Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

Reviewed by Sam! Ginny reviewed this first though

What I drank prior: I’m at a bachelorette!! Idk how much I’ve had to drink but I e been drinking all damn day and there was a bud and some wineries and I’m fucked up.

Goodreads Overview:

“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.

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.

Drunk Overview: alrigh. Let me try and describe this. So our main character goes back to her hometown which she hasn’t been back since she left like 20 years before. She goes back cause her mom is about to die. The more we hear about her and her family and her relationship with her mom, it becomes apparent that dad was actually a serial killer. I was NOT expecting a horror novel when I picked this up but here we are. So adult Vera is working through both the trauma of her mom dying but also being back in that house while teenage Vera is telling the story about how he got caught. It’s terrifying and also such an interesting character journey.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: I DID NOT THINK THIS WAS GOING TO BE SO SCARY

• Ook but like, i sort of knew right away that something wasn’t right because she called her mom by her first name and mom was so short with her.
• An i knew why dad was in jail sort of early. What I DIDNT know what why mom was mad at Vera and to me that was the biggest mystery.
• There’s also the weird guy living at the house but we didn’t know why anmd i sortt of still don’t know why he was there.
• The relationship between mom and Vera was so interesting. Mom was THE WORST
• It goes back and forth between now Vera and young Vera. I feel like I was thrown off a lot by them because I just didn’t know why we needed to know.
• I feel like Sarah could have just told me how dad got caught
• I also feel like the fantasy part of this was unnecessary. Like at all.

They’re calling me back downstairs for a power hour so im gonna go but that’s that. See Ginny’s for more if you want it

What to pair it with: Red wine

Rating: 2/5

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam