Just Like Home

By: Sarah Gailey

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

"...it’s compulsively listenable. That’s thanks in part to Sands’s intense narration, whether she’s playing the inscrutable Vera or her wretched mother asking for yet another glass of lemonade." -Vulture

Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO's true crime masterpiece I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories—she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2022 Sarah Gailey (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Haunted People in a Haunted Place

Holy smokes! Finished JUST LIKE HOME, by Sarah Gailey yesterday, and what a book! I'm struggling to think of other novels that so effortlessly made me uneasy.

Gailey ratchets up the dread throughout, and at one point I found myself just waiting in my parked car muttering 'oh jeeze' over & over again. It's tender too, but that mixes with the dread in super disquieting ways, like a greasy stain smeared on heirloom lace. I loved it!

Xe Sands' narration is wonderful - a flawless execution that fits the character and tone as the story creeps and winds its way. Highly recommended for anyone looking to spend some time with haunted people in a haunted place.

well I didn't hate it

I can't say I loved this story. I honestly only bought it because of the narrator, Xe Sands. It was very Stephen King-esque story, and i love that man too. I think would recommend.

Solid moody horror piece.

I liked this book quite a bit, it told a good story that captured a nicely moody feel as it moved forward with paired narratives revealing more about the protagonist's past and present. My main criticism was the ending sequence - it was interestingly weird, but never quite landed for me like I hoped it would. Still, very enjoyable overall and a solid recommend.

The only horror here is the way it is written

If I haven't have to finish listening to this to write an essay for one of my literature classes I would let go of this book after the first 5 to 10 chapters.
It is not scary, not is it intriguing. The characters are flat stereotypes who either suddenly burst out of their shell in the last two chapter or never even peak over the shell at all. Would not recommend.
The voice-over lady was great tho, I admire her effort to make it interesting and touching even though whe wasn't given much.

Fantastic

Loved the way she used different voices. Highly recommend this audiobook. Could not stop listening!!

Wow!

Everyone in the reviews saying this book could have been better or that it was "weird" couldn't be more wrong. This book was brilliant, gripping and new! It was so nice to read a spooky novel that wasn't an echo of King. This writer has a very original style and I absolutely loved every single page.

Captivating

I could not force myself to stop listening to this book. It was captivating, unnerving, complex, and raw.

Incredible, original horror ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you really like experimental, on the edge horror fiction then you should check out this book. The best description I can give is that if Joe Hill, John Langan, and Shirley Jackson sat down to write the darkest novel they could, then this might be the result. It’s some of the best horror I’ve ever read.

There’s deeply unsettling psychological horror here, as well as visceral body horror, and a supernatural element. Of all of these, the supernatural aspect might just be the *least* horrifying.

It’s not scary in a traditional sense. It’s deeply disturbing, thought. Even more so because the author draws the reader into sympathy with the main character. That left me in a moral limbo by the end of the book that was deeply unsettling.

Intensely descriptive and immersive, this novel was also brilliantly narrated. Xe Sands outdid herself on this one. Every sound, every voice, every nuance was perfectly performed for maximum effect.

I know I’ll be listening to this one again. One of the best Audible purchases I’ve ever made. 10/10

Visceral & gripping

This was a great listen. Xe Sands' performance really suits the grimy texture of of the story, from the events to the language used to describe them. I liked how the events of Vera's present and past are revealed to us in parallel, which heightens the feeling of suspense as we wait for the gory details of her father's work. I guessed the ending before we got there, but it very much was not what I was expecting at the outset; I expected this to be a psychological story, but I didn't expect it to lean as far into horror as it does, which was a pleasant surprise.

Worst book ever

This book started out interesting but it just kept getting weirder and weirder the more my sister and I listened to it. It didn’t make sense and was darker than anticipated.