Updated Review: 2/5
I’m honestly pretty conflicted about this novel. On the one hand, it was such a fast read for me. The prose (quite purple) took some time to grow accustomed to, but once I fell in step I got through quite quickly. However not much of consequence really happens until you pass the halfway point.

My feelings are so tangled it’s probably easier to break it down.

What I liked:
* the real thriller aspect was not knowing. You’re really immersed in the human experience of trauma and uncertainty
* the details sprinkled throughout that give you clues about what’s really happening. From the narrator we’re told the truth every so often, that the characters don’t know.
* the characterization. These people are undeniably human. Sometimes you hate them, sometimes you (kinda) love them.
* the gothic elements—claustrophobia, an expansive home, an unknowable force. I’m a sucker for gothic lit.

What I didn’t like:
* the often masturbatory prose. Literally and figuratively. Lots of odd references to genitals, as well as moments of writing that are just a little eye-rollingly self-important.
* the abruptness of the ending. I feel as though I understand what happens and will happen, that much was made clear. However I think that several chapters could be shaved off the front of the novel and serveral more tacked on to the end.
* how little happens until the end. I wouldn’t say I felt truly unsettled until ~redacted~. Up until that point I was continually hoping the point would become clear.
* the way we’re supposed to believe that the Washington’s don’t live there at the beginning. I wasn’t suspicious for a second, and actually hated that we were supposed to be side with Amanda and Clay on that one. The way it was written attempted to herd your thought in that “what-if” direction, but it just made me think even more poorly of Amanda/Clay. But I suppose that was also the point.