Title: Don’t Breathe A Word
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 17, 2011
Paperback: 464 pages
ISBN: 978-0061689376
Genre: Fiction
On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.
Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn’t fear the dark and doesn’t have bad dreams—who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam’s hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed—a promise that could destroy them all.
My Review:
Don’t Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon is the third book I have reviewed of hers and unfortunately, this is the one I liked the least. Let me try to explain. The story is sound, the characters are relatable and as I have come to expect and appreciate from McMahon, the story is an intense psychological thriller. So what went wrong for me in this book? I am usually game for deeply intense psychological thrillers bordering on creepy, but McMahon lost me when she began adding in paranormal (fantasy?) elements, granted they flowed with her story, unfortunately I do not care for anything paranormal and began skipping over the fairy sections. McMahon is a talented author and simply because I did not enjoy the added paranormal element does not mean others will not. I really enjoyed McMahon’s books Promise Not to Tell and Island of Lost Girls and had I been one who enjoyed any aspects of the paranormal I would be rating Don’t Breathe a Word a lot higher. I am looking forward to McMahon’s next book, as I am curious to see where this talented writer will take the reader next. Would I recommend Don’t Breathe a Word? Yes, cautiously to fans of McMahon’s that are new to paranormal/fantasy and definitely to those who enjoy psychological thrillers intermixed with fantasy/paranormal.
Jennifer McMahon is the author of Dismantled, the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls, and the breakout debut novel Promise Not to Tell. She grew up in suburban Connecticut, and graduated from Goddard College. Over the years, she has been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and has worked with mentally ill adults and children in a few different capacities. Currently, she lives in Vermont with her partner, Drea, and their daughter, Zella.
Further information about author Jennifer McMahon may be found on her website or Twitter.
For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.
I received an copy of Don’t Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Thanks for the review Jennifer, I’m not a paranormal fan either, and the description had me on the fence. I do want to go back and read some of her earlier works.
I appreciate your honesty.
She is a very talented author and I did review two of her other books which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately this one was not for me, but I am looking forward to see what she writes next.
I picked this up because I thought it was paranormal and was surprised to see it wasn’t! (Real world thrillers are a little too real world and thrilling for me!) I enjoyed it, still, although things were often rocky between me and Phoebe (she really got on my nerves!).
You did not feel it was enough of a paranormal/fantasy book? I am asking merely because I do not read the genres and the whole fairies thing threw me for a loop. I enjoyed McMahon’s previous books and this one was too out there for my liking.
It’s too bad that this book wasn’t too your liking. I’ve got a copy sitting next to me waiting for me to pick it up. I DO like fantasy though, so I expect that I’ll enjoy it more than you did.
Hopefully your next book will be more “of this world.”
Thanks for being on the tour!
I have enjoyed Jennifer McMahon’s other books and look forward to her next one. Happy reading.
I review this title a few weeks ago and loved it. What I enjoyed the most about it was that the writer was able to be on the fence. Was it of the paranormal genre,or was this a literary device of an unreliable narrator? In the end, I couldn’t ascertain one way or the other.
I really enjoyed the other books of McMahon’s I have read. This one was too paranormal for my taste. I do look forward to reading more of her books.