The Children on the Hill

 

This book started out decent enough and then about 2/3 of the way through there was a terrific, terrifying twist I didn't see coming and I got super excited for the ending, which fell completely flat.

I don't want to spoil it, so I won't say too much about that aspect of it. Vi and Eric live in Vermont with their grandmother, Helen Hildreth, who runs a mental hospital known as "The Inn". Vi and Eric's parents were killed in a car crash. They lead an interesting but solitary life. Gran homeschools them and they're not allowed to play with the other kids in town. Gran thinks they aren't appropriate playmates for her exceptionally bright grandchildren. Vi and Eric have a lot of fun, though. They both have great imaginations and spend time putting together a book on how to kill monsters. Then one day Gran brings home a girl she calls Iris and tells them to treat her like a sister. Iris doesn't talk at first but eventually she comes around and the kids all play together. 

The story switches back and forth between when the kids were young, in the late 1970s, and Lizzy in 2019. Lizzy is a professional blogger and monster hunter. She goes around the country, wherever there's been a reported sighting of some supernatural creature, like Bigfoot, to interview witnesses. But really, she's looking for her long lost sister. She thinks she's been kidnapping girls for the last 20 years. 

I would be shouting from the rooftops about how awesome this book was if the ending had been different. It was okay, but damn, it could have been great.