First, I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book. I am leaving this honest review of my own will.

This book was so slooooooooow. I know it was supposed to be from the gothic genre, but this was just too much.

Just Like Home takes the best parts of some of the most popular genres - gothic fiction, general horror, crime, and thrillers, and turns it into something wholly unique and, easily, one of the best 'haunted house' stories I've read. Although, Just Like Home is so much more than a haunted house. It's about a haunted life (or, really, lives).

Just as you think you've learned the rules of the home, it changes and twists into a new and even more strange (and grueling) tale. If you want to be kept on your toes, you have to pick up this book.

I tried, I really did, but I just could not get into this book, the story and character development were so slow that I lost interest and had to put it down. I think this may be a case of it's me and not this book, others have given it rave reviews and mention that it takes a while to get going, I just lost patience with the pace and with too many other books to read, this one had to be a pass. Which is unfortunate because I have read two previous books by this author and enjoyed them. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Tor Books for the ARC.

This is a slow burn horror with wonderful descriptions that fully immerse you in the story. Lots of tension and a fair amount of creepiness. Four star read!!

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

Many horrors, nightmares, torture and murder are included in this thriller. Who is behind these incidents: evil, ghosts?

Well-written with fantastic characters. Many twists & turns. I recommend this book. But, remember, it is very scary!

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for review.

Every house has a personality--but the Crowder house literally does. After a strained relationship with her mother, Daphne, Vera is called home as Daphne is dying. Just Like Home tells the story of how Vera grows from an eleven-year-old girl who is afraid of the noises she hears at night in the basement, to a confident twelve-year-old who steals her father's key, unlocks the basement door, and discovers and accepts the awful reality of her father's hidden life. For readers who enjoy novels where bad men are punished. Sarah Gailey writes a good, scary book that will have readers checking under their dust ruffles in the middle of the night.

I am not a big horror/thriller reader, but this had me captivated from the beginning. I came in cold, and I think that was a great way to read this book, not knowing what had happened in the past (I accidentally found out when I came on Goodreads to add the book and read the description) and trying to piece it together. I don't want to spoil anything, but I was very creeped out by a number of elements of this story (in the best way!) and the ending was not at all what I thought it would be (again, in a good way).

This was one of those books that creep you out so much you wonder why you keep reading, but you keep reading because you can't put it down because you want to know what it's all about. Vera has long been estranged from her mother. After her serial killer father was arrested and put in jail, her mother threw her out of the house when she was 17 years old. When Vera gets the call from her mother after so many years to "come home," Vera can't help but come rushing home. What awaits her is a trip down memory lane that is not all that enjoyable. Past memories won't let her be as well as other things that go bump in the night. This book brought every childhood fear rushing back within the first few chapters and never let up its grip until the end. But the strangest thing was I could not stop reading for some morbid reason. Must mean it was that good of a book. 4.5 stars just because I hate being scared. Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC.

Just to start i think the author is very talented. The writing is wonderful and very descriptive to really paint a picture. She excited a slow burn in such a great way. Building tension and story. This book was disturbing at times and i liked that part. But it was a bit too slow for me.

It was so chilling the past POV. There were so many questions until the end. And i have such a hard time deciding how i feel about this one. Sci fi generally isn’t my preferred and i wasn’t expecting that aspect in this story

"Home is where the heart bleeds" - Sarah Gailey

Just Like Home, is where nightmares originate from...

Sarah Gailey, has been on my radar since I concluded reading The Echo Wife (if you have not read this one yet, you must!) . Now, after reading Just Like Home, I know without a doubt in my mind that Sarah Gailey has just become an auto-buy author.

Just Like Home, is a creepy and gruesome tale jam packed with horror. Once I started, there was no way I was going to be putting this one down. Little did I know, there was no way I would be sleeping either.

The way Sarah Gailey narrates a story is like no other, just picture a horrifying tale of child abuse wrapped up in suspense. I wont tell you that there isn't a happy ending but you are going to have to pick this book up for yourself to find out.

I am going to leave this right here for you....

"This house, the house her father built, the house where her mother would die - this place was safe. This place knew her. This place was where she belonged. "

I really liked this one. The twist was good and the reading was smooth. I really enjoyed the writing and I will be looking at other books from this author.

Vera is coming home. After twelve years of being estranged from her mother, Daphne, is dying and has asked her to sort out Crowder House before her demise. But Crowder House isn’t any old house, it used to be the home of a serial killer and the father Vera loved. It’s filled with secrets, but it could also hold the answers Vera has been looking for ever since she left as a child.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/just-like-home-sarah-gailey/

This review is long overdue but I will say I genuinely enjoyed this one!
Just the right amount of creepiness with the disgust of gore and rot described in vivid detail.
This novel follows the story of Vera who, after years of hiding from the trauma of her family home, is forced to return by guilt for her estranged and dying mother to settle ownership and be rid of the home once and for all.
There is a darkness in the house that is evident from the start and the backstory of what happened in the basement of the house is quite horrific. I recall thinking this story had a slow burn but eventually when it picked up and the plot unraveled it started to make sense and I found overall it was a great (creepy) time!
Parts of the story were annoying (ie: the guest who lives in the guest house behind the residence - one of the many serial killer fanatics choosing to live inside the home to get /closer/ to mindset of a killer... insane!) and there were more than 15 instances within the entire book where the house was described as 'the house my father built'... that's 14 instances too many and it got annoying very fast.
Overall a pretty good read! A lot of the horror/ paranormal books I've read don't creep me out easily but the description of the rot and gore in this made me uncomfortable so that was a plus hahaha

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reader's e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

JUST LIKE HOME was spectacularly messed up, and I say that with love. The conclusion of this book was so cathartic and so horrifying at the same time, it's definitely going to stick with me.

If you're looking for creepy, this baby delivers. A fantastic Gothic Horror with some haunting, gloomy, disturbing atmosphere. In fact, it's this writing and the creation of an eerie, nail-biting setting that makes the majority of the book.

The character relations are super messed up and really give off a disjointed vibe from the get go. Vera's relationship with her mother is highly disturbing. I couldn't understand how a mother could be so incredibly vicious to her own child. I also found myself irrationally angry at all the people around her, judging her for what happened while she was still so young. Her relationship with her father was likewise weird. He was two totally different people, the gentle way he dealt with Vera was totally off base from what I expected. And his alter ego? Oh boy...welcome to crazy land.

Though I really enjoyed the development of the atmosphere and all the setup, there were some issues with the construction. There is definitely a slow burn to this novel, so prepare yourself for a bit of minutiae as it gets all laid out. The last chunk is a crazy whirlwind that creates an odd balance and kind of left my head reeling. I think I needed a bit more even development. This was particularly an issue with the artist story line. Things seemed to escalate quickly and go a bit sideways with that side plot and it felt a bit awkward...it was an off-putting situation that I really couldn't agree with as it was presented.

A super creepy read with a good hook and worth the time to work through the initial slow pace. It's well-crafted and has great atmospheric quality. It's not perfection, but it sure is a dang good time.

Sarah Gailey uses atmospheric scenes of supernatural horror to explore toxic family dynamics in "Just Like Home."
For me, none of the horrors was actually scary.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC and audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
“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.

One of the ways that this was described to me was like The Haunting of Hill House. Now I have not read Shirley Jackson’s book, but I have seen both of the movies that they made based on her work. And I would say that the comparison is probably a valid one. The family dynamic at play here is….tense. I was even sure what to make of Vera or her mother at first. Some of the set up doesn’t hide itself because it is waiting for the big reveal later on. It’s like a spooky thriller. Overall, I enjoyed it. The narrator of the audio was very good.

Overall: 4/5

In general liked the story. It tells the story of Vera who has to return home and deal with the aftermath of what happened when she was a child. What was not of my taste is the end, but the rest was fine.

Just like home by Sarah Galley was a good book, part thriller and part spooky. It is perfect for the Halloween season, and I can definitely see why Once Upon a Book Club selected it for their seasonal spooky box.

Just Like Home started slowly but it was a slow, riveting burn that crescendoed into top-notch creepiness. I had no idea what to expect from this book, plot-wise, and it certainly took twists and turns that kept me reading. I loved the characters, the setting, and the writing. All around a fantastically eerie book -- horror without being too gory, despite the subject matter. I'm a fan!