So wow. I want to thank #netgalley for letting me read an eArc of #JustlikeHome by #SarahGailey.
This book is amazing. First off death, murder yes please lol. Vera is a character you can’t decide if you like or not and her father Francis you like right away even after finding so much out about him. Daphne though is something else entirely. This take on a supposedly haunted house is amazing, it was not at all what I expected and I fully plan on adding this book to my collection.

Holy cow. This book scared me. Took me a while to read because I was physically unable to read at night like I normally do because I was so afraid of what was going on. This book was not only well-written, but the perfect thriller to read in October. I believe it publishes in late summer, so it is also the perfect thriller to cool you down on a hot day with the amount of goosebumps that will be covering your skin. Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers

God this was SO good. It feels gothic, but so modern that it makes the reader feel a bit upended -- it feels like it should be older than it is, which makes it such an interesting read. Even if Gailey didn't put forward something interesting and well-written, the vibe it manages to create is SO off-putting that it would work. This is a great slowburn with a great payoff in the final quarter.

“Because I watched it. I watched you eat up his love like a crab eating a seafloor corpse, one pinch at a time.”
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Vera returns to get her childhood home to get things in order for when her estranged mother dies. Strange things are happening in The Crowder House and Vera is determined to find out why!
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I finished this one a few days ago, but I had to sit on it a bit before writing this review. This gothic horror story is eerie and dark. The creepy doom continues to build and keeps you guessing. It had been a while since I’ve read a book where I didn’t call the twist.. but man I did not see this ending coming!

Sarah's books are ones that have been sitting on my tbr for quite some time now. They sound like books that would be right up my alley but I was never sure which one to start off with. Then I decided that this sounded weird enough to be my first experience. I really picked a strange one to pop my Gailey cherry.

I love haunted house stories because it's what I know. This gave me those kinds of feelings as soon as I read the synopsis. Then I read the book. It is so much more than that and it is frightening. Some parts were spooky, spooky enough to where I felt a tad bit uneasy. This was mostly weird, like so very abnormal. Spooky, strange, and weird are the only words I can use to describe this without giving anything away. This is one you'll have to experience yourself.

I love when an author starts with the present and gives us glimpses of the past as we try to piece together the story. I pride myself on piecing things together and figuring out the end of mystery/thriller books. This is a book where you'll never in a million years guess where it is going. My mind exploded into a billion pieces as the truth was revealed. My mind is still thinking about where this went. I had to reread some parts because I couldn't believe what I read. I'm amazed.

Just Like Home was a great book and I've been suggesting it to readers all day. If you love scary, mysteries, the weird, and just plain bizarre reads then this will be for you. Don't be fooled by the pink cover because it's not what you'll get on the inside.

"You can't learn a lesson when there's filth inside of you!"

A terrific read, in the vein of a gothic story, but modernized for a new audience. This book was hard to put down, and much more emotionally nuanced than expected.

Starting off, this book was not for me. What caught my attention was the gothic-esqe haunted house, troubled protagonist with a dark past, and family secrets. The pacing is slow and repetitive, and there were a lot of areas in which I had trouble visualizing and understanding what I was reading. The story is much more focused on the internal struggle of the main character than the environment she is in, which is fine, but it didn't work for me. In the end, I felt like I still wasn't entirely clear on the motivations of the protagonist, and while it seemed to have a resolution, it fell rather flat.

It is difficult to write about this book without giving anything away. I would recommend for readers who enjoy a slow-burn and are open to supernatural stories. I will say that the final quarter of the book is where it finally picks up, but there is a lot of trudging through the first three quarters to get there.

This book was entertaining, but it was definitely not what I was expecting. I don’t read much horror, but I would definitely describe this as a horror. I gave it three stars because it held my attention and there were definitely components that I liked, such as reading about Vera’s relationships with each of her parents. I was expecting the book to be more about Francis’ crimes and Vera realizing that her dad was a serial killer, but it’s more about the house itself and Vera’s acceptance of it. I would recommend this to some people, but not most.

This was a fun time but the ending was lacking, in my opinion. There was too much body horror for my own personal enjoyment and I didn't like the twist. This will definitely depend on your tastes for horror though so I'd give it a shot if you're even slightly interested in this title. The premise was cool and I was on the edge of my seat at certain points. I definitely found the chapters that took place in the past most exciting. They were what kept me picking up the book after I'd set it down. Overall, the writing was great and this was generally fun but nothing I'm eager to recommend to a general audience or reread again.

I generally enjoyed just like home, however I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t more gory and horror based. I went in expecting a true horror novel, not supernatural. I LOVE both but I just thought it was something else. It was still fun though!

This book was a challenging read for me because it left me without a feeling of real closure. It was definitely not your run-of-the-mill story... even for the genre. There were a lot of twists that I didn't really see coming, which is unusual for me to find in a book. Without giving spoilers, there is one character who was completely different from any other book I've read. I finished the book feeling more haunted by the unanswered questions or untold stories than I would have expected. It would have been nice to learn a little more about all of the characters and what they were doing prior to the beginning of the book because it was an interesting leap from the past to the present.

I’ve read two books this year now with supernatural elements / houses and it really doesn’t appeal to me. This isn’t really “horror” so if you’re looking for disturbing or even gruesome, this won’t be for you.

Just Like Home is creepy and enthralling. Vera goes back to her childhood home when her estranged, dying mother sends out an SOS. Their relationship was always strained but they haven’t spoken sense Vera’s father was convicted as a serial killer. The house holds memories of gruesome deaths and her tainted upbringing. As she sets out cleaning the house she uncovers pages from her fathers journal and the darker truth of the house he built. Vera is a complex character imbued with the delusions of her loving but murderous father and the jealous, debilitating criticism of her mother. Page after page of haunting details make for a quick and thrilling read. Loved it and will definitely check out other books by the author. Thanks to NetGalley for the read.

Flawless, the story flowed well, the characters were well developed, I felt captured by the story, Amazon work!

First I will never drink Lemonade again. So there is that. IYKYK. also, I read The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey and this one just BLEW it out of the water!

This book creeped me right out. I LOVED the “You know something is building up and until then the book will slowly freak you out with creepiness” vibe. Legit. I read a lot of horrors and this one just did me in.

I have already recommended it to my friends that like horror, thrillers and everything in between! The ending was pretty twisty too. Overall solid 4 stars!

Thank you NetGalley (opinion is my own!) thank you to the author and publishing house as well - chef's kiss! Loved!

GHOSTS! SERIAL KILLERS AND CREEPINESS
In this very very creepy story, Vera returns to Crowder House (her family home) when her mother calls. It's been years since they have spoken and Vera feels the pull of familial duty rather than a desire to help. At the start of the novel she has returned to her supposedly haunted house - the house of a known serial killer - her father.

To survive financially Vera's mother has rented rooms and created a tourist trap atmosphere for those interested in serial killers and ghosts. Vera must deal with the most recent "artist" who is a descendent of a family enemy. Between the vitriol of her mother, the sneakiness of the tourist and her own complicated feelings about returning, it's not surprise that Vera has begun to flash back to her life as a child in the house.

Slowly but surely, secrets are revealed to explain what really happened at the Crowder House and before long Vera is faced with making some very life changing decisions. If you like learning about serial killers, love haunted houses and complicated families, and enjoy a twisted story filled with flashback then this creepy masterpiece is for you! #JustLikeHome #Macmillan #TorForge #Tor #Netgalley #Netgalleyreads #SarahGailey

Listed as a mystery/thriller 'Just Like Home' by Sarah Gailey leans more to the horror/supernatural genre than originally anticipated. An intense read, I found myself thoroughly hooked after the first few chapters and couldn't put it down. Crowder house has a long history that Vera Crowder has tried to move past, but when her mother asks her to come home, she finds herself pulled back into the disturbing home of her serial-killer father.
Never quite able to escape her past, Vera's return will open past memories that she may not wish to rediscover.

Deliciously creepy, this novel will leave you with a chill running down your spine and the need to look under the bed before you go to sleep at night.

It was a bit predictable and slow. I will not be posting a review on my social channels to negatively affect promo for this title. There's an audience for this book, but I am not that audience.

I love creepy and I love mystery and I love not knowing where things are going. Unfortunately, this one fell under the mark on all of the above. The author just made me feel like she was trying too hard with the creepy factor and the repetitive “my father built this house” line. Yes, I got it. Over and over and over again. In the end I see where she was going with it but it all just felt stiff and forced and not entirely haunting.

Vera’s mother calls her home to tend to things after not speaking for years. The home her father, the serial killer, built. There is also an artist staying in the shed and trying to create art from the mystery of the Crowder House. Creepy things happen and you wonder is there a monster? Is the house alive? Is it the artist? Is it crazy town? The story goes back and forth from the present Vera to the childhood Vera.

It was just a little meh for my taste and felt a bit like a YA horror.

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A dark gothic story along the veins of The Haunting of Hill House and I’ll be Gone in the Dark. This is a story about a home and a family littered with secrets... and years later Vera receives a call from her mother saying “Come home.” and Vera obeys. Their fraught relationship has been a life long thing and now she is back home... the home her father built... the home of a serial killer. Vera must now face the hatred of her mother, the memories of love from her father as well as the bodies he buried there beneath the house he built for them... and to top it off her mother has invited a stranger into their home. She has invited James Duvall, a parasitic artist who wants to strip away Vera’s childhood for spare parts and use the home’s history, her father’s life, for his own art. Yet there is also someone else, someone who is leaving notes around the house in Vera’s father’s handwriting and Duvall insists it’s not him. Vera begins to unearth all her childhood memories, all the feelings and complications that made her who she is, and most of all discovering not only a long lost friend, but finding that Crowder House is her home. This was a lush and beautifully dark gothic story about one girl’s complicated family relationship, the love between a father and daughter, and finding a home for yourself. Vera starts off distant, wanting to get away from her mother and her home, away from the memories and the past, but as she discover’s her father’s belongings, his letters, and she remembers everything, she slowly begins to come into herself again and it was just lovely to read. The book starts off a bit slow but absolutely picks up by the end. The ending was fantastic and I honestly hope this book gets a show or a movie because it would make a fantastic gothic show/movie!!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*