”Monsters are real. They're all around us, whether we can see them or not.”
Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the book has an eerie feel as Lizzie Shelley, a monster-chasing podcaster in 2019, sets her sights on a string of abductions of young girls thought to be the act of a modern-day 'monster'. Lizzie fears she's well acquainted with the monster. This leads Lizzie to remember her unconventional upbringing with her brother Eric and how they were raised by their grandmother, a renowned psychiatrist at a psychiatric hospital in rural Vermont. The siblings have vivid imaginations and believing that monsters exist, they have written their own Book of Monsters and when their grandmother suddenly brings a young girl named Iris into their home, she tells them that this is their new sister. But where did she come from? Even Iris cannot tell them.
This is a good book to go into blind. The tension builds well, and I enjoyed the multiple POVs (including the monster) as well as excerpts from the kids' Book of Monsters and snippets from a book written by a journalist about the goings-on at the hospital in the 1970's. This a great pick for people who like a story with a sinister feel and while the ending wasn't quite as strong as I had hoped, this was an excellent atmospheric story that will take readers on a monster hunt and make them question who the real monsters are in our world.
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Scout Press for my advanced paperback copy of this book provided in exchange for my honest review.
Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, Death, Torture, Trauma
Other Books I've Read by Jennifer McMahon (click for review):
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Genre: Suspense
Type and Source: Trade Paperback ARC from publisher
Pages: 338
Publisher: Scout Press
First Published: April 26, 2022
Opening Lines: Her smell sends me tumbling back through
time to before. Before I knew the truth.
Book Description from GoodReads: A genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, which brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.
1978: at her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.
Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.
Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.
2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.
The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all.
Agree with you about the ending! It was a bit of a letdown but I did like the book
ReplyDeleteStephanie