Melissa (Trying to Catch Up)'s Reviews > We Used to Live Here

I don’t feel like I read the same book as everyone else. Reminded me so much of how I felt reading House of Leaves.

This book had such an intriguing premise and I was really intrigued to see what might be happening. And for the first half, I was captivated and reading quickly. Eve and her partner Charlie flip houses and they have purchased an older property. They have recently moved in and when Charlie is out running an errand, Eve answers a knock at the door. Thomas, his wife, and their three children stand there. Thomas says he used to live in the house as a child and wants to know if he can show his family around as they are on their way to move across the country. Reluctantly, Eve allows them in, and what happens next gets more and more bizarre and frightening.

I don't mind horror fiction, but I want it to at least make a semblance of sense. There are some intriguing documents scattered throughout and I kept waiting for it all to come together. For me, it really didn't. It just kept getting stranger and stranger after the first half, and it never coalesced to make a coherent narrative for me.

This is definitely a creepy book with a very unsettling vibe throughout. I see that it's being made into a movie and I definitely got an American Horror story feel, so hopefully it will translate well to the screen.

This is billed as being like Parasite, and while I loved that move, this book is nothing like it. That movie made sense to me and this book just did not. I wanted my questions answered in a satisfactory way and they weren't. I was left with too many threads and not enough explanations.

Overall, this wasn't a very successful book for me, but it has a high average rating and lots of people loved it, so it may appeal to you, especially if you were a fan of House of Leaves.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.