Title: THE DROWNING KIND
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: Gallery / Scout Press
Read: January 2021
Expected publication: April 2021
My Rating: 🤩 all the stars!
Book Description:
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.
My musings:
It surely reflects a lack of
restraint when it comes to spooky books that I devoured THE DROWNING KIND as
soon as I received it, even though it’s not being released until April. But I
hope that I can redeem myself by singing its praises from the rooftops, because
after keeping me up all night frantically reading and burrowing deeper into my
doona as the story progressed, it was 5 stars all the way for me! Trigger
warning: if you like swimming in dark rivers or lakes, enter at your own risk,
because the thing that you thought was a bit of pond weed tickling your leg? It
may just send you running for the hills, never to go near the water again!
THE DROWNING KIND revolves around
water – but not any water. The underground springs near the small town of
Brandenburg in Vermont have long been known for their healing power. All the
locals know that this gift does not come without a price, and they choose to
stay well away from them, but that does not stop desperate people flocking to
the water, hoping for a cure or having their wishes granted. In 1929, Ethel,
still childless at 37 and desperate for a baby, whispers her wish to the dark
waters of the Brandenburg spring.
Fast forward to the present. Sisters
Lexie and Jax have grown up swimming in their grandparents’ natural pool, dug
into the mountainside and fed by a natural spring. They are not afraid of the
dark, murky waters, even though one of their aunts drowned in this very pool as
a young child. On some of their secret midnight trips, the girls even swear
that they could see the shape of a little girl staring at them from the water.
Now estranged in their adulthood, Jax has not seen Lexie for over a year, wary
of her manic episodes related to her bipolar disorder. She is therefore both
shocked and heartbroken when she finds out that Lexie has drowned in the pool
during one of her midnight swims. When she travels to the house to sort out her
sister’s affairs, she discovers that Lexie had recently become increasingly
afraid of the pool. But was it really just a manifestation of her illness, or
is there something more sinister afoot?
Squish, squish, tap tap, wet
footsteps on the pavers – was that a glimpse of something alien in the water?
Goodness me, this book was soooo creepy! The constant sense of foreboding and
dread kept me turning the pages until late into the night, and all my childhood
nightmares about the bodies of drowned victims floating up from the bottom of the
lake we used to swim in as kids suddenly seemed all too real.
I loved everything about this book.
Whilst the timeline in the 1930’s gradually revealed some of the pool’s dark
history, Jax in the present is racing against time to solve the puzzle for
herself. As the reader, I was trapped in the middle like a deer in the
headlights.
Summary:
In summary, if you love Gothic, spooky stories with
supernatural elements that will make your hair stand on end, then look no
further. Told in two separate timelines that were equally creepy, the book kept
me up all night and then stunned me with a finale so unexpected and shocking
that I am still trying to get my head around it. With a constant sense of
foreboding, the book gave me the chills the whole time! Very highly
recommended.
Thank
you to Edelweiss and Gallery / Scout Press for the free electronic copy of this
novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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