Ren Puspita's Reviews > Suburban Hell

3,5 stars

Apparently, the key to exorcise demon that roamed in your neighborhood is the female friendship. Better yet, the female friendship between housewives

Nope, not kidding. I know those sentences sounds like shonen anime or manga slogan, but the main theme for Suburban Hell is the friendship between the suburban housewives in Winchester, Illinois. Suburban Hell is Maureen Kilmer's debut horror book and honestly this book have some debut's weakness. But, I'm having fun while reading this although some things can be glaring. More about that later.

Suburban Hell told entirely from Amy's first PoV. Together with her "outcast" housewives neighbor, namely Melissa, Jess and Liz, they create a place just for them to relax without spouses or children's distractions. Little they know when they toast above She Shed (the place), Liz got possessed by a demonic entity and things going downhill after that. Balancing housewives duty, social life and paranoia induced by demon-Liz attacks, Amy got her hand full. Luckily, she still have Melissa and Jess, although she need to encourage them to join her cause in order to save Liz.

This book kinda remind me of Southern Book Club Guide's to Slaying Vampire by Grady Hendrix. The premise is the same, outcast housewives that facing an evil force in order to save their family and neighborhood. But, Suburban Hell's horror vibes are lighter compare to the former. Yeah, there's demonic appearance, but it's slightly spooky and creepy. Not the kind that give me heebies jeebies. The story can be mundane to read since you will read about Amy do her housewives responsibility and caring for her children while also searching some means to get rid of the demon, so some chapter can be too slow to read. However, the chapters are shorts, providing a fast read and the mystery also suspense will make you glued to the page.

I like how Kilmer portrayed the friendship between Amy, Melissa, Jess and Liz; and make them all different in personality. Melissa is a strict and confident manager but come from a religiously fanatic parents and she is the hardest to convinced while it come to saving Liz. Jess is carefree and also the youngest of the four, often provide comic relief with her snarky remarks. Liz is kind and thoughtful but we only get a glimpse about her from Amy's PoV because Liz was being possessed for 99% amount of this book. Then, we will get to know more about Amy since she is the main character. How Amy still grieving for her sister's death and her drive to save people she loved is what make her determined to save Liz rather than sold her house and moving away in order to protect her children.

However, I think the demonic entity's explanation is the weakest link of this book. I don't get why the demon come to possess Liz now rather than years ago and possess the people in the home before Liz; and the reasons behind just explained by Amy's deduction when she research about the suburban's history. The demon didn't bother to explain themselves and just focus to wreak havoc in the neighborhood. I don't know how the demon become the demon at all, lol. They were more like a vengeful ghost, but then later become a demon? The conclusion behind the exorcism also feel anti climatic although hints for something sinister to come in the future. Since this book is apparently a standalone, that left to reader to interpreted the ending. Anyway, I like the way Kilmer write the spouses in this book. I prepare myself to read about cheating spouses especially when Kilmer write Amy's husband often did overtime and sudden business trips. BUT, Mark (Amy's husband) is far from cheating husband! He's so supportive to Amy even he didn't believe 100% when Amy explained there was a demon possessing Liz. Even Melissa's husband and Jess's boyfriend seems cool. It's refreshing to read when there's no cheating husband or wives, lel.

I will recommend Suburban Hell if you want to read a light horror with demonic possession and female friendship among the housewives of the suburban.