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yalibrarianjen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Chronic illness, Blood, and Toxic relationship
emlittle's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
You know what really sucks? When a book wasn’t bad, but had the potential to be great. [Slight spoilers ahead] ‘Just Like Home’s premise was promising enough: a woman having to return home and face the remnants of the childhood that was shattered by her father’s crimes and exploited by her mother. I was hugely excited going into it.
Vera was a compelling enough character. The story was told in a series of present day and flashback scenes, and we get to learn the most about Vera aka the daddy’s girl who was equally adored by her father. We slowly learn about her father’s dark side and her own darkness even at the age of 11. We get to watch her parent’s dysfunction (to put it mildly) shape her. Her evolution as the character that we never *really* know is so fun.
BUT. But. The story completely fell apart for me when Gailey introduced a supernatural explanation that didn’t actually explain much. Without giving away what it is, it felt so half baked and out of place, it overshadowed the elements of the story I thoroughly enjoyed. It honestly pissed me off. ‘Just Like Home’ would’ve been such a strong thriller otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
acorn192k's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Torture, and Gore
paykay's review
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
katnortonwriter's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Every time I thought I knew what was going on in this book and got comfortable, I was intensely wrong. I guess I can see where people are coming from when they say it was a slow burn, but I loved all the subtle weirdness that intensified into outright WTFery as the book progressed. I thought I knew how it was going to end, and I couldn't possibly. Favorite Sarah Gailey so far, and that's after my 2023 love affair with Magic for Liars, about which I could happily write an essay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Body horror
izzyproudfoot's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I personally did not like this book which is what my 2 stars represent.
This book definitely went for the creepy vibes. You learn a lot through flashbacks. The book gave me "ew vibes" and I didn't like any of the characters. There were a few ways she could have done this book, there's a few twists and turns. It wasn't for me though.
This book definitely went for the creepy vibes. You learn a lot through flashbacks. The book gave me "ew vibes" and I didn't like any of the characters. There were a few ways she could have done this book, there's a few twists and turns. It wasn't for me though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
brindolyn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Violence, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Toxic friendship
undersea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I loved The Echo Wife. I love gothic horror. I love a weird book. And everyone says that’s what this book is. I disagree.
Ok so…Vera clearly spent her whole life looking for love that she wasn’t getting from her mother from her father. And the house as a sentient being is a metaphor for all the trauma that it literally held inside its walls. And it also becomes the love that she was constantly looking for. The metaphors make sense. What I don’t understand was basically any of Vera’s motivations. Her mother was absolutely horrible to her, why come back at all? Why is she CONSTANTLY shocked at her mother’s behavior, past & present? Why doesn’t she understand why people don’t want her, the daughter of a serial killer, around? Why is she shocked at Brandon’s response to seeing her. She literally tried to kill him. Even if she very much believed in the lore her parents were spinning, it’s like she has no awareness of the outside world. She’s constantly befuddled. She has zero agency & honestly a very unhealthy obsession of her father even in the present when she supposedly knows that murder is bad. The CONSTANT descriptions of the “solid floors/doors/walls” that her father “carefully, lovingly built for her” even as a child was odd & completely uninterigated. I get that she was fighting being a killer herself but I still do not understand her bewilderment. In all her years away it’s apparent she never once looked back on her childhood and analyzed what happened or was even curious. I don’t understand why the artist was bad, simply b/c he was taking apart the house. His character was so flat. All of them were. None of their motivations made sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Murder
fivefingerfrankenstein's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Maybe it's because I watched Drop Dead Fred too many times as a child, but I loved this book. And although I understand logically that the narrator and her imaginary/ not imaginary friend were the bad guys, I was also rooting for them, in that final fight. I always want the big bad monsters to protect the main characters, and I got that wish fulfillment in this book.
The story did a good job of bringing you along for the ride in Vera's headspace, made you sympathetic to her perspective, and then snapped you back to reality at the end to show exactly what you'd been sympathizing with. And it demonized the mother without making her some inhuman monster. She was just shitty in the way regular people are shitty.
The story did a good job of bringing you along for the ride in Vera's headspace, made you sympathetic to her perspective, and then snapped you back to reality at the end to show exactly what you'd been sympathizing with. And it demonized the mother without making her some inhuman monster. She was just shitty in the way regular people are shitty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Vomit, Gore, Violence, and Body horror
There wasn't a good tag for this in the pre set tag list, but there is talk about the house that resembles sexual assault, but is not actually sexual assault since it's a house and not a person. But just like.... it's close enough language that it sort of bothered me and may bother others who are sensitive to it.nightmarebees's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gross! creepy! poignant! both the mommy and daddy issues are on full display here. gailey’s prose is lovely and unsettling; there is so much language i loved here and so many lines that make my skin crawl. though there were some points in the middle that i feel could’ve had more explanation, i did love the slow addition of past details and the reveal at the end. gonna be thinking about this one for a while
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse