Book Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Jul 20

5 min read

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

A slow burn horror story that will keep you up at night with plot twists you won't see coming. The perfect read for an advanced learner or for the learners who have been stuck at B2 and can't get out. This book will be a good challenge to test your vocabulary.

Author

Riley Sager

Genre

Horror, Thriller, Mystery

Synopsis

Maggie Holt and her parents, Ewan and Jess, spent three weeks living in Baneberry Hall before fleeing in the middle of the night. Ewan later wrote a tell-all book called "House of Horrors," chronicling all of the supernatural events that occurred during their time there. The book was a smash hit and became the bane of Maggie’s existence. She was too young to remember anything that actually happened during her time there, but because of the book, she spent her entire life answering questions about that house.

Twenty-five years after fleeing Baneberry Hall, Maggie inherits the house after her father’s death. Both of her parents warned her to never return to Baneberry Hall, but Maggie doesn't believe in ghosts. She goes back with plans to renovate and sell the home that made her life a living hell, but questions lurk beyond its doors, and Maggie just can't help herself. Determined to learn the truth about what really happened, Maggie begins digging into a past she can't remember, but she'll soon learn that forgetting was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Recommended English Level

C1 - Advanced

Riley Sager utilizes fairly advanced vocabulary in this novel. It's not so advanced that it is hard to understand, but having (or being close to) a C1 level in English is recommended to fully enjoy the story.

While the grammar is mostly standard and easy to understand, most B2 learners will likely need a thesaurus to understand a lot of the colorful adjectives Sager uses in his writing. In my opinion, this is one of the book’s strengths. If you are looking to grow your vocabulary to help you break out of your B2 prison, then this book is for you!

Furthermore, this story features many working parts that all come together in the end. It's important to understand each of those parts and how they connect with one another to properly enjoy the ending. This is one of the main reasons a C1 level is recommended to enjoy this novel.

Book Review

I'm not embarrassed to admit that I did lose a bit of sleep while reading this horror novel. I'm not easily spooked, but with this book’s slow burn, atmospheric storytelling, I surely found myself lying in bed on a few nights listening to every little sound I heard around me and questioning their sources. In my opinion, this is the mark of a good horror story. If I lose a little sleep, then I am definitely recommending this book to my fellow horror lovers.

I really appreciated the horror aspects of this novel. They were just generic enough that I often saw what was coming a mile away while simultaneously leaving me wondering how or why things were happening. The horror added to the mystery, and as the mystery grew, so did my interest in this novel. Typically, I'm not a major fan of mystery novels, but this book does it just right. And the ending... Let's just say, you won't see it coming.

I really enjoyed the way the novel switched back and forth between Maggie and Ewan. They both had such different ways of telling their stories, and that aided in holding my attention. Each time Ewan told a story about something he experienced in the house, I found myself a bit excited to see what Maggie's perspective would be when she inevitably faced the same situation.

Maggie's character was defiant and a bit frustrating at times. The way she spoke to people and questioned things without ever sharing what was really on her mind stressed me out a little. Although, once the end of the story came around, I eventually realized her actions and choices made sense. Her parents wouldn't tell her the truth about what happened the night that they left. The townsfolk hated their family for the stories they told, and the sheriff had no trust in Maggie from the moment she arrived. Maggie was aloof because she needed to be if she had any hope of finding answers.

All of the characters outside of the Holt family were equally intriguing. I found Sheriff Alcott a bit annoying with her inability to trust Maggie, but also a bit passionate in her determination to protect her town. The resentment I had towards her at the beginning slowly changed to acceptance as the story played out. At the end of the day, she was only doing what she thought was best for the people of her hometown.

I wasn't in love with the idea that the story insinuated a sexual connection between Ewan and Petra. Furthermore, I really hated the way Jess acted when confronting Ewan about it. There have been too many stories depicting relationships between teenage girls and older men as “normal," and while this book wasn't exactly doing that, this story made the idea of that relationship existing far too "normal" for my liking. If this storyline needed to be in there, I'd rather have seen Jess shame Ewan and portray disapproval of his actions more than she did. Yes, she made it clear that it wasn't okay, but overall she sounded more jealous of Petra rather than concerned, and that didn't sit well with me.

Overall, the pacing of this story was slow and steady. It allowed you to sit with the discomfort of what potentially resides in Baneberry Hall while slowly building upon its mysteries. I really enjoyed the twists the story takes and how confident it can make you feel in thinking that you've solved the mystery only to then flip the script and reveal something completely different.

There were chapters here and there where the story felt like it wasn't progressing, but overall I enjoyed the storytelling and pacing. If you power through the lull in the middle, you'll be rewarded in the end.

Audiobook

I really loved the audiobook for Home Before Dark. The two narrators were perfectly chosen, and both had just the right cadence and depth to really sell the spookiness of each scene. I especially loved Jon Lindstrom's voice for Ewan. His voice was deep and enthralling; perfect for those slow-burn horror moments that make your skin crawl. Cady McClain's voice has less depth than Lindstrom’s, but rest assured, she will make you feel the scene in much the same way.

As always, I listened to the audiobook while I followed along with the written novel. I do this because it helps me focus and tune out the world around me. For more information about that, read my review for 100 Days of Sunlight.

Final Thoughts

If you enjoy a slow-burn horror that fills you with a sense of dread, mysteries that unfold beautifully, and characters you'll both love and love to hate, then this book is for you. It's a great blend of spooky and mysterious and features good pacing that'll keep you turning pages. I recommend listening to the audiobook as well, as it really adds to the air of horror that I enjoyed so much in this novel.