✨ Review ✨ Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey; Narrated by Xe Sands

Vera comes home to Crowder House, the house she grew up in and that her father built, because her mother is dying. She clearly has a lot of feelings about returning home -- messy familial relationships, unease about the house, and some great traumas from her past. The book weaves and winds through Vera's past and present as she comes to terms with the ghosts of this house and the great horrors she's faced within.

This was delightfully creepy -- my favorite kind of horror, where it hovers on the edge of reality with a creepy gothic house looming large. I really enjoyed listening to it, and flew through it. The story unraveled at just the right pace, and it made me feel the feels alongside frustration. If you like gothic-style horror, check this one out!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: horror light, gothic, mystery/thriller
Location: the Crowder House (small town somewhere)
Pub Date: out now

Read this if you like:
⭕️ messy family relationships
⭕️ creepy gothic houses with weird mysteries within
⭕️ monsters that lurk in the dark
⭕️ horror light

Thanks to Tor Books, MacMillan Audio, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

I was honestly not a huge fan of this one. It wasn’t bad by any means bjt it didn’t engage nor grab my attention like this authors other works. It is still worth the listen but in my opinion was not one of her best.

I've loved Gailey's work before, this was different but still good. I liked that most of the story is spent on the characters as people, not just "objects that move the plot".

LOVED the twist with this one. Holy smokes was it creative. I'm constantly searching for new horror mysteries that will surprise me and I thought this one had the element of surprise I was looking for.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a listening copy of Just Like Home by Sarah Galley. This was my first time reading from this author and it won’t be my last. First, when I seen this cover, I knew IMMEDIATELY that I needed to read this. This is totally a cover buy for me. Definitely not your typical cover in this genre(Gothic Horror) with all the reds and pinks. But it’s STUNNING!!

This story is told from Vera’s perspective over dual timelines. I loved that for the reader. Once this story got going, it was captivating. I highly recommend this audiobook as I couldn’t listen fast enough. The writing is so good with a wild ending. Go in blind and enjoy the ride. 4 atmospheric stars.

Just Like Home is eerie from beginning to end. There's a sense of suspense and tension immediately to try to figure out what her dad did. Not only that, but the chapters which are these past flashbacks have a sense of memories and childlike naivety. The ways in which we believe the best of our parents, believe what they tell us about how the world works. But as readers who see these memories for the rose tinted visions they are, can sense the sinister, the off putting, the tension.

And that's my main impression of Just Like Home. It's about the things that can happen and we wouldn't know the things we don't want to see. The lies we accept. All combined with this feeling of knowing that someone isn't who we thought. If there's one thing you take away from this book review, just know you could cut the suspense in Just Like Home with a knife. It feels tangible like something that rips itself off the pages and sits in a room with you, looming.

Part of what lends itself to that feeling is the audiobook narration. Xe Sands does a phenomenal job of infusing these memories with just the right amount of doubt and love. The new experiences tinged with grief, regret, and guilt. The emotions shine through the pages.

Thank you so much for my ALC! I was so intrigued by the premise of this book! It was a true slow burn, and the details were amazing, especially about the character of the house! There was a lot of development and dialogue to create this horrific book. There was a lot of symbolism throughout the book and I enjoyed the dynamic between the daughter and parents. Overall, a good read!

Vera's going home because her mother is dying. Her father did something horrible a long time ago...and Vera got out of there, never looking back. But, here she is, in the house her father built (a fact we are told far, far, far too many times). I'm a longtime Sarah Gailey fan, but this one just wasn't it for me. It's a slow-burn paranormal creepy novel and a past that comes back to haunt, and how you remember things from your childhood in a different light. I was in it...I was....I was ready to be swept off my feet by a super creepy twist ending, as Sarah Gailey tends to do....but then it was just..ugh. This one isn't for me. The cover is stunning, but the inside left me wanting more.

The narrator was great and was amazing at building suspense and adding emotional content to a character. The vocal choices added to the story and helped with the vibe of the house.

Ok....this was rough.

The narration is excellent, I typically like a little more characterization but I was ok with this, and ended up enjoying it immesnely.

There were parts of this book that were so viscerally disgusting I had to pause take a lap then dive back in.

Pacing is a little slow but I stuck it out and enjoyed this one, it was the perfect end to Spooky season listening to this book.

Seriously I thought this book was disgusting in parts and LOVED it, I would read another title from this author for sure.

<i>Just Like Home</i> is a creepy, horror/paranormal story. Imagine growing up in and later returning to the house where someone you trusted murdered and buried his victims. Imagine your mom not leaving and allowing the gory-obsessed fans access to your demons. A weirdly good read, but not something I normally would have chosen.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. This was my first Sarah Gailey novel and I will definitely be reading her backlist.

The book is very unsettling for a few reasons. The dynamic between Vera and her mother, the relationship Vera has with her community, and perhaps the most compelling is the relationship between Vera and the house.

I have never read a book where a place is a character but Gailey did it in a wonderful way that wasn’t cheesy or over the top.

Super creepy and perfect for all readers of horror or thriller books.

Thank you Netgalley for the audio arc. The narrator was fantastic. However, the ending of this book was awful. The premise was great, the cover amazing, the narrator perfect, but the pacing and plot just fell so short. 2 stars.

3.25/3.5 stars.

I don’t even know how to rate or review this because it was hands down one of the most bizarre, unique books I’ve ever read. Just so odd and extremely confusing…. But at the same time, it made sense? (See, like I said… I honestly don’t know how to review it!) I just don’t know if I loved the ending? It’s definitely one of those books I could sit and think about for a long time, because it’s just so weird. The twist reminded me of some of Stephen King’s novels, but also of some poorly executed horror movies. So I totally get why it has the mixed reviews it does. A dark and eerie, yet completely weird as hell, piece of horror fiction - that’s for sure.

The audiobook narration was very well done. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Sarah Gailey has found the perfect narrator in Xe Sands. Her delivery of this book is spot on, and you really feel drawn into not only Vera's story, but more specifically the setting of the Crowder house.

This is a great choice for anyone who enjoys reading about haunted houses, family drama, and serial killers. The story is a bit slow to unfold, but packed with atmosphere, and intrigue. Told in mostly in the present, with flashes to major events in Vera's childhood, this book will keep you entertained, and questioning until the very end.

Let me just start this off by prefacing, I spent almost the entire book yelling “what the hell??” As I finished each chapter with more questions than when it started. Many times in the middle of chapters too. I’m struggling to write this review as the book was full of so many shocking moments it hard to say much about it without giving anything away. And trust me, you’ll want to experience the twists and shock as you read the book.

Vera Crowder has a troubled past she has been running from, until her mother (who she has a terrible relationship with) seemingly calls her out of the blue to tell her she is dying and needs her to come home to say goodbye. Vera begrudgingly agrees, not wanting to return to the house she swore she’d never step foot inside again to say goodbye to a mother who never showed much interest in her.

As soon as she steps foot in the house, her past starts to catch up with her and she is bombarded with her memories of growing up in the Crowder House. Memories of of her horrible mother. Memories of her father. Memories of how she found out her father was an infamous serial killer.

The only reason I didn’t give this book the full 5 stars, was that it was a slow build. The first half of the book probably could’ve been shortened to a quarter and nothing would have been lost from the plot. There was enough suspense through the build up that left you with questions that made you continue reading, but it was a little slower than I would have liked. With that said though, when it gets going, it gets going crazier and creepier than you can ever imagine.

All and all, this is one of the creepiest books I’ve read in a while. The house has its own personality that puts everything over the edge and oh my, is it creepy!! The imagery in this book was exceptional. I really did feel like I was in the house, experiencing everything with Vera.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a bizarre book, but I loved the bizarre elements the most! It's extremely slow and doesn't really pick up until the very end, which I don't mind, but I just felt like I needed more from it. I wanted it to be even MORE strange throughout and not just near the end. I have a really unpopular opinion on this, but I actually liked the ending. I think it was out there and strange and just odd in the best ways. It really sets itself apart from other stories in this genre. Speaking of, I definitely wouldn't categorize this as horror at all and I wouldn't recommend going into it thinking you're going to get a typical horror story. It's more psychological suspense with a dash of horror elements. It's also very slow and not too graphic or violent (in my opinion!), which might be exactly what some people are looking for.

I listened to this audibly and I'd really recommend it that way! The narrator was great and really brought every single character to life. I feel like audio is the BEST way to read horror/thrillers cause the suspense just builds tremendously and there's no way for your eyes to accidentally spoil you!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's not a new favorite by any means, but it was good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for an audio ARC. Thank you to Tor Books for a physical ARC. All thoughts and opinions are still, as always, my very own.

When Vera receives a phone call from her mother asking her to come home to Crowder House after a long estrangement she does so, returning to a home filled with secrets, the home of a serial killer. Vera would prefer not to be there, and it doesn't help that an artist is living there as well, an artist she believes is leaving writings by her father’s hand around the house. Crowder House is full of secrets, but may not remain buried for much longer.

Just Like Home is a strage, paranormal thriller. I really enjoyed the concept of the story, but it seemed to start very slowly. I like that Gailey used a nonlinear timeline, giving the reader little glimpses of Crowder House and Francis, as well as Vera’s childhood, throughout the novel. There were times when I felt a little confused, but for the most part I found some clarity by the end. I greatly enjoyed the ending of Just Like Home; it was deliciously twisted.

I wasn’t a fan of the audiobook. The narrator is so monotone during the majority of her delivery that it verged on robotic. There was little inflection or change in pace, even during the more eventful and intense moments. I do not think that the audiobook did the novel justice.

Enjoyment: 4
Total rating: 4.07


Even though going back to her childhood house that she shared with her serial killer father was the last thing Vera wanted to do, she can't deny her estranged mother's request to come home.

As if returning wasn't hard enough, Vera finds a lodger living in the guest house, and he looks pretty comfortable taking over her place. And then... notes in her father's handwriting start appearing, but no one claims to be the ones writing them.

It won't be long before Vera regrets even coming back home.

I do not know how to talk about this book. It is unique, engaging, and not what I expected, but I am not mad about where it went.

Don't get me wrong, this is very much a haunting horror story in more ways than one. Just Like Home is dark and claustrophobic, with well-rounded characters that are rotten yet sympathetic. Vera's relationship with her mother is, at the very core, relatable - even though most of us will never experience their level of toxicity.

Every time you make an opinion about an event or person, the flashback comes in full force and makes you question everything. Just Like Home is unsettling and has made me reflect on my life, which is one of the things I seek in a horror book.

While I patiently wait for my Once Upon a Book Club box to read this book with my eyeballs, I had to listen to the audiobook. I am so thankful to have received an ARC for it. Xe Sands's narration was superb. Even though I feel there isn't a single narration that will please everyone because Just Like Home's tone is layered and might change according to the reader's mood and connection to Vera. One can read this as a purely creepy horror book. Or they can connect with the most subdued but impactful sad, angry, painful, and dooming undertones, which is what Sands chose to emote in her narration - As that was also my experience reading the book, I loved it.

I will re-listen to it as I read my physical copy of the book.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Just Like Home

What a great start to Spooky Season! For those who are fans of The Haunting of Hill House (I loved both the book and the TV show equally as they told two very different stories), then this book is for you!

What do you do when things go bump in the night? When there is a monster under your bed?

This gripping story of Vera and her mother is so haunting and promises to give you the chills and the thrills. Vera's mother lives in their old family home, the home of a serial killer, where Vera was never allowed down to the basement. And to make things worse, there is a writer living in the shed wanting to expose old wounds and dig where he didn't belong.

This was a serious don't read me in the dark book! I had to check under my own bed after this one. Full of family drama, while you follow the trail back and forth from past to present, it's full of twists and turns all throughout.

This was one wild ride! It was not the story that I expected based on the publisher's blurb, but it was a trippy one that really kept me hooked. It's full of monstrous, yet often sympathetic, people, a haunted house, an estranged, dying parent, and flashbacks that make you question everything you just read/listened to.

This is the second of Sarah Gailey's works that I have read. They appear to write across many genres, if they have written horror before, I'd not read it. They did an amazing job of adding something new to the cannon of haunted house literature. I will be looking for more of their books!

Since I listened to the audiobook, I'd like to add that it's narrator, Xe Sands, was really great in this story. Some reviews called it drowning, but I think their voice adds to the creepiness and anxiety filling the book.