a dark gothic style creepy thriller book. it follows vera who has to come home to her lol daphne, and the book flashes back from the current time in a dual timeline and of the past. we get flashbacks of times she recalls spooky things she experienced in her home such as being scared of the “monster under the bed”, creaking noises, “slurps”. when she was young her hero to check the monsters was her dad, and flash to current times vera tells us that her dad is a serial killer. we don’t know much about vera’s mother, she is very disturbed. i received this arc from NG and this is my voluntary review.

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories — she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

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Honestly this book caught me at the wrong time because if I read it before Book Lovers, I think I would’ve enjoyed more. This book did have me gasping at moments and I truly was a little spooked. However, the supernatural element was hard for me to follow throughout the book- so it wasn’t my favorite.

3.5⭐️

Sarah Gailey can twist your mind. Though my first exposure was through The Echo Wife - an immeasurably good and disturbing turn at the intersection of horror and domestic - Just Like Home proves they're more than able to turn any familiar territory into something menacing.

It's funny, when you think about it, how much a house can really hold. The love, the pain, the memories. The secrets. Returning to a place we once knew like the backs of our own hands can sometimes prove to be a far ruder awakening than we ever anticipate. It happened for me - returning even just to the state I was raised in brings me so much anxiety it builds like sludge in my throat - and it happens to Just Like Home's Vera when she's called to return to care for her dying mother and settle the affairs of the house her father built.

Awash in the warmth of familiar surroundings and enveloped by the ice of her mother's cold words, Vera must face the violent scrutiny of her neighbors and the secrets long since buried as they slowly come to light. Through chapters that alternate between Vera in the present and Vera's childhood, we watch as she battles the tension between the love she feels for her father and the darkness she feels within herself. The things that happened in the basement of Crowder House, the animal sounds and smothering silence within its walls and beneath Vera's bed are the lifeblood of her memories, and facing them again proves equal parts terrifying and exhilarating.

Gailey's ability to make a simple phrase echo with equal parts threat and longing makes each of their works a uniquely enticing experience. Just Like Home is visceral in its prose, dripping with hunger and need that transcends years and experiences and the floorboards of old houses to craft something that sticks in your mind with an earthy stubbornness. The threat thrumming at the heart of Home is ever-present in a way that clings to the air around each of the characters but, true to form, nothing is quite what it seems and there are twists lingering among these pages that feel both painful and fresh, like an unexpected splinter digging into the viscera of your mind.

2022 seems to be turning into a time reaching back to the Gothic and bringing it into the light as something with a fresh coat of darkness and understated menace that makes the genre so alluring. Perhaps it should not be surprising - after three years of staying in our homes it's only natural they should become fodder for exploring our anxieties and desires, and no genre trends that ground better than Gothic. The walls and floors and crevices we have gotten to know so well are newly intimate, and, after all, what is intimate can also be menacing, can't it? And maybe the safest place you know has monsters of its own. Maybe our monsters can love us. Maybe they can make us feel whole.

The Gothic is also a complex ground to explore other darknesses we try to pretend don't exist so we might feel comfortable. It's no coincidence that the resurgence of the genre's tendrils includes a resurgence of women who have a kind of strength to them born from their acceptance and comfort with the fact that they do not have to be wholly good people to be worthy of life and meaning. Men are always allowed to show their power, but never their weakness. Women are expected to show weakness and smother the light of their power. Just Like Home is but one recent entry in the literary landscape that presents a kind of inversion of that standard and consequently creates a world where the monsters are both new and familiar all at once.

Eerie, visceral, and skin-crawling, Just Like Home is a modern Horror with strong Gothic roots. Author Sarah Gailey's vivid descriptions of the house and painting of Vera's turbulent inner world were well done, but I found the story to be too slow paced and so insular it became claustrophobic. I found myself confusing Vera and Daphne (I think because Vera sounds like an older woman's name and Daphne sounds younger) and struggling to really visualize or connect to either of them.

Creepy, suspenseful, unnerving and all the good chills you get from a thrilling ghost story. Definitely recommend and that twist, what a twist!

Definitely an interesting mystery/thriller, with a lot of original elements! I’m not very well versed in this genre, so I can’t say if it will appeal to fans of mysteries and thrillers, but I found it intriguing and well-written.

It's not often a book can keep me guessing. It's not often a book keeps me up at night because I'm weirded out. This book did both. With a healthy side dish of "Wait...what?" This is definitely going on my re-read annually shelf.

What did I just read? I don't really know how to describe it but I really liked it. It was disturbing and intriguing throughout the whole time and I couldn't wait to see where the story was headed. Now I need to go and read anything else written by this author because wow!

Wow! This book had me questioning everything as I was reading it! I audibly said “wtf” several times! I loved how the story was focused around how the people in our life shape us but still had that incredibly creepy and disturbed element. One of my favourite Sarah Gailey’s yet.

This was such a good thriller novel.
Things weren’t predictable, there are great twists and turns, and the writing style was captivating . The gothic horror elements were also fantastic, and there were super spooky scenes that gave me the shivers 😂 highly recommend this for horror/thriller lovers!

Thank you for the chance to read this book! I enjoyed the gothic horror elements and the horror in general, it had some really scary moments that actually sent shivers down my spine. This was my first time reading a book by this author but I definitely want to read more now.

I first encountered Sarah Gailey’s work when I read The Echo Wife and I was blown away with how much I enjoyed it. Just Like Home didn’t quite grab me as much as The Echo Wife but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This was a very twisted and dark gothic thriller with elements of horror. Think dysfunctional family dynamics, toxicity and lots of creepy vibes. It asks us how much our childhood shapes us as humans and can we ever truly escape our pasts?

Can I also add - this cover is amazing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Books for the opportunity to read this one in advance!

I was excited to read this book from the cover alone! The description just further interested me in it. Serial killer ✅ Creepy messages ✅ Large and daunting house ✅ Estranged family ✅

When I first started reading I was a little unsure, things were kind of confusing. We didn’t know much about the dad accused of all these crimes or why Vera doesn’t want to go home and see her dying mom. If this is something that you struggle with, trust me push on with this book. It’s confusing for a reason and makes you think.

I absolutely loved the idea of the house itself and how dark and creepy it was made out to be. The character of Vera was odd to me and I will say she’s not my favorite character. The elusiveness of Francis fit the book perfectly as it unfolds what crimes he committed.

The plot of the book itself was good along with the author’s writing style. I kept thinking I was going to be able to guess the ending and can honestly say I never saw it coming.

Overall, it’s a 4-star read for me. I wasn’t blown away by how things wrapped up and the characters weren’t that memorable to me. I wish we would of had a little more information about the how/why Francis did what he did and some closure with what Vera was going to do. I will say that I do recommend this for thriller/horror lovers and that it’s got interesting components to the story itself.

Just Like Home ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Vera has to return to her childhood home she begins to experience strange things. She has not been home since she was kicked out and is now coming home to take care of her mother, Daphne, and the home itself. Going back and forth between young Vera and now, she has to come to terms with childhood memories and experiences. Between helping her sick mother, living in a seemingly haunted house, and remembering things about your serial killer father, what could go wrong??

This is a great horror/ dark thriller book. The question I kept coming back to was can you truly experience love without experiencing hate? I loved how the book went back and forth so we really got to know Vera and the relationship she has with her parents. The ending took me by surprise. Definitely recommend if you like horror or mystery/ thrillers.
Thank you NetGalley for access to the book!

I finished reading this book and it was creepy. Also the family had some issues from a abusive mom to a dad that was a killer. She tried doing something like her dad and hurting a friend. The house was creepy and monsters there. Very good book on who are the real monsters.

This horror story is perfect for fans of Joe Hill or his pop, Stephen King! Complex, interesting, unlikeable characters drive the story of a young girl raised by an indifferent, cold mother and her devoted, yet strange father living in the house her dad built with his own strong hands. What are those creepy sounds at night! I
The moaning, crying, slurping scary sounds? And she knows a monster lives under her bed or in her closet, watching, whispering.
This book was a slow starter for me, but it gathered speed and I ended enjoying it quite a lot! A 3 1/2 for me, but probably a 4 for true horror fans!

The only word I have for this book is no because this turned out to be all kinds of nope for me. This was not a book for me, and I didn't enjoy my time reading this at all to the point where my two-star rating may be generous.

Let's get into the details.
 

WRITING:

This book may end up being a lot shorter than it appears as the ARC was only 285 pages while the actual book is 352. But, besides it being shorter than you may expect, I can't complain about the writing. It was easy to read and the right amount of description and information was given without overloading you.


PLOT:

We follow Vera, who goes back to her childhood home, the Crowder House, after her dying mother calls her back to sort things out before her passing. This premise, by itself, is nothing new when it comes to horror or mystery books, but it is not a bad one if done well. The problem here is that I didn't like the way the book handled it.

There were layers to the plot, and some of the layers were intriguing, but they amounted to nothing interesting in the end which was disappointing. It also took a while for the different subplots to line up which was a pacing issue. Despite the layering though, the plot was rather simple, as it mainly was concerning Vera's strained relationship with both her mom, and the townspeople, but also the man living in the house, which I didn't mind very interesting to read.

I also simply didn't like the direction the story went in. The further I got into the book, the more I kept questioning what was going on because of the abrupt shift in tone. There were also scenes in the book that didn't add anything to the narrative, such as (no spoilers here) Vera talking about how she doesn't drink, but then proceeds to go to a bar and then leave after ordering.

As this is a horror book, there of course had to be some horror elements in it, which I didn't think was effective. The horror was more of a slow burn with only some underlying tension occurring and it was more on the psychological side as well. Any kind of horror though ended up being ruined because I didn't enjoy Vera's perspective.


CHARACTERS:

A big flaw of the book was the characters, as no one was likable. I always say that when it comes to characters, they don't have to be likable if the plot is able to overtake your negative emotions towards them. When you don't like the plot as well though, it makes things all the worse.

Vera, Daphne (the mom) and James (the guest) all had no redeeming qualities and their relationships were a mess that I just didn't care to read about. Vera specifically ended up passing the point of no return for me, and it ended up completely ruining the story more than it already was.


CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

My negative feelings towards this book aside, this is a completely subjective review as I personally didn't vibe with it. So, take my opinion with a tiny grain of salt if you still think that this is a book you might enjoy because it could be. Just because I didn't enjoy it, doesn't mean you won't if your horror tastes align more with something like this.

If you are looking for something similar with a bit of a different angle, I would recommend Horrid by Katrina Leno if you want more horror, and the TV show Prodigal Son if you want more mystery.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Books, for giving me the opportunity to review this in advance. My post will be uploaded to my blog two weeks prior to the release date.

Wow what a book!! This book was twisted and creepy and kinda just messed up. Yet I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines. Sometimes they can be a little confusing but story did it well. Without spoiling anything the ending was wild I didn’t see it coming. I loved how the author committed to the spooky/horror. So many times I feel like thrillers or horror books endings let me down. This one committed, and I’m not quite sure what it says about me since I absolutely loved every messed up bit of it. This is one of those books that’s going to stick with me and I can’t stop thinking about it. I haven’t read any of the authors other books but now I definitely want to.

Overall I definitely recommend this creepy horror book. Check TW if you’re a bit squeamish it does include murder and descriptions of torture.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 STARS
Wow. This was a thrilling and creepy ride, and my mind was working in overdrive the entire time trying to figure out exactly what in the heck was happening. I want to remain vague here in order to not accidentally spoil any of the mind altering craziness for you.
The reader is left in the dark for most of the book, and this really adds to the anticipation of wanting to puzzle out what is happening. I believe that the book is categorized in Mystery/Thriller and IT IS a psychological thriller, but I also feel like it could be categorized in horror as well. It definitely toes the line between reality, insanity and supernatural which fits into the horror genre really well.
This book is perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Mexican Gothic. If you are looking for a book that constantly keeps you guessing as to what is real, what is not real, and who you can trust then this is perfect for you. It is a bit slower paced than a lot of thrillers, especially in the beginning, but I hope this doesn't deter anyone away from this book because it is so worth reading!

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am in the minority in my review as this book was not creepy nor suspenseful to me. It dragged and it was very confusing to keep straight as the writing was jumbled. Maybe the author wanted to keep us in this frantic state as the main character Vera Crowder was extremely disturbed and had a very strange family life?? I did feel the need to finish it but the ending just left me asking-what did I just read and why did I waste my time?? I do not like to leave negative reviews, and so I did want to say that the premise for the book was very original and promising.

Thank you to Net Galley for the chance to read and leave an honest review.