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Member Reviews

I read The Echo Wife by Sarah last year and absolutely LOVED it so was thrilled to get the opportunity to read her newest book Just Like Home.

After careful consideration, I’d say that The Echo Wife is still my favourite but I definitely enjoyed this one! It’s creepy, claustrophobic and tense which are the ingredients that make a compelling read for me. I was pretty much drawn in from the beginning and liked where the story took me - as the reader, you learn a lot whilst being carefully led to hidden twists and shocking secrets. There are multiple threads woven throughout the story that all connect and make sense, especially closer to the end. It’s a dark and eerie psychological treat!

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I really wanted to like this book but I found it very slow and it did not hold my attention. I was not able to finish.

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Full disclosure: I didn't finish this. I found the writing overwrought and deathly slow... the idea wasn't strong enough to keep me going, unfortunately.

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Thank you @torbooks @netgalley for my review copy.

📖When Vera’s dying mother calls her and tells her to come home, Vera finds herself back in her childhood home, haunted by the memories of her serial killer father and his victims.

💭I was so excited when I saw this title because I really enjoyed The Echo Wife. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me. I was bored for the first half of the book and decided to dnf it. An interesting concept, but if I’m halfway through and it’s not grabbing me, then it’s time to move onto the next book.

✍️How I rated other books by this author:
The Echo Wife- 4⭐️

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Sarah Gailey has a way of creating characters and plots that creep up behind you and lay a shiveringly cold finger on your shoulder.

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For fans of the Haunting of Hill House (netflix show!) and other horror that deals with generational trauma, this is like...the perfect book. An engaging and fast read (I read it on the beach, though I definitely would not classify it as a beach read!)

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While this book was not for me personally because I just could not vibe with the storyline, I can see many who enjoy mystery/thrillers with a lot of plot twists.

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Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

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From the first chapter, Sarah Gailey will make you feel uneasy and like you absolutely cannot stop reading this book. Readers will be hooked from the very beginning of Just Like Home. After loving The Echo Wife, I knew I had to pick up Just Like Home to fall into another thriller world. This domestic horror novel will take you on a wild ride that will have you second-guessing everything. Gailey's writing is so engrossing and chilling. Perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic and A Flicker in the Dark.

The bubblegum pink cover is so eye-catching and just matches the eerie feeling of the novel perfectly.

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I really wanted this book to be more. I liked the writing and the characters and he pacing but it kind of fell flat for me at the end.

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I usually love a supernatural or paranormal element in books, but it didn’t work for me here. The “there’s something under the bed” scare is easily relatable, but it felt like it was trying too hard for me. I didn’t get that suspenseful dread that I felt in the Prologue of Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, another scare while in bed, though not of the “under” variety.

However, the physical feature that was actually underneath Vera’s bed from childhood was horrifically fascinating. I really enjoyed the daughter of a serial killer and dysfunctional family aspects of this book. Told in first person in dual timelines, the story follows Vera in the present as she returns to pack up her childhood home (that her father built) as her mother is dying while the former timeline provides a window into Vera’s childhood leading up to her father’s arrest. I was fascinated with the relationship between Vera and her father, that trust that he knew best and could fix everything. Vera’s relationship with her mother, Daphne, was more complicated and entwined with guilt and blame. I also enjoyed watching her awkwardly try to reconnect with her childhood best friend, Brandon, while anticipating what happened that caused their rift. I found the ending abrupt as I wanted to know more about Vera’s plans for the future of the house that her father built. Did I mention that her father built the house? LOL

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

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Book review :

This book is a CREEPY, BIZARRE, BLEAK, INTENSE, CLAUSTROPHOBIC and EERIE. No words to express what an elusive story.

Vera’s mother is dying, and asks her to come home to the house she grew up in, the house her father built with his own two hands—the same hands he used to torture and murder men in the basement. Vera’s feelings about her father are deeply conflicted, as he may have been a notorious serial killer, but they shared a loving, close relationship. Her mother, on the other hand, was a cold, hard, unloving woman, and even now, near death, her heart has not thawed.

Making matters worse is the fact that Vera's mother has a tenant living on the property, some sort of artist whose interest in the house makes Vera very uncomfortable.

The way the story gets depicted and the secrets starts unravelling was really interesting. I was really intrigued from the first page. The way Veera survives and fights with the circumstances was worth reading .

I loved reading this thrilling story. I am thankful to netgalley for giving me this book to read in return of an honest review.
Happy Reading!

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Thanks #netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book. Great buildup and suspense. I loved the creepy aspects of the story even though this isn't my typical read. Highly recommend.

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I thought The Echo Wife was one of the best books of the last few years, and this one surpasses it. It's maybe the best Shirley Jackson-esque book I've read, period.

Vera's been called home by her dying mother to help get their old house in order, but of course, there are a lot of family secrets. I'm going to avoid being too spoilery, though it's known from the beginning that they revolve at least partially around her late father, and made her and her family notorious..

The book does an amazing job of never going where you quite expect, while always being logical. It's a haunted house book, yes, but it's also just an incredibly dark character study. Gailey makes Vera and her mother's broken relationship into something unnerving in a wholly original way, and the mix of Southern gothic family drama and modern gothic horror, tied together with a great mix of flashbacks and contemporary settings, is fantastic.

Just read this book if you like horror or Gailey's other books. Period.

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Thanks very much for the opportunity to read this one.

Unfortunately this was a DNF at the 25% mark. I just could not get in to the story and kept waiting for something to happen.

I thought the writing was well done however I didn't really know anything about the character or what was really going on.

I'd try something else from the author in the future but unfortunately this one wasn't for me

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WOW!!!!! Hooked from the first page and read this book in one sitting… Full of tension and suspense. A real page turner, a domestic noir but OMG so much more!!!!!

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Dark, eerie and spooky. It’s hard to say too much about this book without giving something away and ruining another readers experience. If you liked Rose Red and books of that sort this book is for you!

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Incredibly spooky and creepy throughout the entirety of the book. This is a great read for those that don’t mind unrealistic outcomes. If spooky paranormal endings are your thing pick this book up!

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For having an incredible premise, this book was slooooow. But not slow in a cool gothic way, but simply slow and filled with boring mundane things every little thing the protagonist did. And the protagonist wasn't even that interesting. I didn't like this one all that much.

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A little bit scary and a LOT troubling, Just Like Home hits all the markers of chilling horror. With twists that were eerie and characters that were heartbreaking, this story had me reading well past bedtime.

There were moments, as a mom, that were a bit too intense for me, but the story was still wonderfully paced and so well done.

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