Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
352 pages
published July 19th, 2022
Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO’s true crime masterpiece I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.
“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.
claustrophobic, atmospheric, fundamentally about the horrors of coming back home after you are an adult. repetition used to absolute maximum effect. some parts of this book made me feel physically sick, but it’s not necessarily gory, just kind of, nausea-inducing. in a positive way? I was very lucky to get this eARC as both an ebook and an audiobook, and I kept having to put the audiobook down to read the chapters in the ebook because I could not stand the tension. Still thinking about the ending. Not sure if I like it. But in a horror book, are you supposed to? Four and a half stars, rounded down for NetGalley/Goodreads.
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