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morganperks's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
bookcheshirecat's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
“Grief is tricky like that. It can lie low for hours, long enough for magical thinking to take hold. Then, when you’re good and vulnerable, it will leap out at you like a fun-house skeleton, and all the pain you thought was gone comes roaring back.”
➽ Home Before Dark is among my favorite Riley Sager books! The story follows Maggie Holt whose family got famous for living in a supposedly haunted house back when she was a child. Her father wrote a bestselling book called House of Horrors about their ghostly phenomenon and Maggie's been dealing with its popularity for years. She's not thrilled to be famous in ghost-hunting circles and doesn't remember much of what happened. The only hints are in the book and Maggie's convinced her father made it all up. Her parents have never talked about it with her and Maggie got tired of being shot down. Now her father has passed away and left her the house ... and a lot of unanswered questions. She decides to renovate the House of Horrors and confront her past once and for all!
➽ I love haunted house stories and I liked the fine line between truth and fiction! We get alternating chapters of Maggie renovating the house and experiencing suspicious phenomena and excerpts from the book told by her father when they last lived in the house! I loved how we were left guessing how much of it was true, especially as Maggie lacks any concrete memory of the time. Strange things are happening in the house, but she's never sure if it's supernatural or simply bad vibes. After all the house had a dark past, as it was the scene of a brutal crime. I loved all the twists and turns! I also liked the exploration of Maggie's grief and complicated relationship with her father. Now that he passed away, she can never directly ask him for the truth!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Dementia, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Cancer
spookychelle87's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, and Child death
Minor: Blood, Dementia, and Cancer
meaghanelizabook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
kukucocoreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
I enjoyed this!
I really liked the way that the father’s book was used as a framing devise for the plot and as a lens to the past. Gothic is one of my favorite genres of horror so the spooky ghost parts were fun. I enjoyed the MC’s reactions to them as well as the juxtaposition of her father’s experience.
I didn’t really like the main character in the beginning of the story. They had a bit of an abrasive personality for me because of the huge chip on her shoulder. However, as the story developed and I got a glimpse into the MC’s thoughts and feelings behind the book and how it impacted her life, I understood how she became that way. I actually ended up liking her more than I anticipated at the end as her character worked through her trauma.
The other characters didn’t really leave an impact on me and the twist at the end was ok. The pacing started going at blinding speed in the last few chapters and I feel like the twist didn’t have as much impact as it could have had.
One thing I really did not like was the snake hate. I understand why snakes are used in horror. People are scared of them. And this species specifically was likely used for their coloring. However, I really dislike when media perpetuates the fear of snakes. Especially harmless ones like those in this novel. I also don’t like descriptions of them (or any animal) getting hurt, so I got upset during a few scenes.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys gothic horror or mysteries.
I really liked the way that the father’s book was used as a framing devise for the plot and as a lens to the past. Gothic is one of my favorite genres of horror so the spooky ghost parts were fun. I enjoyed the MC’s reactions to them as well as the juxtaposition of her father’s experience.
I didn’t really like the main character in the beginning of the story. They had a bit of an abrasive personality for me because of the huge chip on her shoulder. However, as the story developed and I got a glimpse into the MC’s thoughts and feelings behind the book and how it impacted her life, I understood how she became that way. I actually ended up liking her more than I anticipated at the end as her character worked through her trauma.
The other characters didn’t really leave an impact on me and the twist at the end was ok. The pacing started going at blinding speed in the last few chapters and I feel like the twist didn’t have as much impact as it could have had.
One thing I really did not like was the snake hate. I understand why snakes are used in horror. People are scared of them. And this species specifically was likely used for their coloring. However, I really dislike when media perpetuates the fear of snakes. Especially harmless ones like those in this novel. I also don’t like descriptions of them (or any animal) getting hurt, so I got upset during a few scenes.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys gothic horror or mysteries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Child death
Moderate: Animal cruelty
melissa_l_mcabee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
What starts out as your typical haunted house story turns into a maze of family secrets, surprising twists, and a shocking finale. Maggie knows her parents lie but she is blind-sided when she finds out why they did it. This dark, mystery/thriller novel draws you in and at the end spits you out with an overload of information in the last 20-30 pages. I was overwhelmed by the amount of twists in those last pages and then the epilogue kind of fell short after all of the action. I would recommend this book to mystery and thriller fans and I would be willing to read more by this author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Suicide
amberjackonski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Murder and Suicide
gknott's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Body horror, Child death, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Murder
brookebatesratesbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Cursing and Murder
thejenstamps's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Written from the perspective of a father and daughter, 25 years apart. Each chapter alternates between the father's retelling of the horrors lived in the home 25 years prior and the daughter's quest for the truth in the present day - because surely, everything her father wrote is a lie.
Or is it?
Honestly, I still don't know.
Sager is a genius at making you think two things: the obvious ending and the swerve ending. And then out of the blue comes a third ending you never in a million years saw coming, but also somehow totally adds up and fits perfectly.
A book I'll likely revisit every spooky season!
Or is it?
Honestly, I still don't know.
Sager is a genius at making you think two things: the obvious ending and the swerve ending. And then out of the blue comes a third ending you never in a million years saw coming, but also somehow totally adds up and fits perfectly.
A book I'll likely revisit every spooky season!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Child death