There’s something undeniably unique about Sarah Pinborough’s writing, something that sets her apart in a crowded genre. Whether it’s her eerie atmosphere, complex characters, or the way she seamlessly blurs the lines between reality and psychological tension, her books always leave a lasting impression. We Live Here Now is no exception.

From the very first page, I was hooked. Pinborough’s writing style is sharp, immersive, and emotionally charged, pulling you into a world that feels both familiar and unsettling. She has a gift for creating slow-burning suspense that creeps under your skin, and just when you think you know where things are headed, she twists the narrative in an unexpected and often chilling direction.

This story is a slow burn, but it’s absolutely worth the wait. It’s quietly unsettling, rich with atmosphere, and just when you think you’ve figured it all out, Sarah Pinborough throws in a twist that completely changes everything.

Definitely a candidate for my favourite book of 2025, i absolutely loved this new book by Sarah Pinborough! I feel as though I had been waiting a long time for her to write another novel but I’d wait twice as long if she writes as good as this! It’s a slow burner and I wasn’t sure where it was going but OMG what a brilliant plot twist! If you’re a fan of this author you’ll know it’s going to be something a little out there that pulls the threads of the plot together but this was insanely good and beautifully executed too. Honestly I just wanted to start it all over again the minute I finished it!

I chose to read a free eARC of We Live Here Now but that has in no way influenced my review.

Emily Bennett nearly died. She wakes from a coma following a horrific accident whilst on holiday in Ibiza. Her injuries will take a long time to heal. So will the psychological scars of her near-death experience. So when her husband, Freddie, suggests they take a break from the hustle and bustle of their London lives and move to a sleepy Devonshire village, Emily reluctantly agrees. But the house they've purchased, Larkin Lodge, is nothing like Emily expected. It's grey and imposing, with thick mist rolling over the moors. It feels cut off and cold. But she's determined to make the most of their new home. A fresh start is exactly what they both need. Time to leave the secrets and lies behind in London and make a real go of their marriage. But the house has other ideas...

I loved We Live Here Now! Chilling, dark and utterly compelling. A haunted house novel with a difference. Gosh, this was GOOD! Emily and Freddie have been married for a number of years but things aren't exactly rosy. They both have secrets from each other. Secrets that could easily destroy their marriage. Whilst on holiday with their closest friends in Ibiza, Emily takes a tumble whilst hiking. No one knows if she will pull through. It's touch and go for a while but she thankfully wakes from her coma with multiple scars to prove she survived. Now walking with a stick, she's slowly recovering but has a long way to go yet. So when Freddie suddenly announces to his wife that he's purchased the house she has been eyeing up on her iPad, Emily is a little taken aback. Does she want to move to the Devonshire moors? Will a fresh start cure the problems in their marriage? Well, there's no harm in giving it a go, is there? It may do them both a world of good to be away from London. The majority of characters in this book are flawed to some degree. They're not particularly nice or likeable, but I found myself very much on Emily's side. As things escalate and get stranger, her concerns are brushed away by Freddie. He begins to convince himself that it's all part of her recovery, that she's been mentally and emotionally changed by what happened to her, as well as physically. And because he's so certain, so incredibly frustrated with her, the reader starts to wonder too...

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. We Live Here Now is a beautifully creepy, dark, gothic thriller with a finely sharpened horror edge. I very much enjoyed the characters who are all exceptionally written and multi-layered. The plot moves at a compelling pace, drawing the reader into the strange world of Larkin Lodge. The setting is vivid, eerie and gets under your skin. The rolling mists of the moor are suffocating and isolating. Larkin Lodge is very much a character in its own right. The big twist was hugely satisfying. It all works so well. I think Freddie will go down in history as one of the most despicable, detestable characters that's been written. The suspense, the intrigue and the way the story unfolds is masterfully done. I truly loved every second I spent reading this book. All in all, We Live Here Now is a perfectly pitched piece of gothic thriller fiction which deftly crosses over the boundary into horror. I loved all of the elements. I loved the unexpected POV we get fairly early on in the book which then continues in-between Emily and Freddie's perspectives. I love the cover, it fits the book so well. The setting was chilling. You never know what's going to happen next. And the characters were outstanding. I loved We Live Here Now. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of We Live Here Now. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Moving to a house in the country is meant to be a fresh start for Emily and Freddie after an accident put Emily in a coma.
Emily has a weird feeling about the house and starts to experience strange things. It is difficult to tell if what Emily is experiencing is real or part of a fractured mind due to her illness after the coma.

The plot is creepy and not knowing if it is due to something supernatural or not adds to this.

The book is narrated by both Emily and Freddie so you get to experience it from both sides and the house itself is a character, adding a lot of atmosphere.

Sarah Pinborough is Queen of the gothic thriller and this is a brilliant addition

Interesting & mainly page turning read - a secret comes out during the book that is in Pinborough's style - ie it's not of this world as we know it. I'm intrigued by choosing characters who are not easy to 'like' or maybe that was just me.

This author has an amazing imagination and ideas so original I am always impressed and this is no exception . Thanks so much and anticipate your next with relish
Thanks so much

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Pinborough and she does not disappoint with the twists and turns in this story. At one point I was certain that I knew exactly what Freddy planned on doing and then to see it not playing out as I expected, left me hooked.

The story of Emily and her husband Freddie who move into a new house in the country after Emily had a very bad fall while hiking. Leaving behind the hustle and bustle of London for a more sedate life while she recovers, strange things start happening in the house when Emily is on her own. Not sure if it’s her imagination or if the house may be haunted, she decides to look into the history of the house and talk to the locals about it.

A haunted house story that is light on the haunting and heavy on the repetitiveness. After two or three chapters of having to listen to Emily being convinced something supernatural has happened only to decide a minute later that she just imagined it, I got that sinking feeling that this was one of those incredibly annoying books that repeats the same thing chapter after chapter with a character that is nearly sure something weird is going on only to have some ailment that may be affecting their judgement.
This literally goes on for three quarters of the book, interspersed with village characters being introduced. Most if not all as unlikeable as Emily and Freddie. Both narrate most of the book and both are so vacuous, narcissistic and uninteresting unlikeable characters that it’s hard to care what happens to them or their equally unlikeable and vacuous friends. In fact I don’t think there is any likeable characters in the whole book. Even the bloody ravens (who yes have their own chapters) annoyed me.

When the reveal happens of the what and why, I will admit it was a lot more imaginative and interesting than I expected but at that stage I had checked out long ago. The book is just too slow, too repetitive, littered with totally unlikeable and uninteresting characters that there was just no way I could enjoy it.

Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

This was a really fun atmospheric thriller with supernatural elements. It was a slow start but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down, full of twists! Highly recommended. The ending was really satisfying too. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

WE LIVE HERE NOW BY SARAH PINBOROUGH.
Release date set for the 5th of June 2015.
I really liked the cover for this book.
The cover and blurb stood out to me.
I enjoyed the writing style for this and looking forward to reading more of Sarah's work.
I found this one to be a little creepy and I enjoyed the storyline.

This is a very entertaining haunted house story with a delicious gothic feel. The story centres around married couple Emily and Freddie. Both have issues and secrets but they are trying to make a go of it after moving to an old country house in Devon. Of course there is nothing straightforward about this haunted house tale, after all it is a Sarah Pinborough novel so expect the unexpected. And the downright bizarre.

Lots of twists and turns with complicated characters and an atmospheric setting. I particularly liked the side story about the grieving raven.

Recommended reading.

4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2025/06/03/review-we-live-here-now-by-sarah-pinborough/
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Again With The Twisted Ending

I do like Sarah Pinborough, she has a fantastic imagination and she is the Queen of Twists and in her latest novel she ramps up the tension and creates atmosphere that you could cut with a knife. On top of this she gives to us a couple and a setting where nothing is at it first appears. A haunted house with a difference and take a look at those crows on the cover – because they also play a role.

As the story begins Emily and her husband Freddie have moved into a new house in the country. A beautiful country home by all accounts and away from the hustle and bustle of London. Emily is recovering from a terrible accident and the peaceful setting will surely help with a speedy recover. Except, Emily finds the house unsettling, Freddie rushed into the move when she was in hospital and she clearly isn’t fully on board but it is what it is. This is their new home – bought as seen including things that go bump in the night.

This is a psychological novel. It insinuates itself, creeps under your skin little by little. Strange things happen in ‘the house’ and yet Emily is the only one who witnesses these occurences. Is Emily a reliable narrator or not? Also, the split povs definitely throw the cat amongst the pigeons as we get to hear the story from both Emily and Freddy’s perspective – and this definitely serves to illuminate some of the cracks appearing between the couple.

On top of this and the strange bumps in the night the house seems to be often shrouded in fog, but of course, winter is reluctant to give up it’s grasp. And then, we have more people introduced who quite simply serve to thicken the plot.

I had a really good time with this. The writing is pure Pinborough. She writes such great characters and her dialogue is always spot on plus the pacing is good and keeps you reading even when you should take care of other things – like sleeping.

The setting is easy to fall into – the house you will probably want to run out of – and the supplementary characters, the all knowing vicar, the enigmatic local artist and of course Freddy – who seems to be escalating in a very strange way – all complement the story really well.

If you fancy some gothic haunting with creepy goings on and unreliable characters, not to mention a twist, that I really didn’t see coming at all, then give this a try.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks, the above is my own opinion.

Emily was in a coma for 4 months following an accident & to aid her recovery somewhere quiet, she agrees to move from London to 'Larkin Lodge', a house on the Devon moors. She hopes that this will give her marriage to husband Freddie a fresh start, but when they arrive, far from the pretty country home on the website, the house is shrouded in mist & inside the house is either unbearably hot or achingly cold.

As strange things start to happen especially on the top floor in the empty suite, Emily becomes convinced that the house is haunted, but as the occurrences only happen when she is alone, Freddie thinks she is seeing things due to her meds. When four of her friends come to visit they drunkenly decide to use Emily's old Ouija board & it spells out the message 'Find it, find it.' Find what? And why is Freddie acting so oddly?

My reading experience with this author has been a bit hit & miss, but this one is definitely a hit! It kept my attention from the start & the twists were excellent. I loved the short chapters which kept things moving, & those half dozen or so chapters from the raven's point of view are poignant. I really enjoyed this one & I recommend readers go into this one knowing as little as possible about the plot. 4.5 stars (rounded down)

TWs: illness, animal death, miscarriage, sexual content.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I loved this. It was such a great, creepy, twisty thriller that had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was coming next.

A couple move to a big isolated house on the moorland after the wife, Emily, has suffered through a fall and a subsequent coma brought on my sepsis. The husband, Freddie, has decided that getting out of London will be the best move for them. But when they arrive at the house in the depths of winter, it's not quite as Emily imagined from the photos - something feels wrong. Strange things immediately start happening, but is it really a haunted house, or is it hallucinations of her post-sepsis condition? What secrets are both they and the house hiding?

I've read a couple of Sarah Pinborough's books before, including the now iconic Behind Her Eyes. I wondered if this one would take the same direction, and while it has similarities (in that it's not your standard mystery), it has a very different feel too. While the characters are, of course, a big part of this plot, the house itself is also a very key component. It's the type of story that leaves you wondering if you're going crazy reading it, as there are parts that just seem unbelievable, but you believe them anyway!

It's hard to describe the plot without ruining the fun ride of it, but trust me when I say it's worth it. It's a little bit paranormal, a lot of morally grey characters, and truly eerie. It had me sitting upright in our (new build!) house, wondering if I should worry about the noises - I was so absorbed and gripped by the atmosphere of it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.

An i tense read by this author whose books have always enjoyed
So many twists turns and roundabouts you don't have time not to read more as you have to
Compelling read

This was so good!! Sarah Pinborough has done it again - another thriller that captures you and slaps you around with so many twists hidden within the book. I've devoured it!

Fantastic book. I loved the storyline line, & the characters . Kept me up all night as I couldn't put it down

This is a book that definitely creeped me out and throughout it had me questioning what’s real and what’s not,

This is an unusual story from Sarah Pinborough, and one that’s hard to describe.
I’ve really enjoyed her previous books but this one had something missing for me. It’s a bit of a slow burner but when it gets to a certain part, it seems to be at full pace with little clarification to help us understand things.
It’s a good read in terms of gaining an insight into a fractured marriage and seeing how well they cope in a new home, but it’s all a bit odd.
Thanks to Orion Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book.

A couple move from London into the country to start a new life but there’s something strange about the house. Emily can feel an unpleasant atmosphere from the upper rooms and weird things start to happen.
An unusual story from an exciting author. I read the book in one day - just this minute finished.