May 9, 2011

Don't Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon


Don't Breathe A Word 
Author:  Jennifer McMahon
Publisher:  HarperCollins
Publication Date:  May 17th 2011



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.

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To say that Don't Breathe A Word creeped me out is an understatement.  At first I was really expecting the mystery to stand forefront, because of Jennifer McMahon's previous novels, but the eeriness of it really stood out.  The King of the Fairies is really weird, but it worked if Ms. McMahon was trying to frighten readers and convey a sense of darkness and fear.  The King of the Fairies has the impact that the boogeyman has, IMO.   I wondered how these kids weren't scared out of their minds, but then I tried thinking as a child would and thought it was the whole fairies, magic and queen thing.  Don't Breathe A Word is a story that you have to continue reading well into the night to find out answers that overrun your mind while reading.  I seriously could not let up until I got my answers.  My only complaint of Don't Breathe A Word is the ending.  The revealing of the mystery is surprising so that's great, but I just don't like how everything ended after everything was unraveled.   

I'm a huge fan of Jennifer McMahon's writing.  She writes beautifully, she doesn't overwhelm you with  unneeded descriptions.  She does not underestimates her readers by writing two page descriptions as if we need so much wording to conjure up an image.  


If you are looking for a page turner then pick up Don't Breathe A Word.  It doesn't disappoint. 




5 comments:

  1. The cover alone made me creeped out! It sounds like an interesting plot, but the spooky factor makes me a little nervous

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  2. I agree with Reeder Reads the cover is freaky

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  3. Two things about the cover freak me out - the picture of the little girl, and the part on the cover that reads "have you been chosen?" Freaky! Definitely a book that I'm going to have to pick up and read - eerie is okay by me!

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  4. Awesome! I've only read Dismantled by her and thought it was so good and a little spooky-like.

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  5. OOOHHH, well I loved "Promise not to Tell" so this should be good.

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Thanks for commenting!