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breandthebooks 's review for:
We Used to Live Here
by Marcus Kliewer
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book compares itself with the likes of Get Out and Parasite, but it is anything but. While reading, I could see a quick comparison, or correlation, to Alejandro Amenábar's The Others or The Uninvited (2009). This story quickly dives into one of confusion and no real direction. I felt as if the author attempted to have too many plot points within one story, we have a story about a haunted house, and one unsettling family who comes knocking. But the house is not the central part of the story. We spend more time trying to figure out if our main character is even a reliable narrator, than we do figuring out the focal point of the story.
With any mystery or horror story, an unreliable narrator wouldn't be a problem. But the story has to make sense. I felt as if the core of the story was never reached, and there were random moments of shock that were added into the story just for the sake of it. The characters never had much personality and existed around the story, instead of within it.
With any mystery or horror story, an unreliable narrator wouldn't be a problem. But the story has to make sense. I felt as if the core of the story was never reached, and there were random moments of shock that were added into the story just for the sake of it. The characters never had much personality and existed around the story, instead of within it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis