Monday, August 12, 2024

Marcus Kliewer: We Used to Live Here

In his debut novel Marcus Kliewer shows why you should never have strangers in your home:

Charlie and Eve cannot believe the killer deal they got on an old house on a great piece of land, its like a piece of country in the city. Only problem is one road in one road out. Eve is working on the house alone when a stranger knocks on her door. It turns out not just one person but a whole family with a father who used to live there and wants to show them where he grew up. Eve is apprehensive but ends up letting them in. As soon as they are inside unexplained things start happening, starting with the youngest child going missing in the basement. New sounds, creaks and moans start to enter the house and the family cannot take the hint to leave and Eve now knows, she never should have let them in.

I love reading debut novels, I like discovering up and coming authors and when I saw this book was Kliewer's debut plus it was a horror book i was really excited to read it. I will say that Kliewer crafted a story that kept me guessing as what was occurring and I think that he was on point with the creepy atmosphere that he created in this book. You can tell there is something wrong with the house and family pretty quickly. The family just gives off those vibes of trying to appear normal, but they are not. I suggest reading this one in the dark if you are looking for a scare, or maybe a house/cabin far away from other people just to heighten it a bit.

But OMG, what the actual F happened here? Like I honestly have so many questions after finishing this book that I don’t know if that was Kliewer's intention or not. But i am so confused and I feel dissatisfied with that ending, I wanted a little more, maybe a little less of a cliff hanger as I do not know if this is going to have a sequel or not.

There are a few aspect in this book that caused me to struggle as I was reading it. I found that many of the chapters were overly long and I wish that Kliewer could have found a way to break them up a bit. Also, while reading it I felt like there were too many extra documents that were not part of the story. As to why they are there makes sense at the end but while reading them I felt it took away from the story quite a bit and made me feel less invested at times.

I will say that the book is much more of a slow burn book and it really picks up in many aspects around the 75% area. I was okay with the slow burn in the actual chapters of the story but man those extra documents really hindered it.

I don’t know whether to recommend this book or not. I mean when I was in it I was in it, but that ending, I just don’t know. I guess read this one if you are okay with something that feels incomplete and will have questions in the end. Best parallel example i can come up with is the ending to inception with the quarter at the end.

Enjoy!!!! (I think, I honestly dont know)

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