Suburban Hell

Suburban Hell is for sure a mixture of Desperate Housewives, any Bravo reality show about moms and The Exorcist or Southern Bookclubs Guide to Slaying Vampires. 

I enjoyed the experience of this book for sure. I enjoyed the plot as it unfolded and as the story grew more and more horrific. 

I do find the classification as horror to be a little misleading...it's horror-lite. It's Andy Cohen does horror. It's like watching the Scary Island episode of RHONY where there is an exorcism at the end. When I say that this book is horror fluff, I don't necessarily mean that as a bad thing. If you are a die-hard horror fan this book will not be for you at all BUT...if you want to laugh a little and still experience some scary things (i.e. a vacuum attack, Barbie Dreamhouse of Terror or a school carnival gone awry) then you will enjoy this book. 

As I am more of a traditional horror fan I was surprised by the tone of this book, though I guess I shouldn't have been given the title and the description. The writing is quick, quippy and fun. The plotting is dangerously fast and drops you right into the story. I almost never say this but I kind of wanted more exposition and table setting before dropping us right into this group of moms and friends. 

I did love the exploration of the inner lives of suburban motherhood and what it means to be looked over or exhausted and what that can really do to someone. The fact that these women are really all they have and they have to do the work to save each other says a lot. I did find that very touching as the book progressed. I also really liked all of the characters which is a real testament to Kilmer's writing and world building. 

Overall I enjoyed the experience of this book but it will not be a book that I re-visit in time and i would only recommend this to friends who just want to dip their toe into horror instead of being fully immersed. 

Book Grades: 
Plot Development and Pacing - 90/100 
Character Development - 85/100 
Theme and Subject Matter - 85/100 
Writing Style - 90/100
Reader Engagement - 80/100 

Overal Grade: 86% - B OR 3/5 Stars 

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 
Expected to be unleashed on: 9/27/22.

Grabbed this during the latest audible 2-for-a sale, and gave it a go on a long drive for Spooky Season. 
Let me say that I know today's traditional publishing is all about likening books to others (some agents even ask for it when querying), but this one says Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism and unfortunately it's so spot on that it feels almost as if this book exists simply to be those two things blended. It does not read at all unique. 
A set of best friend soccer moms unearth a demonic entity when breaking ground on their to-be she-shed. Throughout the summer, their boxed-wine nights become less frequent as their possessed friend slowly marks each of them for doom and gloom. When some of them think moving away might be the only decision left to them, Amy, the lead, decides she has to bring them back together to free their friend for good. 
There are some very annoying (to me) stereotypes of husbands not helping, not listening, not being involved. I apologize that women still deal with things that should be from generations past, and it's certainly not a fault of the author's for including it, but it felt like a lot. (Men stop being tone dead and lazy)
I still had a decent amount of fun with this on though. The main character and author's voice were enjoyable and realistic. Personally a 3/5*. 

Mild spoilers.

So this was fine. It needed some editing for continuity and tightening up. Sadly, it does not deserve the high ratings it has, because it is pretty sophomoric. Yes, it's a debut novel. But it told me more than showed me. For instance, Amy claims multiple times that Liz is basically the heart of their group, but we never really see that. We never really get to know Liz.

Also, there is no demon possession. It's a ghost given demonic attributes because apparently there's no difference.

I did like Jess. She was probably my favorite. But I'm not sure why Melissa was friends with any of them.

I think Kilmer has great potential, but the author's writing needs to mature, and she needs to learn the difference between ghosts and demons. That being said, I was never bored, I was entertained, and I think there's some good ideas here.

In all, a fun park–? BOOK, autocorrect!– that needed to fill out it's darker elements better; leave out bunny trauma, thank you very much; and understand its narrative better. I think the writer has potential with the cozy horror thing, since it's not a huge subgenre. I'll be interested to see what's next.

I'm really glad I am childless and NOT in the suburbs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is the perfect book to initiate the spooky season!

Amy, Jess, Melissa, and Liz all live in a suburban neighborhood where they became friends. At one of their monthly wine nights, they christen the development of their She Shed when they open a world of demonic possession. Together, they work to save their friend, and neighborhood.

Immediately from the first chapter, I was hooked into Amy's life. The atmosphere of a picture-perfect suburban neighborhood was humorous backdrop to such a bazaar situation. I loved the friendship dynamic and the writing style. It was like being a part of the group, included in all their decisions. I especially enjoyed the commentary on basic suburban neighborhoods and how they are all the same. Plus, Jess' character stole the show for me. She was so unapologetically herself in this cookie cutter neighborhood. It was refreshing.

There were some parts where the story was extremely slow. I appreciated the attention to descriptive detail, but this could have been a shorter book. Because the plot was so drawn out, I got bored around the halfway point. The resolution was also extremely cliché. I wish there was a bit more action, but I assume by the ending, that may be followed up in the future.

I would recommend this book to everyone. This is the perfect mix between comedy and a thriller. It is a fun piece for beginners in the genre as well as seasoned readers. This put me in the mood to pull out all my spooky Halloween books on my shelves. I had such a fun time reading this!