Man this book was creepy. It wasn't overly gory by any means but there were other substances let's just say that, that made it kind of gross.
This is a book about strained family relationships, coming home, and reopening past wounds. The ending was superb and I still don't know what to think of it.
I will say this would make a fabulous horror movie. I don't watch scary movies but I can guarantee if they made this into a movie I would check it out...and probably be scared pants less.

This book seems to be pretty polarizing, but if you liked Mexican Gothic, you will like this. I actually didn’t enjoy Mexican Gothic as much as Just Like Home!

This book is atmospheric and gritty, and overwhelmingly creepy. I had to suspend my disbelief towards the end (at first I was sure a certain character was breaking from reality), but I loved it regardless. It was so well-written and I enjoyed it even though it doesn’t hit the sub-genre I usually read.

Thanks to MacMillan-Tor/Forge, NetGalley, and Sarah Galileo for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4.5/5 stars!

This was hands-down the creepiest book I've ever read! It's best to go into this blind but if you love a haunted house plot you would love this! I found the story to be interesting and fast paced. I preferred it more when the MC was talking about her childhood and how it was like to live in that house. I'm fairly new to the horror genre but would definitely recommend this to all horror fans! I really don't want to give away much about the book so just trust me and read this, alright?

This book was a little slow to start the. Lead to interesting outlook on a house’s spirit and how much can be absorbed by the places we live. Mild horror but more psychological. Kept my interest. Would recommend for readers who enjoy psychological horror.

I originally went into this for the cover. I would say this is more of a thriller than horror. The premise was really interesting but fell flat for me. The writing was great, which made me good look for other books by Gailey! However, I feel like much of the plot was lost and there could’ve been more explored in terms of the haunting of the house. The plot twists were expected and the no huge WOW moment.

I would recommend for people who enjoy a predictable thriller with not a whole lot going on.

Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review,

This book reminded me a lot of Mexican Gothic/What Moves the Dead. It was creepy and I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. I loved how the author didn’t dump information and instead showed the reader what was going on. I do have to say the descriptions could be long-winded (Ex: the sheets on the bed were described for quite a few pages) which made me lose interest at some points. But overall - an extremely original and creepy book. Would love to see this turned into a movie!

Sarah Gailey's writing is amazing and this book is exactly what I needed right now! I love a good haunted house story, though it's a bit slow-paced in the beginning but the pace eventually picked up. I'm a big horror fan and it's pretty hard to spook me but Just Like Home did succeed in making me feel suffocated and a little perturbed. Going into this book I really didn't know what to expect but the alternating past and present timeline was well executed and the twists and turns really surprised me! It's unlike anything I've read. Although I have to say the ending could be stronger. Nonetheless it's such a solid book!

This was a very slow paced book in my opinion but it did not lack the spooky/gothic vibes.
The plot was good but I found the ending a very underwhelming.

3/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC on this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This book. There’s a lot to say and yet nothing I can reveal because it would be spoilers. Much like trying to discuss Catriona Ward’s book Last House on Needless street you cannot go into that book and then have a discussion unless the person has read it. I will say this worked in some ways, and in other ways it did not.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was the telling of the story through dual timelines. I love when this occurs especially in Horror (i.e. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager). Horror thrives in the two timelines perspective. I love when a story includes it.

What didn’t really work for me was the horror itself. I think the writing in this book was beautiful and entertaining it’s just the horror didnt shock me or scare me like I wanted. I see that “Gothic” is listed as one of the main genres for this and I think Gothic vibes or Literature is just not for me. Overall I think many readers will connect to this one, and I still recommend.

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Sarah Gailey's Just Like Home reaches beyond simple fear and gets under the reader's skin in the most effective way possible. Gailey's main characters have a profound personal connection to a mysterious setting that gradually builds to heart-pounding terror.

Synopsis:
Vera's estranged mother is dying and she is called home to care for her in her last days. Vera's deceased father was a serial killer who hid the bodies of his victims in the family home, Crowder House. Vera finds it extremely difficult to return home especially since her mother has taken in a stranger who is supposed to help financially. Instead, he is taking advantage of the situation causing Vera even more distress.

Just Like Home is atmospheric and unsettling. I want to see it made into a horror film that will scare your pants off. Move over Stephen King, Sarah Gailey is here! (3.5 bumped up to a 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Just Like Home is available on July 19th.

Thank you, NetGalley and McMillan-Tor/Forge, (Tor Books), for allowing me to review this amazingly creepy book. Your kindness is appreciated!

This was the first book to give me actual nightmares in a long time. I was drawn in with idea of a father being a serial killer, and hiding his bad behavior in the family homes basement. There were many twists and turns in this story though, involving ghosts, family history, a town that hates the family for the actions of one person, and those that take advantage of the same family to sell a piece of history and tell their story for them. At the end, I was a bit confused on what was actually happening with the "house" and the things that go bump in the night. However as more of the story came to light it was interesting to see how some apples don't fall far from their family tree.

This book was definitely different. I did enjoy the writing and for the first half, I was indulged. But the ending was so ridiculous that it dropped stars for me. I’m not sure I would recommend this to anyone.

1 ⭐️. Well I’m definitely in the minority when it comes to this one. Let me start by saying that I VERY RARELY give below 3 stars if I’ve stuck through a book and finished it. Usually if it’s feeling like a 1-2 star then it’s a DNF for me. Well, I finished this one and I feel dumber for having read it and I’m mad at myself for wasting my time on it. Let me at least give a couple positives before I say everything that was awful about this. The synopsis and cover are very intriguing! With that said, I did not expect the ending to be like it was. I enjoy a good thriller/mystery and I don’t even mind a few ghosts or creepy things thrown in there but this…this was just dumb!! The only other positive thing I have to say is that the first 30-40% really was pretty good. But then it started to drag around 50% and then by 85%…oh dear Lord it took a complete nose dive! Only word I can describe it as is dumb!!

Now to explain why it was so bad will be hard to do without giving spoilers. So if you still plan to read this one, you might want to stop reading here. The last 15% of the book had me rolling my eyes and thinking to myself that I can’t believe this book was even published. This was my first book by Sarah Gailey and will absolutely be my last. After an ending like that, I don’t think I could give an author a second chance! 🤣 In a nutshell, there was a monster that warped into the dead body of Vera’s mother. Okay that doesn’t sound so bad. Sounds like it could be a scary movie for someone who likes horror books but when the house starts talking…yes, you read that correctly, the HOUSE is communicating with Vera, it just became so incredibly dumb. It wasn’t even written scary. It just sounded so stupid. And Vera at the end…killing to PROTECT the house! I just can’t! It was a total waste of time and I do not understand the high reviews with this one at all!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Goodreads and Instagram page:
*Goodreads - Cherihy808
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808

Thank you Tom NetGalley for allowing me to receive an arc in exchange for my honest review- all thoughts and opinions are my own!



Well. That was weird.



I loved it.

I love a good horror story and this one definitely sounded interesting. Vera Crowder has spent the last 12 years moving from place to place and job to job. It's hard to put down roots once people put together that you're the daughter of a serial killer. When Vera's estranged mother calls to ask her to come home she reluctantly agrees to the dying woman's request. Tasked with dealing with her ailing mother, packing up a haunted house, the creepy artist boarder her mother has staying in the shed and dealing with the town that doesn't want her is almost too much for Vera to take. This one is told in dual timelines, we get Vera from 11 to about 13 and we get present day Vera. Nothing about Crowder House is as it seems. I found the writing to be well done, if a bit overly descriptive and sometimes repetitive. The pacing was too slow for me to stay fully engaged until the last 20%. It was creepy and disturbing and I did not guess the few twists or outcome. I would say it felt like Frailty meets The Haunting of Hill House. Overall I think fans of her other books would enjoy this one as well.

Just Like Home was my second read by this author, and vastly different from the previous book I read, The Echo Wife (which I loved, fyi). I've had to sit with the story of Just Like Home to full digest it and figure out now I feel about it. Overall I loved the pacing, the past and present alternating POVs, the twists and the turns. The end is what stunned me the most to the point I wasn't postive if I was into it or not; there are definite metaphors at play that I am only grasping wisps of. I recommend this book, but I also recommend a buddy read or book club because you are going to want to discuss the heck out of it.

Holy gothicy weird goodness. Sarah Gailey’s Just Like Home is a strange, grotesque gothic horror that keeps you in a constant state of “wtf” until the very last page.

I love the classical gothic elements to this book. There’s a delightfully creepy haunted house, a troubled (and certainly distressed) “damsel” Vera, ghosts, vivid dreams that blur with reality, and “villain” (James Duvall) who is trying to steal Vera’s house from her. Pair that with the intentional slow build with lots of showing and little telling until an absolutely bizarre climax, and it makes for one heck of a read.

I’m not going to go too in-depth because I don’t want to give anything away, but know that it’s dark, deeply unsettling and is well worth the time spent getting to know the characters as they finally reveal their hands. The characters themselves are all hard to gage throughout most of the book. Even our main character Vera, who you initially feel for, starts to slowly get under your skin and leave you questioning her role in everything. The setting is also amazing with the notorious Crowder House and all its secrets. Many of the scenes will give you goosebumps —especially some of the later ones.

Fans of Catriona Ward or Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic will be especially thrilled with this one. Brace yourselves for unexpected twists, odd terrors and an unforgettably eerie setting.

Perfect gothic horror with a pacing that wasn’t too fast but never felt like it was ever dragging on. The description of Haunting of Hill House was pretty spot on. Family drama rolled into a creepy house is a perfect setting for a creepy book.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.