Nothing is really explained, a lot of things just fall into the void, and what is implied to have happened would contrast with everything we’ve read up to that point, making the whole thing even more confusing. I understand points of comparison are useful – I’m forever using them in my reviews – but Hare House, in its essence, is an original. The mystery, the setting, the atmosphere… I thought something along the way might be a let down, and I’d fall into the same group of people that hadn’t loved it - I was absolutely wrong, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it; so much more than I thought I would. And overall, the story is extremely depressing - nothing good happens to anyone, everyone is selfish, nobody is happy.

Overall, Hare House is just a confusing and muddled book that barely provided any answers or explanation. As her attitude towards the narrator becomes increasingly hostile, tensions rise to an unbearable level.Grant and Cass's home, 'Hare House', is a gloomy place, decorated with multiple stuffed hares in human costume. I really enjoyed the Scottish setting, and the occasional oblique references to myths and fairytales (the mysterious lady with the dogs, for example). There are moments in this book that comfort and console me, and others that leave me chilled to the bone – not in a ‘spooky’ way, but existentially. This book very much leaves you on edge, questioning your own thoughts and feelings and seeing shadows where there are none.

Hinchcliffe doesn't seem to be able to make up her mind whether she's writing a supernatural thriller, or a book about mental illness, and whether there really IS a witch, and if so, if it is the narrator, Janet, Cass or the enigmatic Ann (if she actually exists). I didn’t sympathize with any of the main characters and the side characters were hard to tell apart.There was quite a lot I liked in this book - the setting and the people are quite interesting, and I‘m very fond of hares.

The central female character was especially problematic, self-deluding and manipulative which seemed to be attributed to her being lonely, single and on the verge of middle age: she reminded me of a younger version of Barbara in Zoe Heller’s Notes of a Scandal a novel I found intensely annoying but a lot of other people seemed to enjoy.I couldn’t help thinking if a man were to rent a house, people wouldn’t be so quick to have them doing chores and taking care of a seventeen year-old without learning more about them.