Book Review: The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Did you ever discover an author who always manages to pull you right into a book, keep you chomping at the bit to finish the story, and then falls completely flat by the end? But for some reason, you keep coming back to the writing and hoping for a new result next time?
For those of you who can relate, allow me to present you with The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon.
I cannot begin to describe how disappointed I was by the lackluster ending of this book after most of the story had been so captivating right up to the last two dozen or so pages. Up until that ending, I’d been verging on 4.5 star territory. My three star review should make it obvious how disappointing I found the ending. What makes it worse is that this is the second book of McMahon’s I’ve had this experience for. (I never wrote a review for her book, The Winter People, but suffice it to say I had similar complaints.) For those who may still be interested in the book, and I would say it is worth reading, I’ll give you a taste of the plot.
In this paranormal mystery-meets-historical fiction read, Jax-social worker and resentful recluse-is blindsided by the sudden drowning of her mentally ill sister, Lexie. Jax returns to their family’s estate, Sparrow Crest, in Vermont (the setting for most-if not all-of McMahon’s books) to assist her Aunt Diane with cleaning up the property, dealing with Lexie’s affairs, and laying her to rest. It soon becomes apparent however that there may be more Lexie’s obsessive investigation of their family home and its history than her mental illness would have everyone else believing. Jax comes to learn the natural, spring-fed pool behind the estate where Lexie drowned has a darker history than her family was willing to admit and it isn’t done taking from the family just yet.
Get L.R. Liiro’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Interspersed with Jax’s present-day experiences are diary entries written from the POV of Ethel Monroe, a 1929 woman desperate enough for a child that she’d go to any length to get one and keep it. Ethel has her own experiences with the pool at Sparrow Crest and as she tells her story, it becomes more obvious to readers how the events of her time connect to the tragedies in Jax’s.
Throughout both Jax and Ethel’s sides of the story, readers of The Drowning Kind will experience haunting moments-both literal and figurative-as well as obvious examples of the ever-popular trope in ghost stories: how much of this is real and how much is happening in the character’s head? Unfortunately, McMahon’s characters, Jax in particular, take that question a step too far, delving into a denial spiral that fast-becomes annoying, to the point that (aside from the ending) the denial is my biggest complaint about the book. I know Jax is supposed to be a social worker with a psychological specialty, but her insistence to find a rational explanation for the goings-on at Sparrow Crest and with the mysterious pool of water grows more grating with each page read. I’m not a huge fan of characters who refuse to acknowledge the possibility of the irrational when it’s all but slapping them in the face, and Jax is guilty of this behavior. More irritating are the flip-flopping attitudes and behavior of her Aunt Diane and her alcoholic father, Ted. When the two of them aren’t acting like everything is completely normal, they’re feeding into the stories and legends surrounding the pool-ultimately contradicting what they may have said a chapter or so ago.
Overall, the story does a lot of flip-flopping back and forth about exactly what is going on with Sparrow Crest and the pool, but never really lands on a solid explanation. There are obvious, albeit lackluster implications by the end of the story, but no clear-cut explanation for everything. The story ties up a few things, but the characters’ behavior by the end of the story makes almost no sense in the grand scheme of what happens and the fact that not everything is explained by the end makes for a frustrating ending overall. I’m not a huge fan of endings that are left too ambiguous or totally ambiguous, and The Drowning Kind is unfortunately one of those books that’s just a bit too ambiguous for my taste.
I suppose there’s something to be said about the consistency of McMahon’s writing. She draws you in, keeps you engaged despite the occasional convoluted plot points and details, keeps you guessing all the way to the end, and then crashes and burns the story within the last few chapters/pages. It’s not to say the book isn’t worth reading, but perhaps temper your expectations a bit and be prepared for the possibility of disappointment with the ending.
The thing about Jennifer McMahon, though? I enjoy the experience of reading her books so much, even with the possibility of a disappointing ending, I’m willing to keep giving her a try. Her plots are interesting, the characters are often mysterious and enticing, and I’ve never been able to resist the temptation of a good gothic thriller or ghost story. With that in mind, I’ve already started listening to the audiobook for another novel by her: The Children on the Hill (narrated by Erin Moon). Cross your fingers and hope that my response to this one is better than my response to The Drowning Kind, lest another three star review come your way!
Originally published at https://lroseproofs.com on June 29, 2022.
