Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

29 reviews

shedevls's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i have no words except that i had a grand time with this one and i’m excited to experience more of sager’s stories. 

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bgmylc's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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kaneebli's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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haileyhardcover's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I LOVE a ghost story. Give me haunted houses or give me death… so I can haunt them myself! 

Home Before Dark tells the story of the Holt family and Baneberry Hall half through Maggie’s perspective in modern day, and half through the chapters of the book her father wrote. I loved that element - that I got to read a horror book (a horror memoir?) inside of a horror book. Each of the three Sager books I’ve read so far have jumped between timelines, but this was by far my favorite execution! The House of Horror chapters were actually my favorite part of the book, and I would’ve gladly read just that as a standalone; but it wouldn’t be a Riley Sager book without twists and turns and big reveals and UFF, these ones are good. No spoilers, but I definitely recommend you give this one a read if you like mysteries, haunted houses, complex family relationships, or like the feeling of being a little freaked out by every creek and groan your house makes. 

This is my third Riley Sager book of the year, and the second one that I’ve read in a single day. He has without a doubt become one of my favorites! Hoping I can read one or two more before the year is out. 

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jaedia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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larareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Started out strong but ultimately found it disappointing. The letter from Maggie’s father really rubbed me the wrong way. Who talks to their children about their intimate relationships like that??? The assumptions her parents made were truly awful. They should never have been parents in the first place. Where are Maggie’s critical thinking skills? Why has no one asked about her father’s motives for his annual ritual and his continuous relationship with the house? Ugh. Too many other stupid questions. Also, her father’s book was supposed to help lead the reader in a specific direction, but it felt unconvincing. What a waste of time!

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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

“Grief is tricky like that. It can lie low for hours, long enough for magical thinking to take hold. Then, when you’re good and vulnerable, it will leap out at you like a fun-house skeleton, and all the pain you thought was gone comes roaring back.” 

Home Before Dark is among my favorite Riley Sager books! The story follows Maggie Holt whose family got famous for living in a supposedly haunted house back when she was a child. Her father wrote a bestselling book called House of Horrors about their ghostly phenomenon and Maggie's been dealing with its popularity for years. She's not thrilled to be famous in ghost-hunting circles and doesn't remember much of what happened. The only hints are in the book and Maggie's convinced her father made it all up. Her parents have never talked about it with her and Maggie got tired of being shot down. Now her father has passed away and left her the house ... and a lot of unanswered questions. She decides to renovate the House of Horrors and confront her past once and for all!

I love haunted house stories and I liked the fine line between truth and fiction! We get alternating chapters of Maggie renovating the house and experiencing suspicious phenomena and excerpts from the book told by her father when they last lived in the house! I loved how we were left guessing how much of it was true, especially as Maggie lacks any concrete memory of the time. Strange things are happening in the house, but she's never sure if it's supernatural or simply bad vibes. After all the house had a dark past, as it was the scene of a brutal crime. I loved all the twists and turns! I also liked the exploration of Maggie's grief and complicated relationship with her father. Now that he passed away, she can never directly ask him for the truth!

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spookychelle87's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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