Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

7 reviews

batcaves's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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amberghinii's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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jmbz38's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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bluejayreads's review

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I can’t remember what exactly enticed me to pick this up. Maybe I found the idea of a wish-granting spring that takes in equal measure to what it gives intriguing. I think part of it is my library put it in a list of popular supernatural-based horror titles and I’m trying to expand my reading horizons. Regardless, I read it – or at least I tried to. 

First, there’s Jax. While I was initially put off by her being a social worker who by her own admission isn’t self-reflective, I could definitely relate to being the ordinary child overshadowed by a charismatic sibling. In my case said sibling was younger and wasn’t naturally good at everything like Lexie, but being the forgotten good child while a charismatic Problem Child got all the attention is a situation I know all too well and created an instant connection with Jax. 

I didn’t have that same connection with Ethel, whose story alternated with Jax’s. She wasn’t bad, but I didn’t see how her story fit into Jax’s and found her sections much less interesting. 

I think this story was supposed to be a slow burn, but it ended up just being slow. I read 59% of it, and in that time, Ethel had gone to the hotel and wished for a baby, and Jax had gone to her grandmother’s estate to deal with Lexie’s death, cleaned the house, went to the funeral, and realized that Lexie had been investigating the pool (which is fed with water from the spring). The suspense was driven by the hints that there was something in the pool, and by the time I stopped I had worked out what was in the pool but Jax had just started to get curious about what Lexie was working on. 

I thought this was supposed to be some sort of suspense/thriller thing with supernatural horror and I wasn’t getting any of that. I knew enough about the spring to feel like I already knew what it would take from Ethel, but not enough about it to know if it would want something from Jax. Lexie was already dead, and since nobody else that I knew of had made a wish, it didn’t feel like there was any threat. The only suspense was coming from the question of what exactly was living in the spring (which I figured out fairly quickly) and why the spring granted wishes and took things in return (although I got the feeling that the only explanation I was going to get for that one was “it’s supernatural”). 

Admittedly, suspense/thriller isn’t my genre, so this all may be me more than the book. But I wasn’t getting any suspense or thrills out of this, and the slow burn ended up just being slow to me. The Drowning Kind just isn’t my book. 

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pplydm's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Drowning Kind was authored by Jennifer McMahon and tells of a haunted yet healing underground source of water revamped into a vast swimming pool. The sisters called Jax and Lex Metcalf and the wedlock couple namely Ethel and Will Monroe have resided near the aforementioned body of water.  Will, proved his devotion to his wife and sickly daughter to the very end of his time. Jax's investigative escapade had me hoping the novel would not reveal another protagonist's death. Description for both of the siblings would work as if they're fraternal twins. The author may have created them as such and there wouldn't be any needed changes to her writing. I reckon this novel dealt with the mental madness any body may attain for the fruition of the grand wish found in the depths of his or her heart.

The Drowning Kind was compelling and unconditionally spooky. Apparently, characters here are problematic and vehement; their responses to the circumstances are subjective. Oftentimes, the chapter's closing is in a cliffhanger. I, however, wasn't smitten with it even after I finished it. No, no, no for this.


"Your father," she'd said, "for all his complications, is the only person I ever felt whole with. Sometimes I think our brokenness held us together.

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ladylothlorien's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh I loved this book. It often takes a little time to get to the “hook” in McMahon’s books but once you do, it’’s impossible to put the book down. I enjoyed the two narratives that we were following. As with her other books, it doesn’t really matter if you figure out something before she makes it explicitly known because the point is more about the characters and their journeys. And I also appreciate that even though the characters always question their sanity, the paranormal/supernatural stuff that is happening is actually happening. You can have a story about sisters and evil wish-granting cold springs. I almost want to just dive in and read it again, which is always fun to do with her books. You can see the breadcrumbs and hints she laid out and get a new understanding of the story. Very highly recommended! 

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jerusha's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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