killmoore_'s review
- 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 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 😅
An atmospheric, spooky, wild ride. I would highly recommend.
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
eliya's review
- 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
sarah gailey’s writing is so incredibly intimate, a lot of reading this felt like guilt dripping down my back mixed with the cold nakedness of being alone with the words.
Spoiler
pg. 320:
“We didn’t ask to be born, did we? We did t ask to have to soak up their sings and their expectations. All we ever did was love them, and all they ever did was hurt us.”
…”He loved us, though,” … “more than anything.”
“Oh, he loved us both as best as he could,” … “He tried to build us strong and steady and whole. But he didn’t keep us safe. He didn’t know how to shelter us from all the hurt that was waiting, because he thought that hurt was the shape of love.”
Spoiler
(personal reflection) When my dad died, and after, I kept thinking of all the guilty memories I have, all the times I’d let him down. I didn’t get to know my dad as a whole human being before, but I know he loved us. My childhood sucked and I was abused and he did his best to love us. My mom could never understand what she did wrong, when we talked about her abuse, she just gave the reasoning that that’s how she thought to love us, that’s how you raise kids. My whole family thinks that love is the shape of hurt.Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Murder, Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Vomit
madelinequinne's review
- 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
This was so interesting, i’ve never read anything like it before. You go into the book expecting your usual true crime serial killer novel, but i was pleasantly surprised by how emotional and reflective this story was. The conversations about family, growing up, mummy issues and what drives someone to do bad things was so well written and explored, and i was absolutely gripped the entire time.
I think this book would make an excellent horror movie, i could picture each scene in my head so vividly which is a great example of how descriptive the writing was.
Highly highly recommend
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, and Violence
iseefirede's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Spoiler
the way the house was protecting and keeping Vera safe just made me crySpoiler
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Grief, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Emotional abuse
solenekeleroux's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Murder, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Terminal illness
gellyreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spoiler
I enjoyed Vera's descent into madness and violence, and I love the concept of the monster, but I feel like I would LOVE this book instead of like it if the existence of the monster wasn't clear. IDK, felt too clear to me.Spoiler
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Gore, Violence, Vomit, and Mental illness
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Chronic illness, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Vomit, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pregnancy, Excrement, and Sexual harassment
Spoiler
The gore and torture totally made me lose my appetite until I finished the book, so beware, my sensitive-to-words friends!alba_marie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Having discovered a newfangled love of the horror genre last year, my fascination with the genre shows no sign of letting up. Just Like Home has been on my library hold list for awhile, and as soon as it arrived, I devoured it. I suppose that's a good verb for this book. Devouring.
Part haunted house, part ghost story, part monster tale, part serial killer thriller, part psychological mindf•ck, Just Like Home was such a haunting, dark, gory tale. Unputdownable, nail-biting, and bizarre. Trying to summarise it is difficult. Suffice it to say, Vera has a troubled relationship with both parents, though her mum, Daphne, in particular. It's the definition of a toxic relationship full of spitting words and angry thoughts. But her relationship with her dad, while seeming more healthy in her memories, is actually just as bad. That tends to happen when your dad's a
Spoiler
serial killerThen there's the lodger James Duvall. He just feels grimy. A spiritual artist in communion with the house (or whatever), he's a loony but clearly not harmless. He he's not going anywhere, no matter how unwanted he is.
"Come home," Daphne says to Vera, the first words she's spoken to her daughter in decades. Why now? What's wrong with Daphne? Is she really dying?
It's clear pretty early on there's something wrong with the house, and it's infecting the people inside. The grime and grease that so fascinated Francis Crowder, Vera's dad, seems to seep from the walls, from under the bed, from the mouths of its inhabitants. The atmosphere of dark decay and black grease pervades everything seen and unseen.
This is a thoroughly creepy tale with a few twists throughout. If you like horror, I would recommend it.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic friendship
Minor: Terminal illness
bookeduntil's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, Body horror, Violence, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit and Child abuse
assesgrass's review
4.5
i have so much to say about this.
first, the characters are extremely unlovable for me personally, there’s nothing really about any of them besides the fact that getting loved by a parent even if they’re a horrible person feels a certain way. The characters are meh.
Second, this is very much like a long read in the sense that there’s heavy plot in the like 85% but it’s like dragging on. I was looking forward to Vera’s younger point of views so much i didn’t wanna read about her getting a bed nah i wanted to read about her finding out her dad was a murderer.
third, there’s some gruesome writing involving body horror with children and children having violent thoughts.
near the end it reminded me of that 2006 film “Monster House” but the ending gets left off really abruptly i think, makes me think Vera is gonna take on her fathers traits.
i will add, fuck daphne.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Vomit