If domestic suspense and psychological weirdness had a fever dream during a wine-fueled HOA meeting, We Live Here Now would be the uninvited guest whispering, “I see everything.”

Sarah Pinborough, queen of the wait-what-the-hell twist, is back—this time bringing us into a glossy gated community where secrets fester behind perfectly trimmed hedges, and neighborly small talk is just a cover for deep-seated dread. You know the vibe: yoga pants, passive-aggressive smiles, and a slowly simmering descent into madness.

The pacing? Think slow burn, but like… slow burn while stuck in a cul-de-sac of existential dread. The vibes are immaculate if you enjoy asking yourself, “Is she unstable, haunted, or just British?” And as always, Pinborough doesn’t just blur the line between reality and paranoia—she kicks it into a hedge and pours rosé over it.

Let’s talk characters: deeply messy, questionably likable, and delightfully unhinged. You will not trust anyone, and frankly, they don’t deserve your trust. But you’ll keep reading because you, too, are messy and unhinged. Solidarity.

I’m giving We Live Here Now a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Here’s why:
• Pros: Atmospheric as hell, delightfully eerie, and Sarah Pinborough still knows how to make you side-eye your own reflection. The psychological tension is on point, and the creeping sense of dread is like a second skin by chapter three.
• Cons: The pacing is a bit of a slog in places—like watching paint dry while waiting for it to gaslight you. Some character motivations feel murky or undercooked, and by the end, you might be asking, “Was all of that necessary or just emotionally manipulative foreplay?” There’s also that classic Pinborough twist energy—either you’ll live for it, or you’ll throw the book across the room with a muttered “Really?”

So yes, it’s clever. It’s creepy. But it’s also a little too clever for its own good in places. The vibes carried it farther than the plot did.

Trigger warnings: suicide ideation, domestic abuse, gaslighting, infidelity, emotional manipulation, and that ever-present feeling that something is very, very off but no one will say it out loud.

Verdict: A stylish psychological slow-burn that’s entertaining, but not quite the five-star home run. Great for fans of ominous suburbia and deeply flawed women spiraling in beautifully written prose. Just maybe skip it if you’re low on patience or already hate your neighbors.

Would I recommend it?
Only if you enjoy your thrillers laced with dread, drama, and a dash of “I may need therapy after this.” So yes. Yes, I would.

I need to accept that gothic novels just aren’t for me. The spooky vibes were all atmosphere, no substance, and the unreliable narrator trope—again—left me more irritated than intrigued. Half the book passed with very little actually happening. The “Raven” chapters? I started skipping them out of sheer annoyance.

There were glimmers of interest—I liked some of the themes and the setting had potential—but the story kept circling instead of moving forward. The ending didn’t fully land for me either, and I wish the house, which is basically a main character, had been given more backstory.

Narration was solid, no complaints there. Just not my kind of haunted.

I REALLY enjoyed this. I love a good haunted house story, unreliable narrators, and multi POVs and this book checks a lot of my favorite trope boxes.

I enjoyed the dynamics of all the people in the book. There are a LOT of complicated relationships. All the way up until the bitter end. I liked that we had questions about Emily and Freddie and their relationship and honesty almost from the beginning. It definitely kept me engaged.

I have read one other book by Pinborough that also had a hint of the paranormal and in it (Behind Her Eyes) and I enjoyed this paranormal aspect so much more. It felt more natural (I know that doesn't really make sense unless you've read both books).

The raw intensity of this book clawed its way under my skin. It’s a masterclass in dysfunctional relationships—tangled, messy, and yet rendered with razor-sharp prose that makes every fracture feel painfully authentic. There’s no sugarcoating here; the emotional turmoil is laid bare with brutal honesty, making the characters’ struggles impossible to ignore.

The dialogue between the main characters is electric. Their banter crackles with wit and venom, a perfect storm of verbal sparring that bruises as much as it fascinates. It’s this interplay that breathes life into their complicated connection, revealing layers of pain, defiance, and unexpected tenderness beneath the surface.

The gothic setting is more than just a backdrop—it’s a living, breathing force that wraps itself around the story like a chilling, beautiful shadow. The atmosphere seeps into every scene, amplifying the tension and underscoring the characters’ inner darkness. It’s haunting, immersive, and utterly unforgettable.

And then the ending. It hit me like a gut punch—so raw and shocking I had to reach out to friends just to see if anyone else felt the same overwhelming impact. This book is a beautifully chaotic, emotionally brutal journey that lingers long after the final page, refusing to let go.

Sarah Pinborough has done it again! We Live Here Now is one of those books you can’t stop listening to and when it’s over, you want to talk about it with everyone you know. This story needs to be a movie.! The narration was spot-on, drawing you right into the eerie house/world she’s created.

It’s kinda creepy, but not in a horror-movie way more like that unsettling feeling that something is off. What really shines is how laugh-out-loud accurate her observations are about couples, marriages, and the quiet frustrations of domestic life. Some moments made me pause the audiobook just to laugh and say, “That is so true!”

And the crows! I absolutely loved the crows in this book. They’re weird and symbolic and funny all at once, adding that extra layer of mystery and atmosphere that Pinborough is so good at.

If you like your thrillers with a twist of dark humor, a smidge of vengeance and sharp insight into relationships, you’ll love this. Highly recommend the audiobook version great pacing, great voice, and just the right amount of weird.

After a bad fall and a rough hospital stay, Emily and her husband Freddie move into a new house. But soon, strange and creepy things start to happen, and Emily begins digging into the house’s history.

For a haunted house story, I was hoping for more chills, more scares, and a few real “boo!” moments in the dark. This one felt pretty mild.

While the story lacked the punch I was hoping for, I really enjoyed the flow and Sarah’s writing style—it’s smooth and easy to get into.

Not a bad read, just wished for a little more scare factor.

Hapless couple Emily and Freddie move into a creepy house full of inexplicable secrets. Emily immediately notices strange occurrences around the house, but she is concurrently recovering from sepsis and prone to hallucinations, so nobody takes her concerns seriously.

Initially, I found it difficult to sympathize with either main character, but as more is revealed, their challenging personalities start to make sense in the context of the broader story. In the end, these personality traits, the good and the bad, fit well with the conclusion.

This book has been categorized as horror, but the majority of the reading experience is more of a dark, slow burn mystery. Slow enough in fact, that this may have worked better for me as a novella. The writing is engaging, so I had no trouble maintaining attention, but there are plot points that felt repetitive or superfluous. That said, the last quarter of the book makes the waiting worthwhile -- the grand reveal and ending were chilling, unsettling, and unexpected. If you don't mind the "slow burn" aspect of the storytelling, you will find this worth your while.

Like I mentioned, this had the vibe of a dark mystery book, but there are still some impressive low key horror elements, particularly toward the end. Perhaps I have Edgar Allan Poe on the brain with all the literary nods to him sprinkled throughout the novel, but I found myself drawing a comparison to Poe's Telltale Heart or Cask of Amontillado. If you are interested in reading a modern novel with a similar vibe to those stories, this is one to check out. There is another modern horror book that this reminds me of, but I would be giving away the ending by drawing a comparison, so I will leave the comparisons with Poe.

I was sent an audiobook to review, and the narrators did a commendable job of telling this story. Both voices were clear and without any distracting affectations. So, I would certainly recommend the audio format to anyone interested in this title. That said, I noticed that Barnes and Noble has a gorgeous hardcover version of this book with sprayed edges, so I wouldn't blame you for opting for the print version for that reason alone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pinborough, and Macmillan Audio for sending me this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

CREEP-TASTIC. It's unusual that I give a horror/thriller 5 stars but I'm doing it here. I loved everything about this book. Gothic, haunted house vibe? Check. Unlikeable characters? Check. Mysterious haunting? Check. Banger of an ending? Check. Check. Loved it!!!

3.5 stars (book content)

Overall, there were elements of the story that I really enjoyed but so many that also just fell flat and didn't work very well for me. This was my first book by Sarah so I'm unsure if her style just isn't for me or if the book just wasn't as great as some of her other works.

I enjoyed the setting - I liked the grey English moor vibe, very atmospheric and spooky feeling right away. I liked the background on the house and the feeling of foreboding that so many had while inside.

Things that didn't really work for me:
- Emily and Freddie both felt pretty one dimensional. I also felt like the raven was somehow both over and under utilized. The entire time all of the characters have the exact same thing on their minds and have zero growth or changes to themselves.
- It was definitely overwritten. The buildup took so long and the payoff wasn't exactly "wow" worthy and by the time I got there I was just ready to be done, it was a slow burn but in a bad way.
- So much unnecessary information. I don't know if it was the author trying to give you red herrings but a lot of things were just introduced and never expanded on.
- Info dumping at the end really turned me off. It was like the author realized the ending was coming but there were a bunch of unanswered questions and she needed to throw it all in before the big "reveal"
- the supernatural elements were ambiguous and not expanded upon nearly enough. I know with some psychological media you have to just accept things but the house was basically a whole character in this book and we barely learn anything about why it is the way it is.
- the constant modern references to Edgar Allen Poe and other "spooky" things just made it seem gimmicky and not unique

I felt like the book had been marketed as a thriller/horror but it felt much more like a paranormal mystery than anything. There were a couple spooky elements but not nearly enough to justify calling it horror.

Audio review (4 stars):

I had a hard time with the narrator's voices for some characters. They didn't sound different enough for me to necessarily be able to just listen and know who was speaking. Her ability to make sounds was very good however. The "scratch, scritch" type noises were great and creepy sounding.

The male narrator did a pretty good job with Freddie and I felt his anger as he was speaking which was nice in terms of story immersion.


Overall:
I felt like this was just okay. I think some people will definitely love it, but it just didn't speak to me at all. The ending wasn't terrible which was honestly the only reason the book got the rating that it did from me.

An absolutely chilling, atmospheric thriller that expertly blurs the line between psychological suspense and supernatural horror. The isolated setting, the slow unraveling of a relationship, and the eerie undercurrent of something not-quite-right all combine to create a gripping sense of suspense.

Public review:

Listened to the ALC via NetGalley))

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 stars

A Wuthering Heights inspired thriller? Yes, please! I enjoyed the theme of ravens and poetry. The author definitely captured the eeriness of the house.

Character development breaks or makes books for me. The two main characters flopped for me. Freddy, especially, seemed to more of a character than a real human. I was intrigued by the story but I did not care what happened to the characters.

Overall, this was a quick and intriguing read!

Behind Her Eyes is one of my favorite books and Netflix did a stellar job on its adaptation. So I was extremely excited to check this one out thanks to @macmillan.audio ARC

I think my true rating is a 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars. The husband and wife main characters are all unlikable to the point where it drags the story out.

It’s a lot of repetition and hearing about their mutual transgressions page after page got very old very quick. The supporting characters and side stories were nothing more than filler outside of Sally and Joe.

The last 20% of the book was classic Pinborough where she masterfully weaves the story and twists all together into a satisfying ending. This one was an easy binge and would make for great summer reading.

Absolutely loved this audiobook! Was full of suspense and enjoyed the different POVs. Would definitely recommend this read to others!

We Live Here Now is a deliciously eerie, slow-burn psychological horror that had me questioning reality, marriage, and whether my house is judging me. Emily and Freddie move into a remote old house (because what could go wrong?), and things spiral very quickly. The tension builds gradually, and I loved the way the atmosphere crept in it’s not a scream-in-your-face kind of horror, but more of a “wait… did the shadows just move?” kind of unsettling.

The ending absolutely delivered. I love a good ambiguous finish that makes you stare into the void for a minute.

I listened to the audiobook version, and it was excellent. Helen Baxendale and Jamie Glover did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, and having Sarah Pinborough herself narrate part of it was such a treat. It added an extra layer of depth to the story and made the listening experience even more immersive.

Would I move into this haunted house? No.
Would I read this book again just to catch the things I missed the first time? Absolutely.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

I'm not sure what to think about this book, honestly. It is giving Murder House vibes, but with very little gory stuff, but you have that same feeling when reading this book. This is a very slow building suspense/thriller that follows three POVs. Our primary is Emily. Emily had a horrible accident, ended up in the hospital, went septic, and got post-sepsis syndrome, which can have psychological side effects, like hallucinations. Emily and her husband sold their London flat and moved to a country house called Larkin Lodge. Like many old houses, it has its quirks, like randomly appearing nails, slamming doors, voices, and cold spots. You know, the normal old house stuff. Our secondary character is Freddie. Freddie is the husband of Emily, and he is horrible. Sorry, nothing redeeming I can think to add about this character. He is not a likable character. Third, we have a Raven. Like an actual bird. The Raven lives at or around Larkin Lodge and does tie into what is happening to Emily. It is an interesting perspective and gives the story a little bit more of a Poe feel.

The overall feel of the book is toxic; everything is toxic, from the house to the friendships to the marriages. Not just our main couple, but most of the couples in the story are toxic. Especially when they are in the Larkin Lodge. I felt like this type of story has been done a lot, but we have a few twists on the whole murder house scenario that keep this story fresh. I did like the perspective of the Raven. I thought it was weird at first, but I think that it added something a little special to everything. I think I felt most sorry for Broken Wing at the end of the book than anyone else. If you enjoy a slow-building, haunted-house type thriller, this is a fun one.

**4.5-stars**

After a cliffwalk accident puts her in a coma and almost kills her, Emily, is ready for the new start her husband, Freddie, suggests. The couple move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house called Larkin Lodge. Set in a remote area, by the stark natural presence of the Moors, this property is steeped in gothic vibes. Emily, still recovering both mentally and physically from her accident, is intrigued, and a little frightened by the imposing home.

As they settle in, Freddie is away from home for the majority of the week, still working in London. He's put in for a transfer, but it hasn't happened yet, so it's back-and-forth for him until that becomes official. This leaves Emily alone, with a lot of time on her hands, and she begins to notice things: creaking floorboards, books falling from the shelves, and what she can only determine is a mysterious presence in the 3rd-floor bedroom.

Unfortunately, these disturbing occurrences only seem to happen when Emily is alone. When she tells her husband about her fears, he blames them all on her accident. Claiming she is just experiencing post-sepsis hallucinations. Emily doesn't know what to think. She knows that's a potential symptom for people recovering from sepsis, but the feelings never leave her. It feels so real and scary in the moment. She begins to resent Freddie for not listening to her and brushing off her concerns.

Meanwhile, Emily is more determined than ever to get to the truth behind Larkin Lodge. She can feel that something terrible has happened there, that something is off, but what?

I had so much fun with this book. I know it won't necessarily be for everyone, but for me, it was excellent entertainment. I was in this with Emily and everything that was happening to her at Larkin Lodge. I also liked to get ticked at Freddie right along with her. It was like we were friends.

This story is mainly told through Emily and Freddie's perspectives, but there are also a few other narrative inclusions which I really enjoyed. Incidentally, the audiobook does feature dual narration and I highly recommend that format. The narrators absolutely hooked me into the story. They were so believable as Emily and Freddie. It was almost like I could feel the tension growing between them.

I loved the atmosphere and that we were really dealing with a pretty morally grey cast of characters; my fave. I also loved the dynamics explored within Emily and Freddie's marriage, as well as within their friend group. There were scenes, as Emily is first experiencing odd things at the house, that gave me chills. I loved the clues she ended up following in order to figure out what was going on. I also feel like it was a really cool concept going on and I loved the conclusion. It left me with that evil grin on my face that I love to have at the end of a story like this. I feel this was well-executed by Pinborough.

Was it perfect? No, but it didn't need to be. It was so fun and engaging. I was sucked completely in and finished it in a 24-hour period; during the work week! That's no small feat. Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm so glad I picked this up and look forward to more from Pinborough!

I want to begin by thanking NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced reader copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Jamie Glover and Helen Baxendale narrate this audiobook flawlessly, making it an absolute pleasure to listen to. They made it easy to get wrapped up in the story.

Wow...what a ride! This was a horror/thriller like no other I've ever experienced. In some ways, it was a classic Gothic horror story (Edgar Allan Poe lovers will love it), and then in other ways it was a psychological thriller with so many twists your head will spin!

I loved it. As the book progressed, I detested all the main characters, as they were just unlikable people, but the story hooked me from the beginning.

Emily and Freddie move to a beautiful country estate after she is released from the hospital following an accident that left her in a coma and on the verge of death. They hope to escape the hectic life in London for a more peaceful country existence, but their new home, Larkin Lodge, has other plans. It isn't long until Emily starts looking into the secrets the house holds and begins her quest to understand how she and Freddie fit into the picture.

I'm now searching Goodreads to check out Sarah Pinborough's other works. While this was my first book of hers, it most definitely will not be my last.

I don’t normally read horror stories, but this one was too interesting to pass up. It isn’t your normal haunted house story. This was a twisty good time that I ate up in one day. There are so many little things that the reader catches before the character, and it made the build up that much better. Freddie is the worst kind of man that you just want to punch. It really is for the best 😏.

Emily and her husband, Freddy, moved to Larkin Lodge after a terrible accident had Emily spending months in a coma. Emily and Freddy each have secrets they're hiding, and so does the house itself.

This novel was well-written and had some great suspense elements. However, I personally don't care for novels in which we are led to question the main female character's sanity, so I'm only giving it three stars.

Interesting story. Once I hit about half way, I was invested. Narrator was too slow for me but once I increased the speed of narration it was SO MUCH BETTER.