The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
undersea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
2.5
I loved The Echo Wife. I love gothic horror. I love a weird book. And everyone says thatâs what this book is. I disagree.Â
Ok soâŚVera clearly spent her whole life looking for love that she wasnât getting from her mother from her father. And the house as a sentient being is a metaphor for all the trauma that it literally held inside its walls. And it also becomes the love that she was constantly looking for. The metaphors make sense. What I donât understand was basically any of Veraâs motivations. Her mother was absolutely horrible to her, why come back at all? Why is she CONSTANTLY shocked at her motherâs behavior, past & present? Why doesnât she understand why people donât want her, the daughter of a serial killer, around? Why is she shocked at Brandonâs response to seeing her. She literally tried to kill him. Even if she very much believed in the lore her parents were spinning, itâs like she has no awareness of the outside world. Sheâs constantly befuddled. She has zero agency & honestly a very unhealthy obsession of her father even in the present when she supposedly knows that murder is bad. The CONSTANT descriptions of the âsolid floors/doors/wallsâ that her father âcarefully, lovingly built for herâ even as a child was odd & completely uninterigated. I get that she was fighting being a killer herself but I still do not understand her bewilderment. In all her years away itâs apparent she never once looked back on her childhood and analyzed what happened or was even curious. I donât understand why the artist was bad, simply b/c he was taking apart the house. His character was so flat. All of them were. None of their motivations made sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Murder
nightmarebees's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gross! creepy! poignant! both the mommy and daddy issues are on full display here. gaileyâs prose is lovely and unsettling; there is so much language i loved here and so many lines that make my skin crawl. though there were some points in the middle that i feel couldâve had more explanation, i did love the slow addition of past details and the reveal at the end. gonna be thinking about this one for a whileÂ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse
bwinterton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely LOVED this book! This is the first horror book that I have read in a while that was actually horror and didn't have a twist that turned what seemed like horror into something more akin to mystery or a thriller.Â
The book kept me guessing at what was coming, even making me feel like I was starting to go crazy at times as I felt like I had misremembered something that happened previously. It was suspenseful, spooky, weird, and utterly awful in the best ways! I did NOT see the ending coming and I absolutely love it for that!Â
Easily the best horror book that I have read in a long time, hands down.Â
The book kept me guessing at what was coming, even making me feel like I was starting to go crazy at times as I felt like I had misremembered something that happened previously. It was suspenseful, spooky, weird, and utterly awful in the best ways! I did NOT see the ending coming and I absolutely love it for that!Â
Easily the best horror book that I have read in a long time, hands down.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Gore
lilac_sparkle's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think this was an interesting take on the haunted house trope. It was interesting switching between the two time lines as the story progressed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Death of parent
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
The pace of this story is a bit slow but I enjoyed how things played out. It didn't go exactly how I expected it to, which is good. I have some mixed feelings about the end. I don't feel like all my questions were answered fully, but I did enjoy the journey.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Child abuse and Vomit
wobblefinch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Murder
killmoore_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
I went into this as blind as possible, and I'm so glad I did.Â
I loved everything about Just Like Home from the very first page - the imagery is rich and decadent, the characters mysterious and questionable. Mm. Chefs kiss. Gailey uses language that draws you in and holds you hostage as you follow Vera in two different time lines, working to unravel the mystery of the Crowder House and navigate the shattered remains of her relationship with her dying mother. It could have ended there - psychological and true crime adjacent, but no. Gailey gave us so much more.
The sharp turn into WTFville was sudden and absolutely amazing. I was not expecting this to take a hard dive into creature feature, and I could not have loved it more. I love a good "house as a character" storyline and this did not disappoint. This had me chanting "get his ass!" Alone in my room at 2am đ
An atmospheric, spooky, wild ride. I would highly recommend.Â
I loved everything about Just Like Home from the very first page - the imagery is rich and decadent, the characters mysterious and questionable. Mm. Chefs kiss. Gailey uses language that draws you in and holds you hostage as you follow Vera in two different time lines, working to unravel the mystery of the Crowder House and navigate the shattered remains of her relationship with her dying mother. It could have ended there - psychological and true crime adjacent, but no. Gailey gave us so much more.
The sharp turn into WTFville was sudden and absolutely amazing. I was not expecting this to take a hard dive into creature feature, and I could not have loved it more. I love a good "house as a character" storyline and this did not disappoint. This had me chanting "get his ass!" Alone in my room at 2am đ
An atmospheric, spooky, wild ride. I would highly recommend.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
renyoi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Brilliant atmospheric, suspenseful storytelling that builds up to its truly horrifying moments in intensely effective ways. The protagonist, an unreliable narrator in the subtlest sense , turns out to be the most horrifying character in the book, which was entirely unexpected for me. My only wish is that the âtrue crimeâ aspect had been more present in the book; as it is, we are told it is a constant presence in the Crowder familyâs life but never shown it apart from weirdo James Duvall, who comes across more as a basket case than as a representation of society.Â
Aside from that, though, this work is a thrilling, grisly, appalling turn on the âhaunted houseâ and âserial killerâ genres of horror.Â
Aside from that, though, this work is a thrilling, grisly, appalling turn on the âhaunted houseâ and âserial killerâ genres of horror.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
junowo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
A rare 5 star readâJust Like Home was a book that actually left my heart racing. The writing is phenomenal, and the story takes a form I never expected from a book like this.
My one and only criticism is that the book isnât particularly damning to the failures of the true crime community in a way that descriptions led me to believe. I struggle to tell if it wouldâve fit into the book at all, though.
This was a great read around Halloween, playing well with both true crime style horror and supernatural horror.
My one and only criticism is that the book isnât particularly damning to the failures of the true crime community in a way that descriptions led me to believe. I struggle to tell if it wouldâve fit into the book at all, though.
This was a great read around Halloween, playing well with both true crime style horror and supernatural horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
arantzazureads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Great atmospheric piece and I did not ever quite guess the twists. Slow and tense, but still somehow a quick, compelling audiobook experience. Not my usual jam, but if this is your genre, definitely give it a go. Well-executed contemporary haunted house story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Murder