The Drowning Kind tells the story of Jax and Lexie through their life growing up at Sparrow Crest and as adults. It also focuses on Ethel and her husband, Will, in 1929. Jax and Lexie as kids would play and swim the pool behind Sparrow Crest, their grandmothers home. Weird things happening were normal to them, until they weren't. Are their strange powers surrounding the pool? If so, what or who?

I really enjoyed this one! It might be one of the best paranormal suspense mysteries I have ever read. I loved the historical aspects to it with Ethel's point of view and how that added to Jax's present day story line. It helped to add to the lore of the pool at Sparrow Crest. Jax was such a relatable character. She was easy to empathize with and was so human about everything that was going on. The ending really got me. The foreshadowing to it was perfect, the reveal was done so well. I still couldn't help not liking the ending even though that was the only way that I think the book could properly end. I still don't know how to feel about it and I am still thinking about it, even days after finishing the book. That is how I know the book was really good.

I had a hard time finishing this book, parts of it I loved and parts were very confusing. I read it as an audiobook and I wonder if it would have been better as a hard copy/kindle. The narration was not the best and at times, I completely lost interest. The world of the paranormal is not my favorite topic, however I would give this author another try with a different book.

The Drowning Kind is a beautifully written supernatural tale. Once again this author does not disappoint, I have read each of her books and always look forward to the next. Her ability to spin a story by shifting between time periods is extraordinary. She makes you feel like you are in each one and the time period switches make sense and do not seem abrupt.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio for my advance listeners copy of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon.

I have a few books by McMahon on my TBR, but The Drowning Kind was the first one that I have actually read by her. And after finishing it, I will definitely be bumping the others up on that list.

The Drowning Kind had major creepy and eerie vibes for me! It was more horror and gothic than I usually go for, but I'm so glad that I branched out with this one. It had a good pace and enough mystery to it that I was fully invested, even if I was able to figure out some things before they happened.  The story does skip around between multiple timelines/narrators, and there were parts that had me on the edge of my imaginary seat when the suspense was drawn out for maximum effect.

One thing that really stuck out to me was the vividness of the descriptions thoughout the book. McMahon wrote it so well, that I could see it all perfectly in my mind as I read/listened. I was transported right to that black pool of water and could feel the pull and danger of it. And I have to say that I do NOT want to go swimming in a lake or ocean for a good while after finishing this book!
And that epilogue -- It completely blew me away. So consider yourself warned!

The narration was done by Imani Jade Powers and Joy Osmanski. I have listened to other books by each of them before, and Powers is actually one of my favorites to listen to. They both did a fantastic job with the characters and building suspense for me as I listened to them. Their voices and storytelling really complemented each other for this one. I would absolutely recommend this to my fellow audiobook lovers, or as one for an audiobook newbie to try out.

Jennifer McMahon is an excellent suspense author who, to no ones surprise, has delivered yet another complex and well plotted mystery thriller. The Drowning Kind is McMahon at her best, going from one POV to another and managing to have distinct voices for each point of view. The voice casting for the audiobook only adds to the voices of Ethel Monroe and Jax.

Creepy and twisty, it is a great hair-raising read for a rainy weekend. Albeit, away from the swimming pool.

This book contained the perfect amount of creepiness for me without being too scary to handle. I loved the atmosphere, with the big manor house and dark, deep pool of spring water. The two time lines did a great job of introducing the supernatural aspects while still leaving space for doubt.

Beyond the enjoyment of the supernatural and creepy aspects, I liked that there were deeper themes happening throughout the book. It broached topics of infertility, mental health, alcoholism, and complicated family dynamics. All those threads really hooked me in and propelled me through the story.

I received both the audio and eARC of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon and it was a wonderful experience to have both. I was able to listen while I walked and then read the eARC while waiting in traffic. I’ve never done that before, and it was a fun!

This was the first book I have read by this Jennifer McMahon, but I know that she is popular in the book community and I am now eagerly looking forward to reading more!!

This story hooked me after the first couple of pages!! It’s a suspensive and haunting modern-age ghost story with a creepy mystery vibe to it. I’ll never look at an unknown body of water quite the same way and I’ll NEVER ever dip my foot into one again!!

The book/audio rotates between two timelines, we follow the story of Jax, in present day, who is searching for answers as to how/why her sister Lexie’s died in the pool on her grandmother’s estate. A pool they visited often over the years, swimming in the summertime. Alternately, we follow Ethel, Jax’s great grandmother as a newlywed in 1929. Ethel desperately wanted to have a baby and couldn’t concentrate on anything else, so her husband suggested a getaway staying at a hotel right next to the famous Branderburg Springs, a natural spring known to grant wishes. Ethel couldn't wait to visit and believed that this natural spring would grant her wish to have a child, but what she didn’t know is.... what lies beneath the surface of the waters? This magical pool will give...but, also take away.

The narrator Joy Osmanski did a great job of keeping me engaged throughout the entire story.

I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out the whole story and yet, I didn’t want it to end! That’s a five-star book for me! I highly recommend!

I absolutely loved this creepy thriller from Jennifer McMahon. While it's definitely not one that I would want to listen to while I was home alone at night in the dark, The Drowning Kind is the best kind of ghost story, the kind that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, the kind that makes you turn around to make sure there's no one behind you, and maybe even to leave the lights on. Joy Osmanki is phenomenal as the narrator, and does a masterful job of drawing the listener into the story. Don't miss this one, whether you listen or read!

What an atmospheric read this was. Which honestly shouldn’t surprise me, it’s Jennifer McMahon after all, to me she is the queen of atmosphere. I know that when I pick up one of her books two things will happen: 1) I’m going to read about some amazing family dynamics and 2) I’m going to feel chills run up and down my spine. The Drowning Kind was no exception. Told in 2 different timelines we follow the story of Lexie, who inherits her grandmother’s house and land. On this land lies a pool in which Lexie is found dead in one day. Her sister Jax is left with questions and is determined to get these questions answered by staying at sister’s house and going through all of her stuff. Let the creepy-ness begin.

At the same time, we're following newlywed Ethel Monroe back in 1929 as she comes across this natural spring, while on vacation, that is said to grant wishes. Ethel’s wheels start spinning because there is something that she truly wants and maybe this spring will make her dreams come true. The thing that no one knows is that wishes cost and the spring takes as it gives.

This novel will take you on a ride, albeit a confusing one at times, but the unraveling of the mystery is told so well that everything falls right into place. This is hands down a five star book for me. Highly recommend!

The drowning kind
I'd like to start by saying that this is either the fourth or the fifth book that I've read by Jennifer McMahon. I'm supremely drawn to her storylines because they have this questionable element to them. Most of my experience as a reader is trying to decide if the book's forces are supernatural or natural, imagined or made up.
She has the “unreliable narrator” down. And it's not used in a cliche way.

She always comes through in surprising me even though I know her format and kind of know what to expect.

I look forward to it each and every time.

I'm going to be so vague in this review I want you to go in with the title and nothing else.
THE DROWNING KIND

This book reminded me of the movie
THE FOREST circa 2016, Available now on @Netflix
about the two sisters and one of the sisters has problems and one day she goes into this forest where it is known that those who want to be lost go.

It's a real forest in Japan.
Anyhow, one sister is missing and the other sister kind of goes looking after her, looking to find her. The Forest is a great movie, not to be confused with INTO THE FOREST, 2015, on @showtime. Both good movies.

If you liked THE DROWNING KIND by Jennifer McMahon then I recommend THE FOREST and if you like THE FOREST then I recommend THE DROWNING KIND.
Whoa! Nelly!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to #netgalley #gallery #scoutpress for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

Special thanks for the audiobook version. It was an immersive experience and I made a playlist inspired by it called:
SWIMMING UNDERWATER AT MIDNIGHT WITH MY EYES CLOSED
On Spotify!

It's almost like a fairy tale: if something ails you, visit the magical waters of Brandenburg Springs. It will give you whatever you wish for, take away whatever suffering you're experiencing - but not without a price. The water gives, and the water takes.

These waters are the backdrop of The Drowning Kind. Jax, our main character, spent her summers growing up with her sister, visiting her grandmother's estate with the waters right in their backyard, their summertime swimming pool. They heard myths and legends about the waters, that they were haunted and magic, had some mystical powers. They knew their aunt drowned in the water when she was a child. Decades later, Jax receives a call from a family member: her estranged sister, her best friend growing up who inherited the massive estate with the magical waters, drowned right there in the pool. Jax travels back to Brandenburg to bury her sister, learning more and more about what really lies beneath the surface of the water.

The book rotates between Jax and her great-grandmother, Ethel Monroe, a married woman living in the late 1920s. Ethel is 37 and desperately wants to become pregnant - she wants a child more than anything. When her husband suggests they go visit Brandenburg Springs - stay at the lavish resort hotel right next to the waters - Ethel hopes that the pool will grant her wish. But she soon discovers that the pool may give, but it also takes. She'll get her wish, but it will come at a price.

I liked the concept of this book - the fairytale element is intriguing and creepy. I really enjoyed Ethel's chapters, and I thought she brought an interesting perspective to the narrative. But I also felt that the book was very, very predictable; I could see the ending coming from 200 pages away. It sort of hints that there's going to be some twist ending, but I didn't feel that much changed throughout - which made the book feel much longer than it really was. There's a lot of cycles of characters not believing each other, not wanting to accept what they know is the truth, etc. that becomes a little exhausting by the end. Overall, a good concept, fairly well executed, but a little long and predictable in the end. Thank you to the publisher for the audio ARC via Netgalley!

This was a really great atmospheric thriller. It wasn't quite as creepy as her other books but I really appreciated that. It was still chilling though and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved the dual timeline and the historical aspect to the story. The author did a really good job moving between the past and the present. There is also a ghost/paranormal element to the story that I thought was really well done. I jumped back and forth between an e-copy and the audio and found that the audiobook was very well done too. I loved the narrators. Overall if you are a fan of paranormal thrillers I highly recommend this one.

This was only my second ever audio book and I loved it. The narrators completely fit the characters. Lexi and Jackie are sisters with a strained relationship, they haven't spoken for q while. Then Jax gets the phone call of Lexi's drowning. She sets off for her grandmother's home where Lexi has been living since she inherited it. Strange things start happening and they all seem to be centered around the pool. This is told in a dual timeline and was a bit confusing at first but the author brings everything to light with an amazing twist at the end.

Wow! I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The author did an amazing job building suspense for the connection between the past and present. It's an eerie tale of how the pool plays on the hope and wishes of the many people who swim in it. No matter how many times the pool takes back what it gives in other ways, people still swim in it hoping that their own dreams come true. Jax knows first hand what the pool takes away. A great story!

Jennifer McMahon always brings delicious chills in her books. Part horror, part family drama, part suspense. The Drowning Kind is her eeriest since The Night Sister and The Winter People. Thank you Jennifer McMahon and thank you Net Galley for providing a copy for an honest review.

I came back to this book four different times in the past couple months, and it pains me to say that I could not engage with it. The narrator for the audiobook was terrible, and the story was uninteresting at best.

I apologize, but I can't give any positive feedback on this one.

I found The Drowning Kind to be a spooky thriller as well as a captivating mystery. The story is about a mystical spring which has both healing powers and more than it's share of mishaps. It is told in two alternating timelines, one is the voice of Ethel, a woman who stayed at a hotel by the springs in 1929, and the other is present day voice of Jax, a woman who grew up near the springs and has a sister who is bipolar. The audiobook has separate narrators for each voice, and both are distinct and well matched to the personality of their characters. Their narration adds to the haunting tone of the story. The pieces of the story start to come together at the end but even the ending will leave you wondering!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Audio for allowing me to listen to an advance copy of The Drowning Kind in exchange for my honest review.

The Drowning Kind
Jennifer McMahon
Publication date 4/6/21
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 stars

This is a fascinating, creepy story with a gothic feel that goes back in forth from the late 1920’s - to present day. I listened to the audio and felt such a strong connection to the characters in the story and enjoyed the slow burn of the story behind Brandenburg Springs hotel to the present day storyline of Jax losing her sister to a drowning. Jax returns to the her Grandmother’s beautiful estate in an attempt to figure out what exactly happened. Losing many family members to drowning in the same pool pulled me in instantly. Between the pages you will be transported to a dark haunting place. One of my favorites lines is the book is be careful what you wish for....Dark and disturbing at times this is one of those books that at the very end you reread the last chapter!! I finished The Drowning Kind a couple of days ago but I cannot get it out of my head, hoping to discuss at some point!! I devoured this book in my yard because we were having beautiful weather in NJ this past week but I was also happy my pool was still covered because at the time my own pool scared me at what could be beneath the water.

Sending a sincere thank you to NetGalley and Jennifer McMahon for the ARC of The Drowning Kind for my honest review!

Review posted on my Goodreads and Instagram.

http://www.instagram.com/donnasnotsosecretbookdiary

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12409011-donna-beiderman

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Thank you Netgalley and Publisher Gallery Books for an early audio version of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.
A dark story of a family with secrets, jealousy and a special healing pool that gives and takes away. Told from the perspective of the present and the past, it is haunting in nature with estrangement between sisters, a deep desire to have a child and how the healing pool can grant your wish but be prepared to give something in return. Not my favorite book as the story line was otherworldly and therefore for me unbelievable.
But then again it is fiction.

There are two story lines in this book and they each drew me in immediately. I listened to the audio book, with two narrators, each with a very distinctive voice. This helped lend to the stark differences in time and circumstances between the two stories, and kept me wondering how they intersected. The voice of Ethel was calm, beautiful, and a little sinister all at the same time. Just how are Ethel and Jax's stories related? As Jax works through journal entries left by her dead sister, the relevancy in the two plot lines reveal themselves and intersect (similar to Lexie and Jax, the X girls, where you can't have one without the other). This book gave me the creeps at times (a lot, actually), and I had to listen to the epilogue twice!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Audio for the ARC of this thriller.