This is labeled as a thriller but it is more like soft horror?

I don't know how I feel about this read.
On one hand, I didn't like the story. I was not a fan of the twist ending, and some of the story left me feeling icky and unsettled. I wanted more of a thriller story than the horror elements but I also couldn't stop myself from reading on because I legit wanted to know what was going on and how it ended.

I cant say I liked any of the characters because they all sucked. Daphne especially was the worst kind of mother and I wanted to slap her sooo many times.

It's not too dark so I feel like newer horror fans will devour this one. My first read from this author and I might have to check out more.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy!

“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.

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JUST LIKE HOME is a messed up, addicting read!

I was sucked into the story from the first chapter and actually stayed up late to finish it (with the lights on, I must add!) Full of spooky, dark goodness and an ending you will not see coming, I highly recommend JUST LIKE HOME to any horror lover.

Thank you to Netgalley for my arc!

It pains me to write this review....and I'm sure it's just not for me, personally.

I received an arc for an honest review, and honestly I only made it through the first few chapters before I realized I just couldn't. Skipping to the end, which was some what interesting, words like what, why, huh comes to mind.

I was really excited to read it based on the cover and description! Sadly I didn't find it scary, horrific or suspenseful.

Just Like Home tells the story of Vera Crowder as she comes back to her childhood home for the first time in over a decade after her dying mother reached out for her to do so. Coming home for Vera means finally being confronted yet again by the ghosts of their past in the home that was her comfort—the house her father built—and the memories of her father who was a serial killer. Throughout the years, her mother made a spectacle of the house and invited artists and visitors of all sorts. Now, as she comes home, Vera is faced with a parasitic artist whose father is someone she blames for her own father's downfall. Not only this, the house is seemingly being torn apart by the artist for his art's purposes just as Vera finds pieces of notes in her father's handwriting about him all over the house itself. As she tries to deal with past and present, Vera is confronted with how much she hadn't seen before, and how much is being revealed to her now.

The narrative concentrates on the present day, but it goes back to some points of Vera's life as we explore the relationships she had with her father, mother, the house itself, and her childhood best friend. Questions were raised early but the pacing made it seem like the climax of this book didn't come until about 85% in. There is a plot twist that initially made me gasp, but now only makes me find holes with how it actually filled the narrative. The characters, it seemed to me, were two-dimensional and had no clear intent, but in the end, I found myself rooting for the main character. What this book gave me is so different from what I expected, and I do think that the resolution separated this book from other "daughter of a serial killer" stereotypes.

This is one of those novels that one can't review without revealing too much. Gailey's writing here is eerie and borderline chilling which made the atmosphere slow and tense the entire time. I don't generally pick up Thriller and/or Horror novels, so my verdict about how gruesome this is may be a little off for avid horror readers. I must say, though, that the tension built gripped me by the throat and I was intrigued the entire time I was reading this. I'd recommend this book to new/old horror fans who love atmospheric slow writing and pacing, as well as morally corrupt and morally gray characters.

My huge thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

(A longer review will be posted on Goodreads and on my blog this April 27.)

This book was one wild ride.

Vera comes back home to be with her ill mother who is dying, back home to the home where terrible things happened when she was a child.

For a good chunk of the book, we don’t know what happened other than Vera and her family appears shunned from everyone in town and outside it and her father is no longer around.

The story moves back and forth from the present to Vera’s childhood, sharing a little more of what happened in the past, leading to the present.

I won’t say more than that, without giving the story away. For the first 2/3 of the book I could empathize with Vera, as these assumed egregious things happened to her.

But oh, the twists and turns. Really different, but enjoyable.

You can bet any time I see a new Sarah Gailey book, I'm going to get my hands on it as quickly as humanly possible. They just never disappoint.

When a woman returns to the house she grew up in to assist her estranged, dying mother, she's confronted with the childhood--and the scandal--she ran from so long ago. Nothing is quite as it seems in this house, and being back is forcing to remember the dark reality of everything that happened here when she was a girl. This novel is full on horror with some gore and supernatural elements to go along with it. A really excellent, haunting read.

"Her old key still fit sweet and snug in the lock."

Well, wasn't expecting a horror novel, guess I missed that information, but nonetheless, Just Like Home is a very fun read. Vera returns to her childhood home, summoned by her mother Daphne, to get "things" cleaned up after Daphne, near death, passes away. We know something horrible happened and that Daphne turned Vera out as a young adult, but Gailey takes her time in showing us exactly what transpired.

Pure eeriness pervades and decay, anger, and fear do as well. I really needed to find out why Daphne hated her daughter Vera so very much. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Vera's father was a serial killer, and although I still had question or two at the end, it does pack a wallop!

Well done!

P. S. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

This is a worthwhile novel, very suspenseful, filled with secrets and lies and surprises that kept me glued to the very first page and held me there until the final revelation. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to Sarah Gailey, NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the arc of this book

Sarah Gailey has written the perfect horror novel. What begins as a thriller with supernatural elements unravels slowly and with just enough intrigue to keep the reader wanting more. This book wasn't always an easy read-I actually found myself gasping and cringing at times, but the book's surprisingly dark and grotesque turns were part of what made it so great. Just Like Home is difficult to discuss without giving too much away, but with its ending wrapping everything up perfectly while also putting Vera and her father's story in a whole new light, I think it's safe to say I'll be thinking about this one for a while to come.

A haunted house, a serial killer father, and a strained mother-daughter relationship - what could go wrong?
Just Like Home is a story that has a lot of focus on the people who raise and love us (or don’t) and how our lives are shaped by that. But it’s also just plain fun for any horror lover. It’s got a house with a secret and things that go bump in the night. And it just may be my favorite Sarah Gailey book thus far.

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet because it's one of those books that you truly can't go into detail without giving too much away.

Despite a long estrangement, and the memories of her serial killer dad, Vera’s mom called her home to the Crowder house and Vera went. To make things worse, a parasitic artist is living in the guesthouse of her childhood home and he is stripping away Vera’s childhood for ‘art.’ There are undiscovered secrets hidden in the foundation of the infamous Crowder house, Vera must find out herself how deep the rot goes.

Told from two timelines alternating between Vera’s childhood and the present.

This book begins with an ethereal description of The Crowder House and pulls the reader in with a sense of dread and foreboding. We immediately learn that Vera’s father Francis, built the house with his own two hands. The reader is then introduced to Vera and her mother Daphne. Daphne is not going to win any mother of the year prizes anytime and we soon see why Vera was so reluctant to come back home.

The writing in this spine-tingling novel is superb. Sarah Gailey crafted a very chilling atmosphere in The Crowder House. I loved the supernatural elements incorporated. Just Like Home is a little too slow-paced in parts for my preference, but I truly loved the ending.

Just Like Home is a horror novel but there's nothing too gruesome or disturbing, I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart but seasoned horror readers will think it is very mild. I can see many readers loving Sarah Gailey’s, Just Like Home!

Just Like Home will be available on July 19! Many thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Spine-tingling and unpredictable, Just like home was impossible to put down and eerie in all the best ways.

I read half this book with my eyes as wide as possible and my jaw on my chest. I don't think a book has scared me in 20 years. This one just kept taking turns and getting worse/better the whole time!

I LOVE THIS COVER. However, I just could not bring myself to finish the book. Maybe I should have read this during Halloween and I read this book at the wrong time? It is possible. However, I just was not vibing on this book at the end of the day.

Vera Crowder needs to go back home. Her mother, Daphne, is dying, and soon the infamous Crowder House will lay empty for the first time in decades. According to the community, though, Crowder House should've burned to the ground ages ago, because of the monster that once lurked within its walls.

"Just Like Home" is simply an astounding piece of horror literature. This was my first Sarah Gailey, and certainly won't be my last. Her writing is descriptive, transportive, and unnerving most of all, and contributes so much to the steady undertone of dread in this story. The chapters flowed back and forth between adult Vera returning to Crowder House--and confronting memories of growing up in its clutches--and young Vera attempting to lead a normal childhood in the shadow of Crowder House.

To read and love this book will be to go in pretty blind--trust me on this! What I can't stress enough is that this book is viscerally horrifying, and it's not for the faint of heart. Mostly psychological horror with some definite points of shocking violence, this story will give you the feeling of walking on eggshells the entire time. Its characters are complex, tormented, and refreshingly realistic--and yet, a good portion of the story is still plot-drive as the truth of Vera's childhood unfolds.

For me, the ending of the book packs a huge punch and is extremely profound; I chose to interpret it one way, whereas other readers might very well interpret it otherwise. Just another reason to pick up this book, it'd make a spectacular discussion read.

*Thank you to NetGalley and TorBooks for providing me with my advanced reader's copy of this title*

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>Someday I will learn my lesson.</p>
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<p>Some subgenres of book that I don't like are far <em>more</em> upsetting when they're written by somebody highly skilled and good at their job, as Gailey is, because they are <em>more effective</em> at the things I don't like. Like highly psychological horror where people do loads of terrible things and treat each other badly. Like this book. It is an extremely, extremely well-done version of what it is. Also aaaaaah and I'm glad I finished it well before bedtime so I can try to think about <em>something else</em> now.</p>
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<p>For the first time in years, Vera Crowder has been summoned back to the house where she grew up. It's not for funsies--her mother is dying. And as little as anybody likes facing that reality, Vera has not only her mother's frankly rather disgusting physical decay to deal with--not only the detritus of her parents' life--but also the reality of the horrible things that happened in the house. (Oh, and a fame-seeking artist living in the shed, who thinks he's all that and doesn't respect her personal space, literally or emotionally, in this difficult time. <em>Charming</em>.) Gailey skillfully unfolds each twist of what happened and exactly how much this is supernatural and how much psychological horror--it's both, it's very both--so that things that look one way are illuminated with a very different--uh--flashlight when the next chapter rolls around.</p>
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<p>If you like creepy houses and the kind of books where you have a very long list of answers to "who's the real monster here?", this is one for you. I don't. But I read it cover to cover without putting it down to do more than eat my supper anyway. It's a very well-done thing that is not my sort of thing.</p>
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What the actual what?? Just Like Home made me feel like I was walking on a tightrope, 100 feet up in the air. It started out extremely slow and I kept wanting to stop and just jump to my death to end things. I was anxious and impatient with the baby steps of progress that I made until I finally reached the halfway point. Once there, my outlook started to change as I was getting closer to reaching my destination. So, I continued on with renewed interest, moving a little faster, step by step, until I reached the end and quickly stepped off the rope. I think that sums up my reading experience pretty well.

I didn't fully love nor hate this book. Except for maybe the beginning. It was boring and redundant for most of the first half. I couldn't stand Vera and her lack of a backbone either. Once it really caught my interest, I started to enjoy it more. The ending was phenomenal!! Even if I was slightly confused. It just took way too much time to captivate me to rate this book any higher. But that's just me. If you are a psychological horror fan and you don't mind the slow build, give this book a go!

Thank you to the author, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books and NetGalley for allowing me to preview this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

JUST LIKE HOME was my first Sarah Gailey, and I wasn't disappointed. I'm a sucker for a haunted house story and particularly love horror novels that critique the true crime exploitation industry. This novel feels like a more myopic, more supernatural SHARP OBJECTS in that the protagonist is returning home for the first time since her father was discovered to be a serial killer. Vera has a complicated relationship with her parent (or, rather, her dying mother Daphne, as her father died in prison long ago) and with the house her father built, site of her fondest childhood memories and her deepest traumas. The book is CREEPY in a delightfully spooky way -- I stayed up long past my bedtime reading and kept regretting my choice because many of the novel's scariest moments take place in a dark bedroom. Eek! The dual timelines were deployed well, though I found the end of the novel to be a bit unsatisfying -- I felt like I never got a firm grip on Daphne's character or what, exactly, the book wanted to do with her. Overall though, well paced and wonderfully scary!

This was a super creepy read with a ton of great twists! It reminded me a little bit of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, especially with the complicated mother-daughter relationship, but heavier on the horror. The pacing was really great despite there not being a ton of action in the first part because of the time jumps between present day and Vera's childhood.
Just Like Home brings up a lot of complicated topics, and no character is fully bad or fully good. Everyone was incredibly morally grey, which made it all the more difficult to work out their motivations. I definitely wasn't expecting the twist at the end, but I liked it a lot. After all the build-up, that twist was just what the plot needed. 3.5/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this. This is a very creepy, harrowing read that left me feeling very creeped out and somewhat disturbed. There were many twists I did not see coming, and the ending was satisfying. The only downside for me was that for me, this was a slow burn and didn't pick up until about halfway through.