of this book. Told in two voices, Jax and Ethel, the Springs have seeming health-restoring properties. The book opens with Jax finding out that her sister, who is bipolar, has drowned in the family pool. This just isn’t any pool, it’s part of the Springs, where people, for generations have come for its restorative powers. But the Springs give and take away. This is a nice, suspenseful book. Characters act like they should and the narrators do a good job of taking a reader back and forth in time. The book is set for publication in Spring which means it would be great for a Summer book club and maybe make you want to hop in a pool. But only if you can see the bottom.

I love how McMahon can intertwine past and present in such a smooth manner. The biggest mystery of all is how all these characters fit in each other lives between past and present. The toggle between the 1920s and the present does not take away from the story but adds to the story as a whole. The story did start out slow, but it does pick up very quickly. There is always some type of supernatural to McMahon's story, but it's not out of the realm of real life. Each character has such depth and a full background story. However, they were not written in a traditional style of storytelling.

The story was Narrated by Joy Osmanski; Imani Jade Powers. Their voices sound very much alike. I could not differentiate who was reading, which is not a bad thing. Each narrator did a great job changing their voices to fit the characters. It's not easy to do. It helps set the tone. I love these narrators.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio and NetGalley for letting me listen to this amazing ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favorites for the year, already. This book gave me so many Frozen vibes, if Frozen was more spooky than Disney. I wouldn't necessarily call this a horror book. Mystery Thriller, maybe even with a bit of psychological thriller. I love when two stories intertwine throughout an entire book and the connection is not fully disclosed until the very end. The narrator's voice is also very relaxing and I loved it.

This story unfolds in rural Vermont on a timeline split between 2019 and 1929. In the present day, Jax is bothered when she notices that she's missed multiple calls from her sister Lexie. She chalks it up to another of her sister's manic episodes, part of the issues that have pushed the sisters apart over the years. She's dismayed the next day to hear that Lexie is dead - drowned in the pool at their late grandmother's estate - Sparrow Crest. When she arrives at Sparrow Crest to settle her sister's affairs, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and their property. Jax finds herself pulled into the research as well, and she discovers that there are dark secrets in the past of the estate and the family. In 1929, Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. She and her husband visit the Brandenburg Springs Hotel for a getaway weekend- the newest, grandest and most exclusive hotel in the Northeast. There, they can take the water in the hotel's natural spring to refresh themselves and enjoy it's healing properties. Ethel learns that the spring water is rumored to grant wishes. But every wish has it's price, and the spring takes in equal measure for what it gives.

When I was growing up, a family friend had an in-ground pool - very luxurious for our area.  It was a big treat when we got to go to Sue's house to swim in her pool, but I was always afraid to jump in the deep end.  I would kneel at the edge of the pool and peek over the edge - I imagined that there were sharks, killer whales, moray eels and every other scary sea creature hiding down there, ready to lunge out and eat me up.  I would dream about that for years.  I've always loved to swim, but I don't like dark water - water I can't see into.  The worst is swimming in a murky lake, and feeling something brush against you.  Is it driftwood or a giant snapping turtle?  No way to know.  This book very effectively taps into those fears and clutches the reader in its icy grip for the duration of the story. 

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Jennifer McMahon?  In my opinion, she is the reigning queen of the creepy atmospheric New England ghost story.  If you enjoy ghost stories and you don't know Jennifer McMahon, stop what you're doing and go check her out.  Go ahead, I'll wait… This was an excellent book. It was very creepy, slow-burning, Gothic mystery. I listened to the audiobook and I had a hard time turning it off - I felt compelled to keep listening up to the end of each chapter and to the end of the book. It was well narrated by Joy Osmanski and Imani Jade Powers. The dual narrators made it easy to tell which time period was happening, which was helpful. I love how Jennifer McMahon so skillfully weaves together the events of the past with the present. This is a recurring theme in her books - how the actions of the past continues to impact us in the present, and how sometimes the dead just can't seem to rest in peace. A very well done book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys ghost stories. Thank you to Netgalley and to Simon & Schuster Audio for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Joy Osmanski & Imani Jade Powers did a phenomenal job narrating, at first I couldn't differentiate the characters, it took me some time. It would be preferable to read the ebook or physical copy. Jax and Ethel were well-executed characters, very sympathetic with them and understanding all their feelings and actions. The story arouses my greatest fear, the thought of being immersed in dark and cold water is terrifying. The supernatural element enhanced the frightening atmosphere but did not dominate the story. full rtc

This book is set around a hot springs type pool and Jax & Lexie, who are sisters. It bounces from 1929/1930 and 2019. This my first book by Jennifer McMahon, I'll have to check out her other books. I've heard so many good things about this author and wasn't disappointed. I'm don't understand the woman from the 1930's kept saying her own name. I liked this book a lot and would recommend it to all you thrill and suspense seekers.

The story was absolutely captivating. Dark, gothic, and scary. Dual time; line, mystery thriller with a bit of historical fiction. Now I want to see this book as a motion picture .highly recommended.

I really liked this book. I liked the history, the back and forth, the mystery, and how it all came full circle at the end. I loved the characters and the storyline. A mysterious spring that grants wishes but always takes something in return. So good. I got chills!! It's been a long time since a book gave me chills.

It has taken me a while to write this review, mainly because I am still pondering this book more than a week later. I had a hard time stopping listening to it in order to go to bed and sleep. The premise, of a spring/pool that had healing properties and granted wishes, had grabbed my attention and made me request the audio of the book to listen to. The book has dual narrators and connects the present with the past in alternating chapters, sharing the stories of two women and their connection to the mystical pool. Both narrators did a fantastic job in bringing the story to life.

Bit by bit, through Ethel and Jax, we learn of the legend of the spring/pool. That the water has healing properties and that, if you whisper your deepest wish to it, it will grant that wish. However, everything has a price and you have no way of knowing what you’ll end up paying if you make that wish. And what of those who have drowned in the spring/pool? Do they really live on in it, appearing occasionally in order to coerce another soul into it? I will admit, I was not expecting the twist that came at the very end, in the epilogue.

I enjoyed the book. It drew me in and kept me engaged, both in wanting to figure out the mystery of the pool and the connection between the past and the present. The author did a great job of building that connection between past and present to a very satisfying conclusion. The mystery of the pool was less successfully resolved in that there was never really an answer as to how or why it did what it did. Much like life, it just was and you never got to see that how or why. The story was very atmospheric, even creepy at times, and you get to know the characters fairly well. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a read or listen that’s different than the norm.

This was a creepy, mysterious thriller that, with slight exception, kept me riveted. The story is told through alternating timelines and narration so it's important to pay attention....it can get a little convoluted. It drags a bit in some spots but on the whole is a really well done novel written by an exceptional author. Thank you NetGalley for the audio book version for advanced review.

3.5 / 5 stars

“The Drowning Kind”, by Jennifer McMahon, like all of McMahon’s books that I have read before, is a dual timeline novel that follows the lives of two main characters that eventually become interconnected. In present day Vermont, Jax is shocked to learn that her estranged sister Lexi has drowned in her pool. Ridden by guilt that she had ignored her sister’s phone calls leading up to her death, Jax travels to the family vacation house where her sister drowned to learn more about her sister and what led her to her death. In late 1920s New Hampshire, Ethel Monroe would do anything to have a baby. Her husband, Will, takes her to a hotel in Vermont said to have access to a spring with healing powers that grants wishes. As the stories unfold, so do many secrets of the spring and pool waters in Vermont, and of Jax’s and Ethel’s families.

The story is atmospheric and eerie. Personally, I preferred reading Ethel’s timeline, but became invested in both as the story progressed. At times, I thought it to be a bit long and repetitive, but overall I enjoyed how the two timelines were eventually woven together.

The narrator of the audiobook, Imani Jade Powers, did a good job with the narration. Throughout the story she preserves the eerie tone of the novel. It was also easy to distinguish between the two different voices in the story, which sometimes is a problem with dual-timeline books in audio format.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it to fans of supernatural horror. I would not call it scary, especially for a seasoned horror reader, but it has some creepy moments, and eeriness throughout. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Audio for the opportunity to listen to it in exchange for my honest review.

OMG I am speechless! This book definitely made it to my 2021 Favorites List! And OMG the Ending! It is Awesome! I just loved it! The story pulls you in and I couldn't put the book down. The story follows two main characters set in two different time periods. First in present day, Jax, a social worker that had left her life and family behind to move across country to escape her manic sister, Lexie. Jax couldn't get over how everything was left to Lexie after their Grandmother died including the house and pool which she loved. In 1929, the book follows Ethel Monroe, a newly wed who's only wish is to have a baby and how her and her husband stay at a hotel with a natural healing spring. Both characters have one thing in common, the natural spring and all it's mystery. The water can grant wishes but be careful what you wish for because there is always a price to pay. No Spoilers! I can not recommend this book enough! I want to thank #Netgalley for the early review copy. I really loved this one!

WOW. This book was amazing, I was sucked in from the very first page. I loved following the two timelines of Jax and Mrs. Monroe and thinking about what price I would pay to save the ones I love. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of this book but I'm going to sit with it for a while and then decide. I own but haven't read The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon and it has just shot up to the top of my TBR. I'm so excited to explore this author's backlist!

Creepy and beautiful all in one. This book is so hard to put into one description. One story is about Jax and Lex and another is Ethel Monroe. Both stories revolve around a spring that supposedly has healing properties and the ability to grant wishes. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I enjoyed the characters and the way the book goes between the two times. I didn’t love the ending though it’s a fitting ending.

Hooray for a new Jennifer McMahon book and bonus hooray for being able to get a copy of the audiobook to listen to from the publisher and NetGalley!

I believe this had assumed the top spot for the McMahon books I've read. The tone is perfect for a creepy ghost story. The protagonists were nicely fleshed out and the intertwined tales meshed perfectly. And I think the epilogue as absolutely fantastic. For me, this book was close to perfect.

I do admit to having some trouble with the narrators but, once I got really used to them, I was able to mostly let it go. I think this would be one that, when I read it again, because I probably will, I'll go for an ebook version instead.

If you've enjoyed any of McMahon's previous books, you'll love this one. If you haven't read anything by the author yet, this is a great one to start with.

I listened to this audiobook through NetGalley.

This is the first book I have read by this author. The writing style reminds me of Gillian Flynn.

It is suspenseful and creepy with lots of twists and turns. I am the first to admit that I generally don't believe in stories about ghosts and the like, but this one got me. I am a person that doesn't swim anywhere that I can't see the bottom. Now I believe I never will. I was hooked from the very start. The book fluctuates between the past and the present about a pool that can grant wishes, but the pool gives as much as it takes.

The Drowning Kind is a supernatural thriller that is super creepy, deeply atmospheric, and twisty in the best way.
I listened to the audiobook version, read by Joy Osmanski and Imani Jade Powers. The book is 11 hours and 48 minutes long.

Jennifer does a superb job blending the past with the present. In the 1920’s we meet Ethal, and in 2019 we meet Jax. We soon find out that both women are deeply connected to the springs. Both characters drew me into the story as I discovered the truth behind the springs.

This is my second book by Jennifer McMahon. I read The Invited in 2019 and loved it. It was one of my favorite books of 2019 so I was delighted to get started on The Drowning Kind.

This was a solid 4 star read for me until the very end and I had to bump it up one more star. The last few pages had a very unexpected twist!

Many thanks to Netgalley, the public, and Jennifer McMahon for the arc!!!

This had a beautiful cover and I listened to this as an audiobook. Narrated by Joy Osmanski; Imani Jade Powers and the did a decent job.
This was a good creepy, horror suspense novel and at times scared me. I’m not a huge fan of horror but this author did a great job.
The historical part was interesting and I couldn’t wait to see how it all played out. I high recommend this if you like scary type books. I feel like this would make for a great scary movie.
Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio via Netgalley for this audiobook. I’ve voluntarily given my honest review.