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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
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!
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Dementia, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Cancer
spookychelle87's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, and Child death
Minor: Blood, Dementia, and Cancer
meaghanelizabook's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
gknott's review
- 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
Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Body horror, Child death, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Murder
jessspeake's review
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Suicide, and Animal death
Minor: Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol
ilaxaria's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Dementia
Moderate: Alcohol
amris's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Suicide, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Dementia, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
bertrandlm's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide and Dementia
kfquarium's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Cursing, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Dementia, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, and Infidelity
seetaylorwriteandreview's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“Every house has a story to tell. Baneberry Hall is no different. Its story—the real one—might still be there. Why we left. Why my father felt compelled to lie about it. What I actually experienced there. All of it might be hiding within its walls, waiting for me to find it.”
It’s very rare that I read a horror book that genuinely spooks me. However, Riley Sager has managed to do just that with this book. And that twist at the ending. Phew. I truly didn't see that coming.
The entire book is spent with Maggie Holt trying to differentiate between the facts in the book her father wrote, The House of Horrors, and what truly happened to her family during the 20 days they lived at Baneberry Hall, named for the lethal baneberries that surround the estate. When strange things that Maggie cannot explain, even though she doesn’t believe in the supernatural or the events of her father’s tell-all, she starts to question what truly happened on the night of July 15th, 25 years ago.
What happens next is shocking and the perfect set up for this horror novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Death, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, and Dementia