I was pleasantly surprised by Home Before Dark, which has become my favourite Riley Sager. The mirroring of the modern-day timeline and the book within a book was satisfying to read, and I felt the narrative was well-paced.

This book is full of tension, and the creepy atmosphere had me looking over my shoulder. I don’t tend to enjoy ghost stories, but this one hooked me from the start!

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it wasn’t perfect. I felt the book within the book was much more intriguing than the modern-day timeline and wished we’d spent more time in the past. This is due primarily to Maggie, our protagonist, who is poorly developed. I also didn’t love the direction the ending took (though I won’t spoil it here). Additionally, the title makes no sense in the book's context (which is a pet peeve of mine).

Lastly, and this isn’t particularly relevant to this book in particular, but it needs to be said, I have an issue with cis male authors adopting ambiguous pen names to write underdeveloped female protagonists in novels aimed at women under the guise of being female authors. It’s duplicitous and rubs me the wrong way. I hadn’t realized Riley Sager was a man until I’d read a few of his books and when I realized it, his female characterization started to make a lot more sense. I will likely avoid his work in the future.