A review by house_of_hannah
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.0

I ended up reading all but the first 50 pages in two days, so I have to say that the story sucked me in, and I did not want to stop reading. This book has alternating chapters between the MC's perspective (Maggie), and a book her father wrote about their experiences in the house when Maggie was 5. This style really complemented the two perspectives, and made for a very enjoyable read. 

The book Maggie's father wrote is very much a traditional ghost story, and I was even enjoying it more than Maggie's perspective for a good chunk of the book. It does cross the line into just being silly, so it did start to lose me. The experiences of adult Maggie right away reminded me of a few movies I have seen before, so I was wondering if the book was going to go down that route of horror, which it did in the end. I also ended up guessing another key piece of the plot, so I'd say this is a predictable story if you've seen these sort of twists and turns before. However, I really enjoyed that it felt like I got two stories for the price of one; I'm a sucker for ghost stories. 

The ending felt rushed compared to the rest of the book. It was also quite ridiculous, and I just could not believe how many fakeouts there were. It made the end laughable, which is disappointing considering how much I enjoyed the journey to get there. 
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