Ok I liked this book way more than Behind Her Eyes! It was creepy without being overdone and repetitive, and the house totally set the mood. I liked that there was a mix of "normal" problems with a possible ghost. And the way that everything resolved in the end was SO GOOD and so deserved. This book makes me see why people like Sarah Pinborough so much.

I don't know what was going on with me when I was reading this because it wasn't that sad, but the Raven chapters with his dead mate made me feel like I was going to cry. Every time.

I can't tell if this was from the writing or audio production, but several of the chapters felt like they ended abruptly, and not in a cliffhanger kind of way. I had to keep checking that something wasn't wrong with my phone. Other note on the audio production - every single reader killed it. Their voices and delivery matched the mood of the book to a T.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC!

I love a good spooky read and this one gave me chills. The audiobook is phenomenal from the voice actors to the mystery floating in the air. I can’t wait to have more of this vibe

Thank you NetGalley,Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar, and Sarah Pinborough for allowing me to listen to this AUDIO ARC in exchange for my honest review. The narrators did an excellent job and I felt the pacing was perfect for this genre! As an audio listener, I generally utilize audio books when I am driving, cleaning, walking, doing chores, and after my kids have fallen asleep. This book is so good, that I often had to stop when I was spooked. You know, when everyone is fast asleep and youre in a quiet, dark, and calm home - yeah, I often had goose bumps and had to take out my ear buds and turn on extra lights. I really liked both of the main characters (F/M). I thought the incorporation of the Raven was superb and fun! I enjoyed this face paced story line and I thought the suspense and mystery was really well done. The ending was perfection! Days later and Im still thinking about the ending!

This was a decent haunted house story. It was quite lengthy at times but totally an atmospheric read. I didn’t like some of the plot holes left. It had me asking more questions and being confused. This a very middle of the road kind of book for me. The narrator for the audio was phenomenal. All the props for making it enjoyable to listen to

🏚️ We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough – ★★☆☆☆

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me. I went in hoping for something atmospheric and heavy on the eerie, gothic home vibes, but what I got felt more like a loop of repetitive house descriptions and a muddled cast of characters I struggled to keep track of, especially in the audiobook format.

I kept waiting for the atmosphere to build into something truly unsettling or immersive, but it never quite got there for me. The gothic elements felt more like set dressing than actual story drivers, and while I don’t mind a slow burn, this one felt like it circled the same emotional and physical spaces without ever truly delivering on its premise.

It wasn’t completely terrible, there were flickers of potential in the writing, and I can see what the book was trying to do, but my expectations were definitely set too high, and it just didn’t deliver. Sadly, this one wasn’t for me, though I know some readers might enjoy it more with different expectations going in.

I did not get to this ALC as life got in the way, therefore I cannot offer an honest review even though I really was looking forward to listening to it.

I will listen to it on Spotify or Audible at a future date. But I need to give it a star rating so here we go.

Finishing We Live Here Now felt like walking out of the house itself—shaking off the chill that had settled into my bones, the faint echo of footsteps still following me down the stairs.

This is Sarah Pinborough at her unsettling best. The story creeps in slowly, like mist curling around your ankles. Emily and Freddie, a couple on the verge of something unspoken, move into a remote countryside house after Emily’s near-fatal fall and sepsis recovery. She’s healing, or trying to—but something is off. The third floor groans when no one’s there. The air feels charged. The landing is never empty, not really. And Freddie, flitting between their new life and the old one, begins to wonder if Emily’s mind is unraveling… or if something else has found its way in.

What makes this novel so effective is its restraint. It doesn’t shout. It whispers. Characters slide into the story with purpose, each carrying a piece of the puzzle. The tension builds in quiet, intimate moments. I was left guessing until the final reveal, and even then, I had to sit with it for a minute, piecing everything back together.

This one left a mark. It’s not just eerie—it’s unsettling in the way only really good psychological thrillers manage to be.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Pinborough, and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. I absolutely recommend this to readers who love their thrillers slow-burning, atmospheric, and just a little bit haunted.

Thank you you to Nick Kelly for the advance audiobook. I have read from Sarah Pinborough in the past and was looking forward to this book. I will say the first half was extremely slow. I felt like not a lot was going on. Overall, it was an OK read. The audiobook was great and I highly recommend..

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Home - Good Neighbours

💭What I thought would happen:

I’m getting major We Used To Live Here vibes and that book still gives me the heebies when I think about it 🫣

📖What actually happens:

😱Car accident
🏡New house in the country
🖤Marital problems
93df09b5-ee53-46b9-a5a9-bcaddf106378.pngParanormal activity

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Ok I know there are paranormal elements at play here but what truly scared me was the husbands desperately wanting a trad wife. AHHHH😱 incels…I tell ya

This book had no original element (all the way down to the references of ravens I mean come the Poe on).

I was fairly underwhelmed from the beginning BUT the ending had me like WTF so I gave it a whole extra star for that. (Like when you go out to eat and your entree has been sitting in the heat lamp for too long and is under salted but the creme brûlée was divine)

That being said, it’s been a few weeks since I read and I still think about this book so it does haunt you 👀⚠️

🏠Book Review🏠
*
My thoughts- thank you so much @netgalley and @macmillian for the advanced audio copy. I love Sarah Pinborough and this one was a fabulous haunted house read! The beginning was a bit slow but once the action started it did not let up. This was your classic unreliable narrator and terrible partner read. But I did really enjoy this! It was spooky in all the right spots and very atmospheric. There was no doubt the way this was narrated and written, it will creep you out! If you’re looking for something to scare you this summer, look no further!
*
Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*
Summary- see above
*
QOTD- any wild plans for Friday?! I’m off on a school trip to Six Flags. It’s going to be hot,hot,hot today. Hoping I don’t melt 😅 and very much looking forward to a glass of wine and movie with the husband when I get home 💕.

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough is out now!

Perfect for fans of:
- domestic thrillers
- psychological thrillers
- a paranormal undercurrent
- multiple POVs
- main characters with a secret
- shows like The Haunting of Bly Manor

We Live Here Now was a fun thriller that did one of my personal favorite literary maneuvers: it made the setting a character/presence of its own. What happens when you take a husband and wife holding on to secrets and resentments and move them into a new home that seems to bring out the worst in them? Grab your copy to find out.

i tired so hard to listen to this but just couldn't push myself to suffer through this.

thankful i got the audio arc

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an audio Arc in exchange for my honest opinion. I've come to realize I LOVE haunted houses. I don't just love haunted houses, I love haunted house set in isolated atmospheres. This didn't just feel like an ordinary haunted house story which I why I was sooo drawn in. It felt fresh and original with a magical element (dark magic perhaps?). The narrators did such a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. This felt like one of those stories where I hated everyone but LOVED to hate everyone, ya know what I mean? I don't want to give much away but we've got a recovering coma patient, inter-relationship lies, murders, blackmail, a thought provoking raven, everything my heart desires. I thought I knew where some twists were going but I was wrong and shocked by what transpired. I highly recommend this book especially the audio version and will be thinking about this for a long time.

I thought I had this book figured out the whole way through, but then it pulled the blindfold off. While our main character was a bit obnoxious, the premise and beautiful writing makes this so worth it.

Emily and her husband move to a country house after she is almost killed. Larkin Lodge should be a place to rest, but this house holds secrets. Creaky boards, books falling from shelves, windows opening by themselves...what is the house hiding? is it real or in emma's imagination? a gothic mysterious story. Perfect narration by Helen Baxendale and Jamie Glover.

I was hooked from the beginning!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

We Live Here Now is eerie. It's so good though. If you are looking for a book that will have you keeping your lights on at night, and making sure every door and window are locked, this is for you. Thinking about it a few weeks after I read it still gives me the shivers. Highly recommend.

Dark and mysterious, this domestic thriller come horror read is a slow character piece about how people change over the course of a marriage and whether or not you can live with them when it happens. Uncomfortable and dreamlike, it’s twisty and ultimately very satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

We Live Here Now
A Novel
by Sarah Pinborough
Narrated by Helen Baxendale, Jamie Glover, and Sarah Pinborough
Macmillan Audio

If you delight in gothic tales and paranormal storytelling that keeps you on the edge of your seat, eager to decipher the mysteries unfolding before you, then this audiobook is a must-listen.

There’s much to appreciate about this captivating audiobook, featuring a talented cast: Helen Baxendale from Friends, Jamie Glover from The Crown, and the author herself, Sarah Pinborough. Together, they deliver a performance that hits all the right notes for an enthralling audio experience. Coupled with a compelling narrative, prepare to be thoroughly engrossed.

This gothic novel delves into the unsettling dynamics of a house—and a marriage—gone horribly awry. The house itself emerges as a character, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe’s iconic tale, The Fall of the House of Usher.

Following a near-fatal accident, Emily and her husband, Freddie—her caregiver—relocate from London to the charming Dartmoor countryside, settling into a picturesque estate known as Larkin Lodge. While the house embodies the quintessential English country home, something feels profoundly amiss to Emily.

At night, the old floorboards groan, fires extinguish unexpectedly, and books tumble from their shelves—all manifestations of the malevolent presence she perceives emanating from a third-floor room. But these phenomena occur only when Emily is alone, leaving her to question their reality. Still recovering from her post-sepsis condition, which can induce hallucinations, she struggles to trust her own senses. Meanwhile, Freddie remains oblivious to the peculiar occurrences, grateful for their fresh start.

As time passes, Emily becomes convinced that the house is haunted by the spirit of someone who met a tragic end within its walls, yet she can uncover no evidence of such a wrongful death. As inexplicable events escalate & her marriage begins to unravel, Emily becomes fixated on unearthing the truth about Larkin Lodge.

Both the house & its inhabitants harbor secrets, & peeling back the layers promises to be part of the chilling thrill of the tale.

This book had a lot of potential but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

Paranormal activity for me has to be done REALLY REALLY well and the aspects on this one just wasn't.

I think there were so many great ideas and some creepy moments but it all fell short.

I was hoping for a much more thrilling book that was fast paced. Again, I think there was a lot of potential in it to be a really great book it just didn't quite make it for me.