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pagesplotsandpints 's review for:
Just Like Home
by Sarah Gailey
Read Completed 1/10/23 | 4 stars
The first thing you need to know about JUST LIKE HOME is that it's not a book for everyone. I guess no book is, but this book is all atmosphere with a very slow, deliberate plot that pushes a sense of dread forward more so than grabbing you with a twist or a shock. I truly think this is either a book that you'll know you'll enjoy right away or you'll get bored and end up hating it.
The second thing you need to know about JUST LIKE HOME is that it's not a thriller. You may see it shelved as a thriller and the synopsis tells you that Vera's father was a killer, so you may think this is a serial killer thriller/mystery, but this book is a slow, quiet horror novel. If you're going into this looking for 100% thriller, you'll probably end up disappointed.
I really wasn't sure how I'd end up liking this one. I've seen reviews all over the place, people saying how weird it was, and I don't always connect with weird, despite how much I feel like I want to. I didn't quite get FULLY into it since I was so unsure how much thriller and how much horror it would be, but I really enjoyed the read all the way through! It was a bit slower than I may have particularly liked, but you could also tell that it was very deliberate and it wasn't because of inexperience or repetition of mundane details. Every piece of the book added to the atmosphere until the final culmination of events in the end.
I also felt that JUST LIKE HOME was also very symbolic. The writing was much more literary than something I usually read, but I was enjoying the setting, the characters, and everything else, so I didn't feel like it was overly flowery or that it was something I couldn't connect to. I suppose a lot of horror can be symbolic or allegorical, but I don't read a lot of horror so I don't know the different levels and depths of what's "common" in a horror novel.
Like I said before, this book is all atmosphere and mood. I think you really have to connect with it to enjoy it and expect that this is what's going to win you over for the book. I did end up enjoying it, though I don't know who I could recommend this to since tastes are so personal!
The first thing you need to know about JUST LIKE HOME is that it's not a book for everyone. I guess no book is, but this book is all atmosphere with a very slow, deliberate plot that pushes a sense of dread forward more so than grabbing you with a twist or a shock. I truly think this is either a book that you'll know you'll enjoy right away or you'll get bored and end up hating it.
The second thing you need to know about JUST LIKE HOME is that it's not a thriller. You may see it shelved as a thriller and the synopsis tells you that Vera's father was a killer, so you may think this is a serial killer thriller/mystery, but this book is a slow, quiet horror novel. If you're going into this looking for 100% thriller, you'll probably end up disappointed.
I really wasn't sure how I'd end up liking this one. I've seen reviews all over the place, people saying how weird it was, and I don't always connect with weird, despite how much I feel like I want to. I didn't quite get FULLY into it since I was so unsure how much thriller and how much horror it would be, but I really enjoyed the read all the way through! It was a bit slower than I may have particularly liked, but you could also tell that it was very deliberate and it wasn't because of inexperience or repetition of mundane details. Every piece of the book added to the atmosphere until the final culmination of events in the end.
I also felt that JUST LIKE HOME was also very symbolic. The writing was much more literary than something I usually read, but I was enjoying the setting, the characters, and everything else, so I didn't feel like it was overly flowery or that it was something I couldn't connect to. I suppose a lot of horror can be symbolic or allegorical, but I don't read a lot of horror so I don't know the different levels and depths of what's "common" in a horror novel.
Like I said before, this book is all atmosphere and mood. I think you really have to connect with it to enjoy it and expect that this is what's going to win you over for the book. I did end up enjoying it, though I don't know who I could recommend this to since tastes are so personal!