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.

This was an amazing read, I was ready for anything after behind her eyes but it was just fantastically well thought out. Recommend 100%

This one is a little bit of a slow burn and was a little repetitive in parts for a horror/thriller. However, I do like books with unreliable narrators and flawed characters and this was full of them. The twist was unpredictable but also went down an avenue that I didn’t really like which was similar to other books from this author.

Thank you to net galley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*3.5 stars*

After being hospitalised and in a coma, Emily finds herself being persuaded to move from London to the wild landscape of Dartmoor in Devon. Her husband Freddie says it will be a fresh start for them both. Their marriage had become stale before Emily’s accident. Maybe it will save their marriage, but sadly, some house moves mean that you’re simply packing your problems and taking them with you.

Emily hates Larkin Lodge on sight, in particular it’s the cold and creepy feel of the place, like something bad happened here. Well Emily’s about to find out exactly what did happen, and it sure makes for a creepy read!

“We Live Here Now” was something of a slow burn, but it has lots of really creepy moments along the way.
I have to say though, that I couldn’t actually find any empathy with any of the characters, however, the narrative kept returning to a raven that lived on the property, clinging to the warmth of one of the chimney stacks of Larkin Lodge, and I found those particular scenes quite moving!

This had me glued to the pages right to the end. Dark but with a touch of undetlying humour. The story of a marriage gone wrong and how to fix it. Echoes of the Stepford Wives. Loved it.

Effective gothic chiller / haunted house thriller - this is a genuinely surprising tale of an awful couple who move to an isolated house. Fascinatingly unlikeable leads (this isn’t a criticism), along with a far more sympathetic raven, experience a different sort of haunting.

Really enjoyed this - an absolute page turner. Thanks to Talking Scared podcast for the recommendation

My thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘We Live Here Now’ written by Sarah Pinborough in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

When Emily is released from hospital after a near fatal accident, she and her husband Freddie move from their flat in London to their new home Larkin Lodge situated in the wilds of Devon. When they arrive everywhere is shrouded in an icy grey mist and as soon as they close the front door things start to happen, a fire is extinguished then re-starts, books move from shelves, and a room on the top floor has a foul stench that only Emily can discern. It isn’t until their friends arrive and bring out a Ouija board that Emily feels a supernatural presence in the house that’s sending a message to her.

‘We Live Here Now’ is the chilling story of a house and the couple who move into it. It’s told from the three perspectives of Emily, Freddie and the raven who’s watching over the house where its mate has died. Nothing about Emily and Freddie feels right as they’re relationship is rapidly deteriorating and are both keeping secrets that adds to the suspense. I don’t normally enjoy supernatural stories but there’s something about this cleverly written thriller that’s kept me reading with the tension gradually building the further I’ve got into the plot.

Sarah Pinborough delivers another deliciously unsettling thriller with We Live Here Now, a novel packed with eerie atmosphere, suspected hauntings and psychological tension.

Emily and her husband, Freddie, move into the beautiful but isolated Larkin Lodge, hoping for a fresh start after Emily’s near-fatal accident. But from the moment they arrive, strange things keep happening—fires go out, books tumble from shelves, and an unsettling presence lingers in the house. As Emily struggles with her fragile health and the lingering effects of her trauma, she begins to question whether the haunting is real or just in her mind.

We see the story told from 3 perspectives, Emily, Freddie and a raven, the raven chapters adding to the eerie feeling and sense of dread.

This book masterfully weaves together the supernatural, unreliable narration, and slow-burn suspense to keep us guessing on what is the truth. The chilling atmosphere seeps into every page and the sinister undertones only increase as the plot progresses, meaning the payoff at the end is well earned.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded to 4.

An easy to read domestic thriller with a supernatural twist that takes a little while to warm up, but definitely gets you hooked once you're in! The personality changes of the two main POV characters as they spend more and more time in their new home are gradual until suddenly they're extremely obvious. Interspersed with the POV of a raven whose mate died in the house, they allow us different insights to the story. I found both Emily and Freddie flawed and irritating, but I believe that's on purpose. It definitely adds more weight to the story. While the conclusion was somewhat obvious, it was still an entertaining read which I flew through relatively quickly.

Sarah Pinborough is the queen of the domestic tragedy, where a middle class couple have their brittle stability upset by secrets, physiological flaws and a twist of the supernatural - which sometimes seems to have been conjured by a darkness emanating from the apparent contented pair.

We Live Here Now explores just such a setup, pairing it with a convincingly Gothic setting - Larkin Lodge, a brooding house on Dartmoor, a place that, as the opening section hints with its references to Jane Eyre, has its own secrets. It's expertly done and Pinborough guides her readers in and out of sympathy with the main protagonist, Emily, making the outlandish goings on here seem almost unexceptional and certainly quite believable.

Emily is coming to terms with drastic changes in her life, as the job she'd staked so much on is taken away from her in the aftermath of a dreadful accident. Troubled by guilt and loss, she doubts herself, she doubts her husband Freddie and, one feels, has thrown herself into the project of buying and occupying Larkin Lodge as a way of avoiding the need to confront all that.

Freddie has his own demons - I think the reader will suspect from fairly early on that it's one of two possible things, either likely to wreck his and Emily's relationship.

In chapters written from the point of view of each, we are soon shown the facts, but more importantly, the layers of self-justification, the accusations, and increasingly, the poisonous state of the relationship. It's all rather compelling, rather horrifying and rather ominous. And that's before Emily starts feeling there is... something... about the house.

This build was impressive - there were so many ways things might go - with an atmosphere of moral taint, a feeling that something about Larking Lodge is alive and reaching out, that Emily and Freddie - and those who lived there before them - is reaching out. But it's puzzling. As Emily becomes obsessed with the Lodge and begins to research it, she doesn't discover a simple history of tragedies. There are former owners who seem to have had a good life there. How to square that with her own feelings of distress?

Maybe it's Emily that is the problem.

That's certainly what Freddie decides.

With overtones of gaslighting, coercion and manipulation, We Live Here Now goes to some very dark places indeed. Equally at home providing the reader with a plausible nexus between individual despair and the supernatural, and a pin-sharp portrayal of middle class life and relationships, Pinborough has written a story that grabbed me and made sure I kept on until the final catastrophe(s) are resolved - or not, given the very unsettling final section.

I loved seeing the shout outs to other authors, including to a particular supernatural series whose author recently died, as well as the sense of time-encrusted mystery around what is actually wrong with Larkin Lodge and when it all began.

I would strongly recommend We Live Here Now.