We Used to Live Here

We Used to Live Here gives House of Leaves vibes, but not nearly as chaotic. If you need your books to follow a logical trajectory and don't like being left in the dark – don't read this book. What starts off as more of a psychological thriller quickly turns into more of an existential horror novel. I can't discuss much without delving into spoiler territory, and I honestly recommend going into this cold. I'd seen a few people discuss it, but picked it up without reading the blurb or any reviews and feel like that's the way to go.

I did enjoy following Eve's story. I've seen some people say they don't find her believable, but as someone who has had severe anxiety I found her immensely relatable. I wish we had gotten more time with Charlie because it was difficult to connect to their relationship and I really only felt invested in Eve.

I liked the little breadcrumbs of clues we were fed throughout the novel. Having to keep a morse code translator and google translate pulled up on my phone definitely gave me an interesting reading experience. My only complaint is that the morse code got a little messed up on the kindle version – both on my phone and the kindle itself. Anytime there were 3 dots in a row, they turned into an ellipsis.

After consulting with someone who had already read the book (because my translations were coming out as gibberish and I couldn't tell whether it was supposed to be a puzzle or not), I realized what was happening and was able to translate more accurately for future words. The only exception being one long word where I could not figure out where to break up the dots. If I hadn't had someone to ask, I probably would have completely missed out on this aspect until looking it up after finishing – which would be a shame, because I did feel like it added to the experience.

I did find myself creeped out to the extent that at one point I did have to stop reading at night so I could finish during daylight instead. It really didn't help that I was home alone. I don't think everyone would find this scary, but I definitely did. It so tracks for me that this started on r/NoSleep, it absolutely feels like the kind of story you would follow through a stranger's postings online, wondering what was real and what wasn't.

I did feel like the ending was a little abrupt, but then again I think that's part of the point. We're told no one ever escapes -- so why would Eve be the exception? I'm really intrigued to see how this translates to the screen! Part of me thinks it would be better adapted as a mini-series (wouldn't it be fun to delve more into the asides?), but I hope the movie is good.