This book pulled me in right away, the characters were truly relatable and I loved how I didn’t see the dark twists coming.

This book did something that I don’t think any other book has done before, and that is genuinely scare me. I had to stop reading it at night because it feels just like watching a scary movie that speaks right to my own fears. These Familiar Walls is a great mix of a creepy haunted house story and ALL the family secrets.

The haunted, creepy house element of this story was SPOT ON! Think creepy mirrors, whispering shadows, and moments that you can FEEL through the pages. I loved it! This will be a great book to have on your TBR for the 2026 spooky season. But while I was completely engrossed in the story, overall, the ending felt a little flat for me. I saw some of the big twists coming a mile away, but I don’t want to dissuade you from picking this one up! The parts that were done well in this book were done SO WELL and the parts that lacked a little bit in my opinion may work better for you than they did for me.

In these pages you will find:

-Creepy haunted murder house
-ALL the family secrets
-Dual timeline (childhood flashbacks)
-2020 Pandemic setting
-Spine tingling moments that you can feel through the pages
-Sister dynamics

It’s been a while since I felt genuinely scared while reading a book, but this one absolutely spooked me. While I want to gush about this book, it feels to me like one you need to go into without knowing too much.
I can say that I loved the writing style and flew through this novel in a few days. The suspense and mystery of it made me think about it while I wasn’t reading. It really creeped me out and made me want to keep the lights on while I was reading.
The characters are well thought out and the pacing was incredible. I can’t wait to recommend this title to all the horror fans when it releases!

This book messed with my head in the best way! An extremely dark psychological mind game that had me invested from the start. My favorite parts of this book were the childhood flashbacks, I really flew through those sections wanting to figure out the bigger picture. I will say that I was left wanting a bit more in terms of the main relationship, and what motivated the husband in particular. But overall I enjoyed this and would absolutely encourage others to read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

Blurb (spoiler-free):
A haunted house story meets buried trauma: Amber returns to her childhood home after tragedy, only to discover the past never stays dead. Ghosts, guilt, and glowing windows make these walls anything but comforting.

⸻

Review:
Solid 3 stars from me. Honestly, you could skip chunks of this and still catch all the important creepy beats. The vibe is there—mirrors acting shady, shadows whispering secrets, a house with more mood swings than a teenager—but the pacing dragged. Felt like wandering through hallways where every door is locked except the one you already guessed was haunted.

🔥 Loved: the atmosphere and unsettling imagery.
😴 Not so much: filler chapters that slowed the momentum.
👻 Overall: eerie but uneven. A book that wanted to burn the house down but sometimes just smoldered in the corner.

Would recommend if you like slow-burn haunted domestic horror, but if you’re craving nonstop chills, this one might feel more like a lukewarm séance.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

After finishing These Familiar Walls, I was left with a lot of conflicted feelings. First, I feel like this was a incredibly suspenseful novel that kept me hooked all the way through because I wanted to unravel the mystery of who was haunting the house. On the other hand, I had so much vitriol towards the main character, Amber. Ultimately, it has left me feeling like this is a great 3.75 star novel because there were so many parts I like, however I am a very emotional reader, and perhaps my judgement is skewed by my severe dislike towards Amber.

Let me say that there are a lot of good things about this novel. Genuinely, this is a very suspenseful book with a twist that, although I should've seen coming sooner than I did, I didn't. However, once I realized, once it was there on the pages, it all made sense. The threads tangled together in a complete web that just made sense and I commend the author for that. I was able to figure out other parts of the plot that were hinted at before they were explicitly revealed but was still surprised at other events. It was a great revenge ending for vengeful spirits. I also enjoyed that it wasn't the typical haunting of wailing spirits in the shadows. These were fiery spirits; angry and burning and would not be quelled, who doled out revenge without mercy.

I also loved how intensely we felt Amber's emotions. I felt incredibly connected to her throughout the narrative. Even though it wasn't told through first person, it was a close third-person narrative and the narrator connected us to her emotions. Although we as audience members had the chance to see through her emotions clouding her judgement to something closer to the truth, I appreciated seeing how her emotions deluded her. Even though I dislike Amber, teenage and adult, I like being able to see both side of her and seeing how she grew into this version of herself.

These Familiar Walls is great if you're looking for an unreliable narrator, familial hauntings, and vengeful spirits - especially if you're not afraid to dislike your protagonist.

This one was really good. I had to keep my light on and it left me with a disturbing feeling. Creepy read and great for this time of year. Well done, and hard to put down!

I loved the flashbacks and present day pov. This is a haunting and creepy story that slowly gets under your skin.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC of 'These Familiar Walls' by C. J. Dotson.

Mid-Covid pandemic, Amber moves with her husband and two young children back into her childhood home where only a few months previously her parents had been murdered by (and along with) a childhood friend/neighbor.

Much haunting and spookiness ensues as well as some twists and turns as we're taken to-and-fro between the events of 1998 and the present day (2020).

While it's a decent haunted house, sins of the past catching up yarn, I think the initial premise - moving into your parents' murder house - is shaky and the first third of the book where Amber both ignores or denies the evidence of her own eyes and ears and then neglects to involve her husband in her fears - in one case because she didn't want to wake him - further plays into some fairly weak horror tropes. I think for these stories to work you have to have at least one majority likeable character and this book lacked that, even in the kids.

A solid, atmospheric read with a haunting tone. The writing really pulls you into the setting, and while the pacing slowed in parts, the story stuck with me long after finishing.

This book is pure suburban nightmare fuel, in the best way! Blending family secrets, creeping dread, and supernatural chills, it follows Amber as she moves back into her childhood home only to discover the horrors inside aren’t just memories. Dark, eerie, and unputdownable, it’s perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Cassandra Khaw, and Catriona Ward.

In January 2020, two residents in a sleepy suburban town are violently murdered by a former neighbour and an unknown second assailant. It’s a terrible crime… though even terrible things can have a silver lining. This incident allows Amber and her family a chance to have a house, even if it is Amber’s childhood home, and even if Amber didn’t even speak with her parents.

Then the haunting begins…

Vacillating between 2020 and a turbulent time when a new neighbour moved in and things escalated and became increasingly dangerous, this tale is teased out…

This book starts off strong, and is haunting. The twist, I figured out, though the end scenes and the logistical reason for the haunting, went on a bit long and I didn’t foresee.

It’s an okay book… but I think it could have been stronger.

This is not a simple haunted house story. It is a dark and compelling deep dive into how the past poisons the present, the weight of inherited trauma, and the terrifying reality that sometimes, the most frightening thing isn't a ghost—it's the person you're supposed to trust the most. A gripping, thought-provoking read for fans of complex characters and psychological deep dives.

Another NetGalley read!

After the terrifying home invasion that resulted in the murder of Amber’s parents, her, along with her husband Bob and kids (Xander and Marigold) decide to move into the murder home. Things appear to be going alright by, but weird things start happening, and the truth slowly comes out.

Damn this book had my attention. It started off in such a normal way, almost run of the mill. But there were signs! Amber was one of the least likable characters I have ever come across, and hopefully that was the author’s intention. Many times I gave her the benefit of the doubt, because hey, who doesn’t run into difficult times here and there? Plus she had lost her entire family at one point or another.

Really enjoyed the two timelines, showing what took place during their childhood years, how it shaped them, and eventually… the results of everything that happened. I don’t know how else to continue sharing without spoiling the story. The eerie moments were pretty well done, though a lot of it did rely on putting words into pictures. Some things are also pretty subtle so definitely need to pay attention!

Sometimes we want to root for the main character, but sometimes, we just can’t. And I love that.

Thank you NetGalley!

Publish date: April 14, 2026

Rating 3.5

Quick very high level summary.
As a kid Amber befriends a boy in the neighborhood, ignoring all the warnings from others as well as her own gut feelings resulting in major and deadly consequences. 20 years later she inherits her childhood home and decides to move her family in. Supernatural experiences begin and it soon becomes clear there is something much darker going on.

My take.
Our MC seems to go through a realization of her past, a way of facing all the trauma she went through as a child but now her husband and children are involved so there was no rationalizing it away. The atmosphere created in this story is eerie and looming. The author does a great job of creating unease and maintaining it throughout. It does start off a bit slow but that is because the story relies on buildup and its created atmosphere heavily. Key points are revealed slowly over time so it could be described as a slow-burn psychological horror. So if slow is not your thing this may not be the read for you. But I personally enjoyed the build up. I will say that at times it did seem to drag on a bit too long and I felt the point was made. This mostly occurred during the childhood point of view chapters. Overall a solid read that help my interest throughout.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 / 5
The cover of These Familiar Walls immediately drew me in, and the synopsis intrigued me even more. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. I love a great horror story, and this one delivered a fresh and original take on psychological horror that kept me turning pages. It’s gut wrenching, anxiety ridden, and dripping with paranoia. Add in a touch of the paranormal, and it hit all the right notes for me. The ending left me gasping, and starting this late at night definitely came with some strange, unsettling dreams.
I highly recommend this one, Mark your calendars for Pub Date: April 14, 2026
Huge thanks to @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
#SMPEarlyReaders #BookReview #BookTok #Bookstagram #PsychologicalHorror #ParanormalReads #SpookySeason #ARCReview #ReadersOfInstagram #HorrorBooks

The shifting timelines mirror Amber’s confusion, with the chilling past my favorite for its character depth. The twist tied things neatly, though the drawn-out ending lost some punch. Blending thriller and horror with eerie effect, it’s a disturbing, atmospheric read—perfect for spooky season.

This was a book where I could not, and did not anticipate what was going to happen until almost the end - which is refreshing, especially for a horror book.

It starts out with the murder of a couple, and then the betrayal of one of the murderers. What we find out in chapter one, is that the couple murdered are the parents of one of our main characters - Amber. And she has chosen to live in the house where her parents were murdered. This alone was chilling and set me up for expectations for the book (which I will be keeping to myself because I would rather not spoil it for people).

Amber, mother to two children, one boy (Xander) and one girl (Marigold), wife to one husband (Ben) seem like a totally normal family. Struggling like a normal family would being cramped into the same space during covid, emotions high, patience thin, expectations from strangers astronomical - enough for a parent to put on the act of a perfect family. Except they aren't, and as the stress from living from a space where people have been brutally murdered, living in close quarters due to Covid, performing as a family *should*, starts to have an effect on the entire family. Apparitions, something breathing in the dark, the hypnotizing effect of fire on the entire family - and then it all finally collapses during one tragic night.

I read this book much more quickly than I intended. I love to savor thrillers - its the clues, like Where's Waldo for adults, that I really enjoy looking out for. But I was so deceived by my personal expectations for what might happen, that I totally missed what was really happening. When I hit the !!! part of the book, I knew I was going to have to give it an immediate re-read, to see what I had missed the first time, and when I did, the clues were all in plain sight.

I very much enjoyed this read, and I don't feel that I have a lot of criticism for this book. I enjoyed all of the characters (even the nosy neighbor), and I think the author did a great job at really making me dislike certain characters long before I even knew why I should dislike them (I don't want to say, because of spoilers, I'd really like for people to come to their own conclusions). Not only did I enjoy this book, I will be highly recommending it to fellow readers and horror lovers.

Thank you to both NetGalley and C.J Dotson for allowing me to read this in advance!

I enjoyed how menacing this book felt. It started pretty quickly with the scares which I normally don’t like but it ended up working. The ending felt too drawn out and at least one of the twists I thought was obvious from the beginning. I still really enjoyed reading this but the ending could be a little more polished.

I'm a big fan of horror, but I think the paranormal aspect in the end was lost on me a bit. However, paranormal thrillers aren't a genre I'm versed in...so this is probably a "me" issue.

I will say the overall plot twists I did not see coming. I wish it had explained more about Amber's decision to handle the situation with her parents the way she did. I also wish it hadn't been left so open what would happen with Greg's parents as the children turned 18.

Overall, the book was very descriptive. I did feel like I could really imagine most of the scenes in the book. The main characters felt like real people due to the descriptions being so thorough. The ending just had a little too much going on for me to really catch on fully.

It was definitely a good transition into spooky season, and I would definitely give this author another read because I did feel like the book was easy to read, gripping, and engaging.