A review by gracew
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book toes the line between supernatural horror and traditional thriller. It is isn't clear through most of the book if we are meant to believe the house is actually haunted and even the ending of the book leaves a lot to be desired as far as clarification of haunted or not-haunted goes. I liked a lot of aspects of it, though I didn't like that the "beautiful dead girl" trope was used a great deal. I think I might have liked it better as just a horror novel and not necessarily the thriller aspect. Maybe that's jut because the Haunting of Hill House vibes were so good while the Lisa Jewell vibes were less compelling. Overall I like it better than about 80% of the thrillers that exist in the world and I'm glad I read it though I was disappointed that it didn't turn out to the the full on horror novel I was hoping for.  
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