Just Like Home

This book hit me like a punch to the gut. Sarah Gailey has crafted an incredibly effective slow burn horror tale in which the family tensions hit just as hard as the unexplained paranormal phenomena. I think this book is best experienced cold, as I did, so I don't want to go into too much detail. Suffice to say I could not put it down, thanks largely to the careful and subtle portrait of the book's protagonist. She is difficult to pin down, and impossible to stop thinking about.

This novel didn’t go where I was expecting. Vera returns to her childhood home because her mother Daphne is dying. From the beginning it’s clear that Daphne doesn’t like her daughter very much, but we don’t know why. Not that Vera is happy to be back. The house, which was built by her father, is full of dark memories and may be haunted. Also, if her mom is not mother of the year, her dad was worse, he was a serial killer. The twisted part is that dad sounds like the nice, stable parent, until you hear what he did to his victims. Vera’s memories are brought to life, and they are at times heartbreaking, creepy and very explicit. The story goes back and forth slowly revealing what happened in the past and why and how Vera’s serial killer dad was eventually discovered. The reason why I was interested in the audiobook version is that Xe Sands narrates it. She’s a wonderful performer and aces this story. I especially enjoyed the spooky parts when Vera is being haunted because Sands sounds like she’s whispering in your ear and you just know there’s a big scare coming, but you don’t know when. It was not what I was expecting but I enjoyed the twists. I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Macmillan Audio!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC copy. I read this over the last weekend, and picked it up because I've enjoyed some of Sarah Gailey's books before and a spooky haunted house story sounded interesting. Well, I will tell you that I did not want to put this book down! I was gripped from the beginning, and had to keep reading as more and more was revealed. I have also read quite a bit of horror, and this was the first time I was actually scared. I would not read this in bed, and was glad to be at a friend's house while reading it so I was not alone. I highly recommend this book to people who love a good haunted house story, stories about serial killers, strained families, and when you just need a book to keep you up all night reading. I recommend not reading this alone in your bed.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill review. This is a seal of approval. I'm calling it now: this is the best horror novel of 2022. I've read Stephen King — this is better. THIS is what a five-star book looks like! We get this first-person, single POV, dual timeline narrative, where the author has mastered this vivid prose that is stunningly, horrifically creepy. It gets darker and darker as the books goes on, and i kept asking myself "what tye heck?!?!" along the way! Will I have nightmares? I'll find out tonight! If you are currently curating your autumn TBR (I know there are many of you!) you have to add this book — you won't be disappointed

I don't think this was a bad book, but maybe it wasn't for me? I pre-ordered it because i was enthralled by the description, but I really didn't find that it checked all my boxes. The first half started to feel scary, but overall didn't have that edge-of-my-seat thriller feeling I've gotten from other books. I LOVE the idea of psychologically diving into the life of a serial killer, but the tangible supernatural part of the twist sort of lost me. I was a major major fan of The Haunting of Hill House / Bly Manor - but this fell short for me, personally. I think I would have wanted more of Frances and Daphne to help tie it together.