User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
"Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story. It's also a lie. And now that yet another person has died within these walls, it's finally time to tell the truth."Fellow Riley Sager junkies, you've waited so patiently for me to slip out of my Covid-19 induced anxiety, and I'm here to tell you that I've shaken the funk and am feeling passionately encouraged to word vomit my thoughts about this book. Before I get started, you need to know going in that this book has a slightly altered feel to his previous novels, but I feel like this is a given, as each book he writes evolves into a new thrilling sub-genre. If I had to compare Home Before Dark to another one of Sager's books, I'd say that it would mostly align with Final Girls, as it portrays that same growing since of dread while serving a side of mainstream horror. The blurbs calling this a tale for fans of Hill House are spot on, and if you love a good ghost story, whether those ghosts are supernatural or manmade monsters, I think you'll adore this book.
If you enjoy books within books, they you're in luck, because that's just what we have here! In the book portions, AKA the past, Maggie and her parents moved into this big scary mansion where some really questionable things happened in the past, but they aren't weenies and decide that the low low asking price is worth the risk of their lives.
*cue the scary music* When we alternate to the present tense, we know that something really bad happened that caused Maggie's family to abandon the property in the middle of the night, just a few short weeks after moving in, and that is the large suspenseful build up throughout the book. Obviously, we need to know what happened and who was responsible!
The beauty of this story is that there are a million little working parts that come together to form the outcome of the whole book, and even if you guess a few of the twists, I can guarantee there will be a few others that will blow your mind. One of the twists crossed my mind from the moment the curious behavior piqued my interest, and I wasn't disappointed when I ended up being correct in my assumptions, because it showcased one of my favorite plot twists from a movie in recent years (which I won't mention here for fear of spoilers). There are ghosts of various kinds, snakes, hot contractors with washboard abs, snakes, delicious baked goods, snakes, things that go bump in the night... Did I mention the snakes and the guy with the really great bod? Just checking.
*In my best Stefan voice* This summer's hottest book is Home Before Dark. It has everything: creepy haunted houses, mysterious people from the past, and an ending that will have you sure to keep on the lights when you sleep for at least a few nights. This one is well worth the pre-order friends!
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
Riley Sager got me again.
My favorite book of 2020!!!
In my opinion,
Home Before Dark is Sager's
best work yet!!!Also, I do acknowledge that
I have now fully exceeded my lifetime use of the exclamation point, but I assure you, in this case it is warranted.
I
loved, loved, loved this story with my whole heart and soul.
Upon the death of her father, Maggie Holt, is shocked to discover she has just inherited
Baneberry Hall, the allegedly haunted mansion her family abandoned some 25-years earlier.
Quite literally fleeing in the middle of the night, her parents refused to ever return to the property. Her father then published a best-selling, purportedly nonfiction account of their time there. As you do.
For Maggie's part, she remembers nothing about their time at
Baneberry and had assumed the property had been sold off years ago.
She was just 5-years old when they briefly lived at the manse and apparently, her little mind wiped the slate clean after they departed.
She has read her father's book,
House of Horrors, numerous times, but doesn't believe a word of it.
Her parents, whose relationship didn't survive the publication of said book, wouldn't tell her anything, even though she pleaded with them to do so.
Returning all these years later, Maggie, now a professional home renovator, hopes to piece together a bit of the truth while also working on prepping the property for sale.
As soon as she arrives at
Baneberry, however, she's knows it is not going to be as easy as she had hoped.
Getting to alternate between Maggie's perspective and full chapters from her father's novel,
House of Horrors, was an absolutely delightful way to read this story. I loved how Sager constructed it.
The pacing was perfection!
I was so engaged with this throughout; it got into my mind. The eeriness of the house and everything going on there. It was bloody fantastic.
I was racing towards the conclusion trying to discover how much of
House of Horrors was actually true. Maggie's father was definitely a convincing author!
Baneberry Hall was such a presence in the story. It was ominous and creepy AF. It definitely gave me
Overlook Hotel vibes with the way the history of the property felt so vibrant and in your face.
I can't imagine being Maggie, staying there alone!
If you haven't read anything by Sager yet and are wondering where to start, I highly recommend giving this one a shot. I think it is a perfect example of his style.
If you have read Sager before, and are a fan,
what are you waiting for!?
I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next!
Rating: really liked it
I love an author’s vivid creativity and trying something unexpected to exceed his or her previous writing performances by taking a challenge and trying something brand new.
Riley Sager is one of the most brilliant authors raises the bars and waltz between genres and serves us fresh baked from oven kind of delicious, soul crushing, mind numbing, exhilarating, surprising stories with WTF I just read kind of twisty, the rug pulled out from your feet kind of endings.
This time he dances between horror, supernatural, ghost stories and mix them with true crime, murder, whodunit elements. You sense Amityville Horror, Haunting of Hill House and a little bit “Exorcist”, “Shining” and “Conjuring” vibes. At some parts you sense the author’s tribute to Stephen King novels by using his favorite elements like dysfunctional family dynamics, small town mystery, the thin line between madness and reality.
So get ready to freak out because you’re reading two books at the same time:
One of them belongs to Megan Holt’s POV, inherited a so called haunted house from her father after his sudden death and advised her not to go there again.
Other book belongs to Megan’s father Ewan telling us their 20 days of horrifying experience at the house with his soon to be ex-wife and 5 years old Megan.
Ewan’s part of the book published and haunted Megan’s life forever, prevented her forming normal relationships and having a real social life. She only have one close friend and business partner Allie helps her renovating houses and now she decides to move to Baneberry Hall: the haunted family Victorian estate and learn the truth her family is hiding because she never believed that ghostbusters against paranormal activity bullshit. But as soon as she takes her first step in the house, unbelievable and spooky things start to happen! Megan still has no idea about what happened when she was little and she insisted her parents to come clean but they denied her.
And Ewan’s book is more entertaining and horrifying than Megan’s POV, making you feel like any time Winchester Brothers appear out of nowhere to help the family pouring salt on the floor and put the ghosts on fire. Especially the creepy song plays at the night time gave me so much creeps and huge desire to scream till my throat burns.
I don’t’ want to give more spoils but I may only say the ending is satisfying and some parts are foreseeable but you still want to ask yourself: “What! Why! WTH?” yes, you partly expected some parts but not the whole picture! (I filled like my spidey senses out of juice!)
I also have to add: last two books’ covers of the author are fantastic! They give you a brief warning that something terrifying and disturbing is waiting you as soon as you flip the pages.
Overall: Pacing is good. However, at some parts I lost my interest for Megan’s POV and I enjoyed Ewan’s book so much more, it is still riveting, heart throbbing, nail, elbow, hand, arm biter, unputdowable, creepy story that I’ve dreamt of! I was so ready to sell my not so precious soul to get an ARC COPY and my wish came true.
So I’m giving 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for ARC of one of the most anticipated thrillers of this year in exchange my honest review and thanks to Riley Sager, I loved this book more than “Lock Every Door”
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Rating: really liked it
2.25 stars✨
*Checks my watch* yes it's time for history's most unpopular opinions?
Riley Sager (Mr. Riley Sager) Do you hear my screams of anguish?
Yes, I'm displeased. I had high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be a collection of iconic horror sequences from top horror movies and narrative twists from best-selling books like Shirley Jackson and Stephen King's The Shining, with a stupidly idiotic finale!
It was my second most anticipated book of July. And here I am sitting and thinking how horribly can a author murder a book!
what I liked? •
creepy haunted house setting :- mind you only the setting and not what happened inside it! I am a sucker for small town mystery and this one set in Vermont hills serves the purpose right!
•
alternating pov :- I like the idea of representing a book this way. I guess it was the only think which kept me going!
•
strong start What I disliked?
• what genre should I put it in? :- the book horribly murdered the idea of being a horror book and that ridiculous end murdered the idea of putting it in mystery .
• wasn't enough ghost vibes :- unlike most of the people here no I wasnt scared to my wit's..I didn't pee in my pants and definitely I wasn't scared of my own shadow!
This book lacked the ghost and Gothic vibes it was determined to deliver!
•
boring in middle :- half way through the book i lost my interest especially in Maggie pov which was super naive and boring !
• wtf ending :- the disgusted/ frustrated wtf ending! It was like the most stupid and ridiculous ending I expected from the author !
What happened to this?
What happened to her?
How will you explain this?
Why was this thing happening?
I was left wondering and the book ended!
I like lock every door better than this! Or I guess his every book was better than this.
Rating: really liked it
(3.75) Haunted house with a gothic feel are one of my guilty pleasure. This book had a strong start and even though I did figure out "who did it" it was still pretty good.
I did feel like the main female character was the biggest weakness. She didn't ring true to me and I cringed multiple times (any description of Dane, the mansplaining bit, the telling all her secrets after knowing him for 24h which gave me flashbacks of Lock Every Door...).
Not as good as The Last Time I Lied but an enjoyable fall read!
Reviews of all his books: https://youtu.be/SAd1t5LZqus
Rating: really liked it
I loved every second of this creepy suspenseful story. It had the best
Haunting of Hill House vibes that I've ever seen in a book and I was absolutely obsessed with the vibe of this book and I was genuinely scared at times and I might have slept with the lights on. Reading vlog just went up: https://youtu.be/zA0a8Q_lzp8
Rating: really liked it
Pretty standard thriller; a simple read for when I was in a reading slump.
Rating: really liked it
this has “thriller of summer 2020” written all over it
i’ll say it, emphatically again, but i really think riley sager has proven that you can do a modern thriller in a way that doesn’t rely on cheating spouses. this book was so much fun.
Rating: really liked it
***RUNNER UP FOR BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER, I THINK IT SHOULD HAVE WON! DON'T MISS THIS ONE***
Well I was looking for a book to take my mind off of what is going on in the world right now and this was definitely a great choice! I don’t know if I’m a true lover of ghost stories but I like great fiction with supernatural elements. This author once again has written a book that will be at the top of my list of best books of 2020/thrillers for sure.
The author has written a book within a book for this novel and he has done it very well. It does keep you on your toes at first but then the book just takes off and you’re in for a riveting, who and what do I believe, twisty, turny story. For me I personally prefer a novel with well developed characters and even the “ghosts” are fully described.
One point of view is that of Maggie Holt a young woman who has just inherited an old house when her father recently passed away. She had lived in the house when she was 5 years old but she has no memory of that time and her parents still will not tell her why they left that house and all of their things and never went back. Of course Maggie, who has a business with friend Alli, knows how to restore interiors and wants to go back to Baneberry Hall, clear it out and get it ready for sale. She also wanted to find out why her parents would never tell her what went on during that time. She has lived all of her life with the stigma of her father’s book. Some people loved it, others thought he was terrible to write it because it made their town look bad. She does find out the truth, first slowly and then the tension builds and there are so many things happening at the same time!! This part of the story was great, very easy to follow and I loved the characters.
The other point of view is the actual writing from Maggie’s father’s book, There are entire pages of the book where we really get a different vibe of what went on during those few weeks when they lived there. I think I always hurried to get back to this part of the book. It was creepier with a bigger ghost vibe and snakes, oh You Will Never Think the Same Way About Snakes . . . . .ever.
I really thought the entire novel was wonderfully crafted and the prose was great, the story flowed quickly. The characters were believable if a bit predictable. The ending was Amazing and it just turned into different answers, first one way, then another, I truly was confused about what the truth was.
I’m not going to ruin the story but I will leave you with this quote “Oh Maggie, she says. “You really shouldn’t have done that. “ Unease slams onto my shoulders, so forceful that all of Baneberry Hall seems to shake.” Also it’s a wonder why anyone would build an estate and let poisonous berries grow all over your property even though you have a young child, then you name the place after the plant, craziness. You will all love it, just buy it, you won’t be sorry!!!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss
Rating: really liked it
UPDATE: $2.99 on Kindle US today 4/2/214.5 stars!
Because this is a mood!
I thought it was a man, although I couldn’t be sure. Details were sparse. All I could make out was a distinctly human shape standing in the forest a few feet from the treeline.
I highly enjoyed this book! The creepiness of it, the 'what the hell' moments, they were just what I expected from Riley Sager. AND, naturally with his books, I went one way with all of the answers and he went somewhere else totally!
On to the next, Mr. Sager, I’m waiting .......
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
Rating: really liked it
Unapologetic cover of Hill House until the very end, but in my opinion, not on same level as that classic.
Rating: really liked it
Hang on to your hat, your Ouija board, and stop thinking too much and you will be in for a spooky, twisty ride. Maggie Holt's father wrote a book about a house that the family lived in for twenty days, when Maggie was five years old. The experience was a horrible one and the family ran from the house, with just the clothes on their backs, leaving everything else behind, when they abandoned it. Her father than wrote a nonfiction book about the house and what happened during those twenty days but Maggie has no memory of what was in the book and thinks that her dad invented the story.
Now, twenty five years after they left the house, Maggie's father has died and she finds out that he never sold the house after they left. Since her mom and dad wouldn't answer any of her questions about the book and their time in the house, just saying that the book is true, Maggie is going back to the house to find answers, despite her father telling her not to ever go back to the house. Maggie's time spent in the house, in the present, is every bit as crazy as what was related in the book.
Home Before Dark alternates between the story that Maggie's father wrote and present day Maggie living in the house, with the intent to refurbish it and sale it. It's a great way to compare what her father wrote to what Maggie finds out as she researches the house and it's history. Lots goes on, almost too much to keep up with at times. Did Maggie's parents lie about the past or is something wrong with Maggie, that she can't remember any of what is written in the book?
Published June 30, 2020
Thank you to Dutton/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
.......what the fuck just happened??!Full RTC.
The hell.
Rating: really liked it
okay, i know my mom has always said i have an overactive imagination, but this book legitimately freaked me out. i shouldnt have read this at night. 😱
this is definitely RSs best book so far. its not exactly fast paced, but the content is just sooo gripping. i love the back and forth between the events maggie is experiencing in the present and the narrative of her fathers book describing the events of 25 years ago. the writing feeds off of the readers imagination, so if you mentally imagine scenes vividly as you read, then this will be a lot of scary fun for you!
my only complaint would be about the ending/reveal. (view spoiler)
[i just wish for once that stories actually let it be a paranormal reasoning. i get why there has so be some sort of justification and show how it was just a person all along, but still. for once i want a ghost story to be about a ghost. lol. (hide spoiler)] but this is totally a personal preference.
im super eager to see how RS is going to top this with his next book!
↠ 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
I really wanted to love it......
I did enjoy it, but I felt this book wasn't as good as his previous books. I do love a good haunted house/ghost story but found nothing scary about this book at all. So I am in the minority on this, but it failed to wow or shall I say scare me.
But it did entertain me. I just felt that some elements of the book fell flat. The Amityville Horror this is not. I did enjoy the book within a book concept and I thought he did pull that off nicely. Plus, there is a nice little reveal at the end which I did not see coming.
All in all, enjoyable but disappointing at the same time.
There are things that go bump in the night but this was more like a thud.
