Book Review | Some strangers don’t leave
✨📚Book Review - We used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer🏚️🍂
📖 Genre: Horror Fiction, Alternate Realities, Psychological Thriller
📄 Page: 312 pages
⭐️ Rating: 4/5
Hey hey!!
This book has been sitting in my TBR for ages, and now I understand why so many people love it. Even after finishing it, I still think about it a lot. It leaves you with so many questions, theories, and “wait… what?” moments.
The story follows a couple who just moved into their fixer-upper in a quiet, kind-of-suspiciously-cheap neighborhood (You already know the rule: if it’s too good to be true… IT IS too good to be true). And one morning, Eve, our main character, gets a surprise visit from a family of six claiming that the father, Thomas, used to live in the house when he was a kid.
Because of Eve’s people-pleasing tendencies, she lets them in… and, as you might guess, they do not leave. With tons of excuse they just don’t want to leave. They end up staying the night, and that’s when things start to spiral. Strange stuff starts happening the second Thomas’s family steps inside the house. Eve begins questioning her sanity, she starts losing things, seeing things, doubting herself, basically fighting her own mind, which stressed me out SO BAD.
The book plays with alternate realities and time loops, constantly making you question what’s real. As the reader, you’re equally confused (in a good way) because you don’t know who to trust or what to believe. And obviously you can’t trust the narrator as well. There’s also Morse code, mixed media elements, confidential documents, little puzzles sprinkled throughout, which made me feel like I was part of the investigation. I love when writer do that in their books.
This book made me anxious, stressed, and frustrated at Eve’s choices. Even from the moment she opened that door I was like, “Girl… WHY?”. But I can’t lie, that’s also what makes the story so good, you’re so emotionally sucked in you can’t stop reading.
The writing is descriptive and successfully builds this eerie, uneasy vibe. but I still had to Google some theories afterward just to connect the dots. And once everything clicks… you’re just left staring at the wall like, “Oh.”
The ending is open to interpretation, so not everyone will love it. Personally, I wish the author would write a spin-off or at least a backstory about the house. There’s definitely more to explore.
If you’re into horror with alternate realities and a good dose of “what the heck is happening,”. stories that leave you thinking long after you’re done, this one is worth picking up.
Here is my fav quote from the book:
“When things felt right, it only meant there was so much more that could go wrong.”
Have you picked this one up yet? Did it mess with your mind too, or am I just easily spooked haha? 👀 Let’s talk!
#books #BookReview #booksrecommendation
Selain cerita utama yang menegangkan, aspek kode Morse dalam buku ini memberikan dimensi tambahan yang unik. Kode Morse bukan hanya sekedar elemen acak, tapi bagian dari puzzle yang menghubungkan realitas berganda dan kisah masa lalu rumah tersebut. Saya mencoba menerjemahkan beberapa kode dan rasanya seperti ikut membantu mengungkap misteri. Salah satu hal yang membuat buku ini berbeda adalah pemakaian media campuran—dokumentasi rahasia, puzzle, dan kode Morse—yang berkontribusi membangun atmosfer misterius dan mengajak pembaca berpartisipasi aktif dalam cerita. Ini bukan hanya sekedar baca, tapi pengalaman interaktif yang membuat hati saya berdebar-debar. Cerita yang tidak linear dan penuh teka-teki juga bisa jadi tantangan tersendiri. Saya sering merasa harus mengulas kembali bagian sebelumnya agar bisa memahami gambaran keseluruhan. Tapi justru itu yang membuat pengalaman membaca semakin menarik dan memuaskan, karena tiap petunjuk membawa pada berbagai teori dan spekulasi yang seru untuk didiskusikan. Kalau kamu penggemar genre horor dan thriller dengan nuansa psikologis yang dalam, apalagi suka cerita dengan konsep realitas alternatif dan teka-teki, membaca buku ini sepertinya wajib. Buku ini membuat saya berhenti sejenak dari rutinitas dan membiarkan imajinasi saya melayang ke dimensi yang tak terduga. Oh ya, saya juga tertarik kalau ada kelanjutan atau spin-off tentang rumah dan keluarganya, karena kisah ini terasa belum selesai dan masih banyak misteri yang tersisa untuk diungkap. Bagaimana denganmu, sudahkah kamu mencoba membaca dan mengurai tiap kode rahasia yang ada?
it will be my wishlist book 👍