This book is like fucked up poetry. All of the words collide and move as if stuck in a symphony.

I was breathing hard, holding my breath, anticipation and fear waring inside of my body as the story progressed. It’s eerie without being haunting.

The ending had me in a chokehold, I literally could not do anything but finish this book. It’s wild, tantalizing, and not at all what I expected!

I. LOVED. EVERY. MINUTE. OF. THIS. BOOK.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for approving this ARC. This review is being left voluntarily, all opinions are my own!

What a fun read. I haven't read the author before so I was not sure what I was in for, but I really enjoyed this one. Vera is home for the first time in many years to get the house in order as her mom is dying. The mother that she is estranged from, but when she calls she has to go help.

She has so many memories in the house, this is the house her father built, the father who she loved so much. The story jumps between what happened when Vera was young to the present time. There were a lot of good creepy moments, lots of moments that did not go as I expected them to, and it was just a really enjoyable read. Trying to figure out what exactly happened in the past and what exactly was happening now was so fun. If you like creepy gothic horror thrillers then this is one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book

I love a good creepy story, and this was certainly that! A bit paranormal, a bit gothic horror, a lot twisted. I honestly did not pick what was going to happen, and I was enthralled the whole way through as I tried to piece it all together.

Told in both past and present pov, Just Like Home tells the tale of Vera as she returns to her childhood home to care for her dying mother. While there, memories are dredged up and old hauntings return.

I loved the back and forth, giving just enough to keep you wanting more each time. There are small twists throughout, which I loved, and lots of super creepy moments that will have your skin crawling.

Great story!

This book really wasn’t for me. I thought the writing was well done but I think the story became lacking part way through the book.

The creepy factor was good. The character wasn’t one of my favorites though.

I haven’t read a Sarah Gailey book before, but I’ve seen their books recommended many times and I figured this was a good place to jump in to their writing.

This book is described as darkly gothic; I’d say that’s a pretty accurate way to view it. Vera Crowder is returning to her childhood home at the request of her mother, who is dying. Vera has a rocky relationship with her mother, who is cold and hateful towards her. Pretty early on, we learn that Vera’s father; Francis, who built the house, was also a serial killer. The book progresses with Vera’s pov in the present and flashbacks to when Vera was a child. This was a great choice to slowly reveal information to the reader. The book started off slowly, but at about the 50% mark, a lot more information was revealed and I couldn't put the book down!
I particularly enjoyed the last few chapters—it took a turn I didn’t predict and that really sold me on the book.
Creative and spooky!

3.5 stars

I'm still trying to find my footing in the world of gothic literature and picking up a copy of Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey felt like a great way to figure out more about what excites me in gothic stories and what doesn't quite work.

There is a lot to like, even love, with this book. The concept of having to return home after many years to take care of a dying relative is given new life when the house in question is one where many murders took place. Gailey does a fantastic job of evoking the feeling that something is not quite right in both her descriptions of Vera and of the house itself. There are certainly elements that turn your stomach, but you feel like you can't look away.

Probably the biggest hurdle that any gothic novel for me has to clear is the resolution that surrounds the thing that goes bump in the night. Most of the time, I find that the author goes so far afield that I cannot even suspend my disbelief. I was definitely getting nervous as the book was wrapping up since we had spent so much (honestly, a bit too much) time describing the house and barely any time with the human antagonist, but I think that Gailey did a fantastic job of making the supernatural and the gothic work in the world that they had created. It definitely made me want to continue exploring gothic horror!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Wow! This is one of those reads where I don't want to say too much for fear of spoiling the ending.
A lot of books create a creepy atmosphere where the setting is as a much a character as the people in the story. This book takes that idea to whole new level. Add to that a strained mother=daughter relationship (which is putting it lighly!) and you have a book that is hard to put down!

I really enjoyed this fresh take on the returning home to resolve unfinished business theme, and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes gothic yet modern mysteries!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for this honest review!*

This gothic horror brings a dysfunctional family back together and haunts us physically and psychologically with their unravelling. Add in a sinister and potentially dangerous artist, and you have a powder keg of a novel.

Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am shook! I went in expecting a spooky story of a woman returning to her childhood home after many years away care for her dying mother... except the last time she was home her father was being arrested for murder.

I was ready to read about a dramatic dysfunctional family and a dad hiding his serial killer tendencies from his family. I was wholly unprepared for just how sinister Just Like Home would be.

There are definitely similarities to The Haunting of Hill House and I would recommend this book for a truly creepy read!

Sarah Gailey has such a visceral way of writing I could almost feel the sludge on my hands. *shudders*

That's all I'm going to say about this one because I don't want to give anything away.

Vera’s mother Daphne beckons her home as she is dying and she needs her to come and help with her affairs, including the house which was built by her father. Her serial killer father. Reluctantly, she returns home to Crowder House. She comes to find out the guest house on the property is being rented to a man named James Duvall, the son of Hammett Duvall, who wrote a book about her father and caused a rift in her life. She immediately is wary of him and is not sure she can trust him. Strange things start happening around the house, unexplained things, and Vera isn’t sure what’s going on, but she starts digging to uncover the secrets buried in the house.

This book gave off some creepy vibes. My attention was hooked from the start, but about halfway through my interest started to wane. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending was super bizarre and did not work for me, at all. I had high hopes for this one, but in the end I was pretty disappointed. It had its moments, but not enough to win me over.

4 Stars

One Liner: Hard to slot into a genre; twisted

Vera Crowder has to go home, and she does. Her mother, Daphne, is dying. It’s now Vera’s business to sort the house. But the house was built by her father, Francis. Every part of the house has a memory and is alive with emotions and stories.
As if life with her mother is not bad enough, Vera has to deal with an artist, James Duvall. He is one of those artists who pay to stay in their ‘legendary’ home and get inspired. He continues to hound Vera for information about her past, especially the one that involves her father. Vera is determined to keep him at bay. But she also knows there are secrets that need to be unearthed and carefully wrapped up again.
As strange things happen in the house, Vera has to decide how much she can handle. After all, buried secrets rot faster than infested wood. Can Vera deal with the past and present? What will happen to Crowder House once Daphne dies?

My Observations:
The book is dark, twisty, and messed up, just like the main characters. However, slotting it into any single category will affect the outcome for the reader. I’m not sure why this was marked mystery/ thriller. Yeah, there’s some mystery (a slow burn), but it didn’t require figuring things out. The hints were more than enough to know the ‘mystery’ part.
This could work more as a dark psychological horror but will not fully appeal to hardcore horror readers. Newbies in horror will not like it either. It might be too much for them. It falls somewhere in the middle, and that is not a good sign for the book.
The gothic part is done very well. The house is super creepy and claustrophobic. Some of it is gross and yucky, too (if you don’t like such stuff). Luckily, I was in the right frame of mind for the book and didn’t remember the genre it was supposed to be.
The characterization of Vera, Daphne, Francis, and James was interesting. None of them are likable. Yep. Yet, I couldn’t help but root for Vera throughout. The family dynamics (between Francis, Daphne, and Vera) are crucial to the plot. In fact, the relationship between the characters felt like a tangible element throughout the book.
I’m not a fan of repetitions or slow-paced plots. However, this one worked for me. The repetitions showed Vera’s current state of mind. A lot of things that seem boring or irrelevant are a part of the bigger picture and make sense towards the end.
The book picks up pace after 80%. That was good because I was starting to feel a bit annoyed with the meanderings. The book could have been a bit shorter and just as effective.
The twist and the subsequent ending were good to read. They suit the story, title, and cover (should I even mention just how fab that cover is!). However, that is not the ending a mystery book would usually have. It leaves the reader wanting more or wondering what happened when a wrong genre is attached to the book.
Call this dark fiction and psychological drama instead. It’ll set the right tone and expectations. There are a few triggers, too, so sensitive readers beware. This isn’t a book you pick up lightly or for fun.

To sum up, Just Like Home is a twisted dark drama with messed-up characters. Go for it when you are in the mood for something slow and creepy. I'm definitely reading the author's other works.

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Tor Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#JustLikeHome #NetGalley

In their signature fashion, Gailey takes the haunted house narrative and bleeds new life into what we've come to expect. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and Home Before Dark, Just Like Home oozes down your throat to choke any assumption you have on what the monster under the bed might be. As readers peel back layers of the past, Vera Crowder asks us to consider what makes someone belong, and if what happens to they who love the monster.

This book certainly wasn't what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it. I just love Gailey's writing style for these kinds of thriller/horror type books. The pacing on this one is a bit slower than I usually prefer but it worked well for the storyline. As was the case with The Echo Wife, I think the blurbs for their books give too much away.

This was so creepy and I think it has a lot of appeal for True Crime fanatics even though it isn't true crime.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this book. I really liked the writing style, and found it hard to put down. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

This was a hard read due to the nature of the book. I typically Enjoy horror style books, but this did not hit it out of the park for me.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If there's one thing I loved about this book, it was the atmosphere. This book NAILS the creepy haunted house setting and tone. It feels so tense and haunting all the way from start to finish--from the dark history of the house built by a serial killer to fit his crimes, to the gruesome descriptions of Vera's dying mother, to the nightmare-inducing noises below the bed.

This book genuinely gave me some nightmares and I highly recommend reading it alone in the dark if you want the full spooky effect.

I was a little surprised with the direction that the ending took, although I understand the author's choice and what they were trying to accomplish. I wasn't completely invested or satisfied with the ending, but otherwise this story consumed me with its haunting atmosphere so I'm rating it somewhere between a 3.5 - 4 stars.

“This house, the house her father built, the house where her mother would die—this place was safe. This place knew her. This place was where she belonged.”

Sarah Gailey’s Just Like Home is a gripping Gothic Horror thriller that oozes dread, drips with suspense, and bleeds terror.

In other words, it is very, very disturbing.

This book makes you squirmy and uncomfortable, yet it intrigues until the very end with its clever and thought-provoking themes. Can love and hate exist together? What makes a person good? Can hope and desperation be a liability? Are all men evil?

In an effort to be a better person, Vera Crowder is coming home for two reasons:
1. To clear out the house her dad built
2. To watch her mother die

It has been 12 years since Vera left Marion, New York. She couldn’t escape fast enough after Hammett Duvall wrote a true crime book about her family with information she provided unknowingly. You see, her dad was a serial killer.

Upon her return, she meets an artist named James Duvall, who is renting the shed on the Crowder property. He also happens to be Hammett’s Duvall’s son. What does he want? Can he be trusted?

What actually happened inside the Crowder house all those years ago? Vera must discover the house’s secrets in order to find a way to move on with her life.

As in any good Gothic novel, the Crowder house is the main character. And she is FABULOUS! Is this a ghost story? Is the supernatural involved?

And….What is under Vera’s bed?

If you have not yet read Sarah Gailey, I suggest you immediately add them to your TBR! Gailey is a fantastic writer, who proves that they are the master of any genre.

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 7/19/22

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge publishing for the ARC of Just Like Home in exchange for an honest review.

There were so many times when reading this book that I said to myself “what the heck just happened??”. I felt like I never knew what was coming next ! This is a great book if you want something disturbing and crazy.

I had a hard time getting into this one and eventually gave up. I was not in the mood for any of it- plot, writing style, any of it. I wanted to like this one and was disappointed that it couldn’t hold my attention.

Well good grief. This one got dark and it got dark fast. But I really enjoyed it.

After reading the echo wife, which I loved, I was waiting for something similar. Nope. Not at all. And I’m here for it. The horror aspect of this book was unbelievable, but sometimes you just have to suspend all belief!