Vera Crowder returns home to help take care of her dying mother after years of being away. Her childhood home has a dark history that she has been running away from all of her adult life, until now.

Told in dual timelines (flashback chapters and current day chapters) Vera’s childhood is unraveled until we discover the truth behind The Crowder House.

This was so dry in the beginning that I almost DNF’ed. I can see the allure of this story and the similarities to The Haunting of Hill House, but there was just so many paragraphs about the house, the creaking bed, the fact that she thinks there’s something under the bed, the basement, her closet, the walls; my point is, so much time is spent analyzing the physical elements of the house than actually getting to the story. Perhaps that was the point, but the dialogue was also irritating. The way everyone spoke to each other was so odd!

The flashbacks were my favorite part and I felt it was building up to some wild reveal. Which it has, and it was unexpected, but not in a good way. What I got in the end was lots of symbolism and uncertainties and a really out there story that I am not sure I fully understand.

I like straight forward stories, I don’t like having to guess at what it all meant, but that’s pretty much what this book ended up being. I’m not sure I fully understood this, and this was definitely pure horror and not really a thriller, but I definitely enjoyed some aspects of the book. This book was just a lot of creepy descriptions, but not a lot of actual action.

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t my style. Maybe I would have felt differently if I would have read this during spooky season, but this missed its mark for me. Around 53% I got very excited and I thought this was going to go one way, but then it just went off the rails.

2.5 ish stars. I’m having a hard time rating this one. I recommend this for any hardcore horror lovers, like people who really enjoyed The House on Needless Street would most likely devour this.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion! This publishes on 7/19/22!

My god, what a book. Just Like Home is an insidious book that crawls under your skin and rattles your bones. It poisons your dreams and clouds your senses, keeping you under its beguiling spell.

From the first sentence, I loved Gailey’s writing style. It was mysterious, earthy and so damn Gothic. The sentences felt decadent and elongated, creating that mesmerising atmosphere. There is a clear sense of beauty and power here, but also intimate moments and flashbacks of a traumatic upbringing. Gailey keeps the tension razor-sharp with that creeping sense of something watching at all times. I found myself jumping at shadows while reading, caught up in that foreboding sense of something deeply deeply wrong in this story.

This is a book built on deception. The slower pace masks an array of horrors, with seemingly boring or throwaway details forming a vital part of the overall pictures. Pay attention to everything because nothing is as it seems. Guiding us through this tangled maze is Vera, who I could not help but root for. Her repetitions betray a mind twisted by trauma and years of repression. The secrets surrounding her are suffocating. The characterisation here of every major player is amazing, with none of them being likeable. Instead, these are flawed and often despicable people with self-serving motives and veiled in deadly lies. The dynamics between characters are fascinating and provide stark, bleak and deeply perturbing moments. Their interactions feel fragile and able to descend into chaos at any moment. Gailey’s control of atmosphere is deployed wonderfully in these interactions, with the tension building into a choking fog.

The way this story is woven together is masterful. On one hand, it is a haunting exploration of trauma, illness and fractured families. It delves into the unintended consequences of actions and the perpetuated cycle of violence and abuse. On the other hand, it is a disturbing Gothic mystery, full of gore, blood and death. The revelations are earth-shattering, particularly in the third act. The way this book is plotted is astonishing with surprises around every corner. Every time you think you have this book nailed down, trust me when I say you do not. This is an incredibly tricksy and bewitching book. Gailey ensures you follow down every last rabbit hole before the awful truth is finally laid bare.

I sat until the early hours of the morning pouring over this unsettling, spine-chilling and gorgeously serpentine book. This is the Gothic genre at its best, with the setting taking on a life of its own, haunting exploration of societal issues and the drop in your stomach at its menacing nature. Crowder House truly becomes its own character here, with every detail feeling menacing and fully fleshed out. The setting often parallels the crumbling interior state of our characters and that is realised to full effect here. Gailey also weaves in these quieter moments of reflection and introspection, allowing flashbacks to interrupt the central narrative and instead offer us glimpses into exactly what happened all those years ago. We are soon thrust back into the claustrophobic trepidation of the present day narrative, full of Gothic flourishes. I loved how Gailey took every last trope of the genre and spins them on their heads to squeeze fresh life out of them.

Just Like Home leaves you with a lump in your throat and a chill on your skin. It perfectly balances classic horror with an exploration of family, trauma and the uprooted returning home.

If you're ready for spooky season or just love a good gothic read, pick this up!

Unfortunately, I am not a huge gothic fan and I think that was the problem here - It was me, not the book!

The story was well written and aside from being slow at times, held my interest, I just am not someone who loves being creeped out and this book gave me all the heebie jeebies! Which is phenomenal that an author can evoke those feelings - I just don't like them!

Absolutely effective, wildly unsettling horror. I've had a while to sit on the twists and turns of the narrative, and I honestly still don't know quite which way is up. Lots of body/gore horror and plenty of the quieter, psychological horror and mystery of terrible familial relationships and confused adolescence.

Thank you @netgalley and @torbooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Vera returns home for the first time after the discovery of her father's murders by request of her dying mother. Just Like Home is a slow burn, gothic novel and Sarah Gailey took her time with setting the mood for us. Even the house itself had haunting characteristics of it's own. Disturbing at times, this book was slower than what I normally go for but if you enjoy detailed descriptions and building terror, this book may be just for you.

I have no idea what I just read. It was… weird, creepy, gory, disgusting… and did I mention weird?

I mean, I like weird, but this was really weird.

I am a huge fan of the creep factor in this one. If I were one of those people who scared easily, this book probably would have been in the freezer. It’s truly creepy!

Anyway, the writing is quite captivating and I truly loved the story until the end. Vera is a strange girl living with strange parents in an even stranger house. It’s definitely worth a read - especially if you’re looking for something supernatural!

However, the final 10-ish percent was just completely odd, and the whole story was lost after that. I understand it doesn’t have to be realistic in this type of story, and I didn’t want to rate it low because I wanted something else, but man, I really hated the conclusion for this.

At least it wasn’t a Scooby Doo ending, I guess.

2 stars

Honestly, I was looking forward to this book because I love a haunted house story, and I’ve heard good things about Gailey’s other (non-strictly-horror) work. Unfortunately, this book disappointed me.

Mainly, my issue was with the prose, which seemed overly self-conscious of the story and tried to cast several veils over it. The narration plays annoyingly coy about details that I didn’t think had any reason to be concealed from the audience (due to being common knowledge among all inhabitants of the house and the world at large).

The story also seems to be really trying to bait the reader into thinking Vera’s been unfairly ostracized for her father’s crimes, then surprise them with the revelation that our narrator may not be (shock, gasp) a normal innocent well-adjusted young woman—but her ambiguous role in events is patently obvious from the first chapter.

Vera as our PoV character is wildly inconsistent, and not in a “psychological damage from trauma” way but in a “bad writing” way. There was one particular scene that really annoyed me: she needs a new bedframe and goes to fetch it, reluctantly accepting the help and truck of a guy she wants to avoid giving any ammunition against her to. At the furniture store she rushes in so that she can lose him in the aisles, then plops down on a child’s bunkbed and stares into space for half an hour so the narration can give us an info-dump on her childhood, all while said guy leans against another kids’ bed and watches her have this random unprovoked flashback. It just felt lazy, if I’m honest.

The ending is rushed, kind of silly, not at all scary, and honestly just made me think about better-done horror novel creatures/ghosts/entities that I’ve read before.

Ultimately I was disappointed with this book. It won’t keep me from reading some of Gailey’s other books that I’ve been wanting to get to (namely the alternate history American Hippo stories) because I suspect that much of what didn’t work for me about this book had to do with the trickiness of writing in the horror genre. That said, I think that there are some people who may enjoy this book more than I did; I suspect it may work for fans of The Elementals by Michael McDowell or serial killer crime fiction fans trying to get into more supernatural horror.

Thank you, Tor Books and NetGalley for my advance review copy!

Vera’s mother calls and requests that she come home. Daphne is dying, and Vera must return to the house she was kicked out of to sort out her mother’s affairs. The house was built by her father, a serial killer, and has become something of a museum of oddities in her absence. Something more sinister seems to be lurking under Vera’s bed, though, and Vera is forced to come to grips with where she came from and who she is at her core.

JUST LIKE HOME is the perfect summer thriller. I wasn’t expecting the ending, and it left me with such an utter sense of disquiet and mild repulsion. Happy ending this was not, and I loved every page.

I do wish we’d found out a little more about Vera’s parents, but they definitely make a perfectly creepy and dysfunctional pair.

WOW I loved this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect based on the description but the writing here is tight - the story and the way the mystery of The Crowder House unfolds was outstanding. It was creepy, scary, uncomfortable and unexpected. I had a blast reading it and applaud Sarah Gailey. Wow!

I can't go into too much detail as it's too easy to give away spoilers!

This book was dark, haunting, thrilling. All the things that a creepy thriller needs! At times disturbing, it's one I needed to read during daylight hours.

Read this book if you love anything high in creep factor!

Creepy, dark story about a women called home to care for her mother who is near death. Vera has not returned home since she turned 18 and was kicked out by her mother, not that she wanted to be there with the dark history the house holds. Coming back is hard enough, but her mother has turned the house into a retreat for artists who want to explore the houses dark history. The man who is living in the shed this time is particularly disturbing, as he is the son of the author who wrote about Vera’s dads murder/ torture basement. Don’t read this one after dark unless you leave the lights on.

This book was intense! I loved the atmospheric writing. This book was creepy and well-written. The sense of mystery is what keeps you reading. The setting is simple, but effectively done. I loved this book soo much!

I've only read one other book by Sarah Gailey, When We Were Magic, so I had no idea that they could do horror as well as they could do fantasy—better even. I don't think I've yet truly wrapped my head around what I've just read. This is without a doubt one of those ARCs that, even though I've read it once, I will be buying myself a physical copy so that I can read it a dozen more times.

This story is, above all, the perfect depiction of raw, complex parent-child relationships: the fleeting moments of happiness; the paralyzing moments of dread; the overhearing, listening and, adapting; the dependency and the loneliness; the desperate need for approval, for warmth, for companionship, and for love. I saw a bit of myself in Vera and it broke me. The relationship that she has with each of her parents is written in a way that reaches deep into your soul and crushes you. They're two completely different dynamics that feed one another, and I think the nature of those relationships is so realistic, so well-written, it had me sobbing. It's what I love about the horror genre: the way that it uses the fear, the dread, the unknown, to tell a much deeper story and send a profound message to its audience.

I like to think that I'm not afraid of the dark, but this book... this book made it hard for me to sleep at night. Gailey writes horror in a way that makes it so hard for you to stay rational and unbothered. I felt myself losing a tiny bit of my sanity while reading this. If I didn't close the door to my room, I kept eyeing the hall, convinced that there was something there. I swear I was seeing shadows. If I did close the door, I was staring it down, convinced it would open by itself and something would crawl in. I genuinely didn't know what to do to not be completely paranoid. At some point, I turned on all the lights in my house because I was freaking myself out too much, and even then, I was still convinced something was going to get me in my sleep. I haven't felt like that about a horror book in a very long time and I was so pleasantly (and terrifyingly) surprised.

The thing is, there aren't a ton of explicitly scary or gory things that happen in the story. A few eerie or icky details here and there, but it's all in the way that Gailey writes about the dark and the unknown. They manage to play with your mind, and I don't know if I'm just particularly sensitive about shadows in the dark, but this was truly, utterly terrifying.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. It'll make the experience that much more insane if you read it in the dark, late at night, alone, with some particularly fear-inducing music playing in the background (I recommend Total Depravity by The Veils). This has gone straight to the top of my horror recommendations, and I will be talking about it nonstop from here on out.

This just did not work for me - perhaps right book, wrong time. The plot is solid, the characters real enough, the tone creepy. I do think there is too much exposition, too much narrator ruminating, replying anxieties in her head. I found myself skipping paragraphs looking for action and plot development. I think other readers might like this, I just found it a little frustrating.

4- stars “There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations…” says the book blurb, but unfortunately some clarifying secrets are never revealed to the reader. A few poor choices with the storyline, and a somewhat cheesy ending, but an entertaining read overall.

I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the description of these because I didn’t expect the last 15% of this at all. At first I was like eh no but by the end of those chapters I LOVED it.

This is a book I know I will have to read again! It was twisted, creepy, disturbed, and had an overall sense of scariness to it.

Right fron the beginning, we know something is not right as Vera makes her way back to her childhood home to sort through the house as her mother dies. Them we gets bits and pieces of information about her father, a convicted serial killer.

Now there is an artist that is living on the property and digging into her family history, and something unsettling living within the house. Vera has no choice but to face what is there.

This book gave off haunted house vibes without the same story. I would have enjoyed reading more about her childhood, as those parts were fascinating.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Okay--this was a little hard for me to rate. The first 85% was a 5-star. The last 15% was about a 2 star. Because the majority of the book was so good for me, I settled on the 4-star rating. And I should make clear from the onset: this is a me-problem. I just didn't like the final direction of the book.

As for what worked for me, this book is creepy and just oozes dread. The story slowly unfolds as we follow Vera, who has returned to her home for the first time in over a decade because her mother--who threw her out years ago--is dying. It's emotionally charged as we see this character try to reconcile the past grievances she has with a really crappy mother and her current role as the only child of a dying parent. But that's not all. Not even close.

Also slowly unspooled is that her father, who has died in jail, was a horrific serial killer. And if you like your fiction dark and twisty, oh, this one is for you. Little Vera, when young, becomes aware of exactly what her father is doing. And it is NOT pretty. So Vera has quite a bit of baggage. The whole town hates her and her family, she had a best friend (note about him below) who still lives in town and won't speak to her, and to top it all off, there's a guy living in the back shed who is trying to sap . . . something from the house to make his art more valuable and unique. Oh, and he's the son of the writer how wrote the tell-all book about Vera's dad after he was convicted all those years ago.

One more thing: her house seems to be haunted. Vera is terrified.

So this was really awesome. What went wrong? Well, without spoilers, the ending took a different direction than I had hoped it would. I mean, it was sort of "out there," which is something that rarely works for me in novels. And I felt there were a couple plot holes, the biggest being some clarity about what her ex-best friend knows and told about an event from the past.

All in all, I really loved most of this book. And frankly, I can still recommend it highly: there's much in here I'd love to further explore. I'd just note that the ending might cause consternation--but it's probably worth the risk. Give it a try.

Just Like Home was BIG WEIRD. I thought I was going to end up DNFing this book because the writing in the first few chapters–which was so damn descriptive–grated on me. There was so much information about the House and what it looked like and endless paragraphs going on and on about it and that was such a hard thing for me to push through. I’m so happy I did, though!

I was initially very interested in the serial killer premise part of this story because that’s just my jam, but that was not what ended up being my favorite thing about this story. Vera’s perspective and the dual timeline took a little bit to get used to, but I loved the way her past unraveled and we came to learn about her childhood and the House.

To say the plot took a turn for the creepy and gross would be an understatement? Some of the more body horror-y parts really hit my tolerance level when it came to gross things and I had to put the book down a few times because I was so disgusted by some of the descriptions. Some of them were so unsettling on top of being gross that they made me shudder.

The final third of the book was what really really hooked me, though. We came to understand some very important things about Vera and the House and I just loved how Sarah Gailey developed that. It was such a cool and intriguing take on the haunted house trope and it worked so well for me. The ending, in particular, was so delightfully wrong lol

Pulsating with creeping dread, I found this to be a mixture of beautifully written, atmospheric sections mingled with something... odd, for want of a better word. For the most part, I loved it, the dark, gothic interplay between Vera and the house, or the 'thing' in the house, the dreadful Daphne, the deceptively pleasant and mild-mannered Francis, the insipid and annoying James.

I particularly enjoyed the wordplay that created a sense of unease, of uncertainty. What on earth was under the bed? What was clumsily trying to copy Vera's snapping of her fingers? The ending was a bit too visceral for me, too absolute. After the deliciously ethereal, ghostly build-up I would have preferred the ending to continue in that vein, with an element of mystery. You know something is there, but what? But, otherwise, a jolly good show!

Thanks to MacMillan and Net Galley for my ARC. A 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.