We Were Never Here

by Sophia Hannan

The remaining members of a ghost hunting show return to the haunted manor that may have killed their friend in this atmospheric, contemporary gothic debut perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting and Delicious Monsters.

In July, Georgia Perry and Jules Park—secret girlfriends, covert art thieves, and cohosts of a popular YouTube ghost hunting show—step into a haunted house to steal a priceless painting. A few short hours later, there’s a knife in Jules’s chest and Georgia is waking up in a pool of blood with no painting and no memory of how she got there.

Now it’s October, and Georgia is underwater. She hasn’t been to class in weeks, and she’s avoiding her old crew—and only friends—like the plague. But when the three remaining thieves get a call from the man who paid a hefty sum to keep them out of jail, demanding that they return to finish the job, Georgia has no choice but to return to her old life.

As the estranged friends scramble to steal the painting with no cover story and no leader, they quickly realize that something is very, very wrong, and it’s not just the suffocating memory of Jules or the prying eyes of their viewers. Between the strange shadows that begin to trail them and the nightmares plaguing Georgia’s sleep, only one thing is certain: something followed them home from De Lys manor, and it will do anything to keep them from going back.

Genres: Horror, Lesbian, Queer, Young Adult, LGBT, Paranormal, Gothic

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 28, 2026

About the author

Sophia Hannan is a Canadian author of YA fiction. When she’s not writing about ghosts and the girls they haunt, she can be found studying English literature and forcing her friends to watch horror movies with her. Her debut novel, We Were Never Here, comes out in 2026 with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Reviews

[Ricarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sad to say it but this book about traumatized lesbians being haunted by a creepy painting did not live up to its full potential. I just expected more, especially since the beginning was very promising. The story is about a group of friends who used to visit haunted places and talk about ghosts on the internet. At one point they combined these activities with some art thievery (naturally) and so they spent plenty of time breaking into haunted places to exchange valuable paintings for forgeries. But a few months ago one of these trips went terribly wrong and left one of the girls dead without much of an explanation. None of the remaining friends is coping well with that and everyone ends up depressed and alone. One of them can't sleep without nightmares, one can't stop painting dead girls and will definitely fail her fancy art workshop, and one can absolutely not afford the elite boarding school without the stolen-painting money. They don't really have a choice but to return to the crime scene and steal that one fateful painting for good, and that's just the start of more problems. The heavy atmosphere was transported very well, but the plot just didn't manage to be equally intriguing. Very little happened in these 350 pages and the story started to drag and became repetitive. The characters were either thinking about the haunted painting or their dead girlfriend or their dead future, then they freaked out about it, calmed down and repeated the process. In between we got plenty of lesbian panic and tiny little crumbs of the things that I actually wanted to read about. Why was there so little about the art thefts? Why was there so little about the ghosts? The characters barely seemed connected to these things although they were supposed to be. There are little snippets from the ghost videos that they were filming, but they were less about the content and more about the toxic comments that two of the girls were getting. They were shipped by random people on the internet and later accused of queerbaiting, and while I thought that super interesting and an unusual theme in a YA novel, it also wasn't why I picked this book up in the first place. I also don't know what to make of the lesbian representation. While I liked the discussion revolving around coming out, it also was just so weird how the girls were deeply upset about the dead girl in one minute and then kissing in the next. It's definitely delivering on the messy lesbians, but I actually wanted to separate everyone in the group, wrap them in cozy blankets, give them a snack and call a therapist. I never thought that the characters were explored in a way that really showed their personalities or their growth, and plenty of things just stayed too vague to become invested. And that's a shame, really. While the overall vibes of the story do fit the gorgeous cover, it also stays the best thing about this book in the end. 2.5 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book so much! sophia is truly a genius and y’all are in for the time of your lives in 2025✨

[megs_bookrack · Rating 2 out of 5]

We Were Never Here follows three estranged friends, Georgia, Circe and James, who reunite to finish a task they set out to do months ago. They need to steal a prized painting from a haunted mansion on their school campus.



What could go wrong, you're probably asking, and the answer to that is a lot. Back in July, the three, along with their other friend, Jules, had tried to steal the painting while filming an episode of their YouTube Ghost Hunting show.

The result of that mission was Jules, dead, with a knife in her chest, and Georgia waking up in a pool of blood with zero recollection of what happened.

Oh, and they didn't get the painting.



Now it's October, and the buyer for the painting is back, and he wants it. No excuses. They agree to get back together and try one more time. They need to put this to rest.

Unfortunately, haunted houses never rest and the three are about to enter another nightmare. Will they all make it out alive this time? And what's the deal with this painting?



Y'all, I'm not going to drag this out. In no way, shape or form, was this for me. I didn't enjoy any of it, really; not the writing, the characters, the plot, or even the overall tone.

I do love the cover though. The art style and colors, it drew me to it immediately. I really wanted to love this and while it had a solid concept, the execution fell flat, IMO.



It felt like it was 700-pages long. It just dragged and dragged. It's completely morose. There's no nuance at all in the pacing, or energy; very one note.

It also somehow felt like it was trying to do too much, while simultaneously not doing much of anything at all. James was the one beacon of hope, but even he couldn't save it for me.



I'm sure Readers for this exist. They're out there and I'm hoping they find it and love it. Perhaps someone with a bit more patience than me, or with less of an urge to eye roll all the drama at the end. Sadly, that Reader isn't me, and I'm ready to put this far behind me.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. On to the next!

[Nicholas Perez]

Inject that cover in my veins.

[Stay Fetters]

"She was a painting and nothing else. Yet here she was, standing at the foot of Georgia’s bed, her mouth open like she might speak. It hung that way, exposing the black rot of her teeth and the dead white thing that was her tongue."

DNF @ 100 pages

Here I am, yet again being suckered into reading a book because of the hauntingly beautiful cover. I am such a fool.

I really wanted to love this but in a hundred pages nothing happened nor can I even remember anything exciting happening. Just wasn’t my time to read this. *sigh*

[Birdie Schae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I read a very early version of WE WERE NEVER HERE in 2022, it grabbed me by my throat and never once let me go. Full of grief, intrigue and the most perfect chaos, this sapphic YA horror novel has everything I love about the genre and is SO feral-worthy. You truly don't want to miss Sophia Hannan's unique, emotional and thrilling debut!!

[Eden]

DNF @15%

This probably isn’t a bad book, but it isn’t to my personal taste. The author hasn’t made me care at all about the mystery, the characters, etc. And not a lot makes sense at this point. I don’t need the whole mystery to be revealed to me or to understand everything about the main characters, but I’d like some more context on their families, why they’re going to this school, etc. But whatever. I’m bored so it’s a DNF.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an earc for review.

[Kera’s Always Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this cover is incredible and it just fits so well. I love a good haunting story and this is so fresh and different. Creepy art, paranormal investigation with a very intense fandom, mysterious death, grief, and queer longing... Strong characters! Vivid imagery! Unsettling and eerie from start to finish.

[soleil ☀️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, just wow
so proud of you sop 🫶

[Hannah Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn’t going to drink tonight but I miss Jules

[Em]

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. The premise was really interesting, but I couldn't connect with any of the characters. The plot was also moving too slowly to keep my interest, but while this book isn't my cup of tea, I'm sure others will enjoy it.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
The dark academia atmosphere of the campus paired with a haunted house was perfectly eerie.

This book contained multiple POVs, which was an incredible way for the reader to experience three different versions of grief over the same event. In addition to that, being able to follow the character arcs through their own and others eyes definitely enhanced this one.
The imagery used in the writing was beautiful and complimented the art themes of this book.

It was a bit of a slow burn, but every time I picked it up, I was still captured by the story.

[Kaitie Reads]

DNF @ 17%. I can't get into this one at all! It feels too dialogue-heavy, with too many early multi-POV shifts for me.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book caught my eye back in 2024 and I was very excited to receive an arc of it. The cover is absolutely stunning and captures the story so well. It gives those creepy "not quite right" vibes excellently. I thought the premise of this book was so interesting and I'm glad that it translated into the story, I found it so hard to put down and it always kept me going for just one more chapter until it snowballed into more like 5 more chapters. I was honestly a little surprised that others said the pacing was slow, to me it was just right for the plot and story to progress naturally. Which is saying something because ill be the first to complain about slow pacing, it often makes or breaks a book for me. But I just didn't see it in this book.

I really liked all three POV characters. James, Circe, and Georgia all had something to their perspectives that made me invested in them and their stories. I can't really say I had a favorite out of the three, but Georgia's story got me the most I think just because of her involvement in the haunting and connection to De Lys and The Lady, Drowned. I enjoyed Circe and her eye for art and when we got brief glimpses into how she forged old paintings. I never would have thought that deeply about it or the process honestly. I liked the inserts of transcripts of their show, but I would have liked more of them. It felt like the only time we got a glimpse into how the groups dynamic worked before and their relationship with Jules and it was a good addition. They all had different feelings about Jules once she's gone and they grapple heavily with those through the story but I felt it was important we knew Jules a little better than we ended up knowing her by the end. If there's one thing I love, its characters that haunt the narrative without ever being there. It always enhances books so much for me honestly. The creepy and unsettling vibes of the book were so enhanced by the writing and I think it really made the book what it was. I think there were a few more threads left unfinished by the end, but other than that I really liked this one. Thank you to Netgalley/Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC!

[Starr ❇✌❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8
*Review to come*

Pre-review comments below
very into this cover I cannot lie

[The Nightwatch Desk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four ghost hunters enter a house to steal a painting, but only three come out alive. Now the person who covered it up wants them to try again.

👻Young Adult Fiction
🖼️Gothic Horror
👻Former Ghost Hunters
🖼️Art Thieves
👻Haunted House
🖼️Sapphic Romance Subplot
👻Friendship & Grief

‘We Were Never Here’ is a gothic horror about ghost hunting art thieves. Yes, you read that correctly, ghost hunting art thieves. How could I refuse such an interesting premise?

This story switches between three characters Georgia, James, and Circe. They used to be best friends until Jules’ death pulled them apart (Georgia’s ex-girlfriend).

The three are struggling financially while they attend a private school. It was interesting to see how they perceived each other differently than how they viewed themselves. Georgia’s perspective had the most substance to it while she navigated her visceral grief.

This book's biggest problem is that it's too slow. It was less noticeable in audiobook format, but by the forty percent mark I noticed that there hadn’t been much movement. It's partially my own fault for underestimating the degree to which this would be a gothic horror. I thought the ghost hunting and the burglary would be more prominent. Instead, it was focused on the characters' inner turmoil and the shadows of grief.

[kelisliveshere˚₊⋆ ʚɞ ⋆₊˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely gorgeous cover, which is what drew me to this book in the first place. I won’t pretend it’s not a good story. The entire premise was intriguing and the representation of a comment section was so real that it was endearing even though they were pretty awful, which is the point.

However, everyone had the same personality and tone of voice. No one was distinctly themselves and I found myself losing interest because of this. Somehow everyone was underreacting while expressing how much they’re overreacting. It felt like the book had one steady, very neutral tone the entire time. I was completely unmoved by what would’ve been the scary parts but like I said, it’s still a very good story.

[Chelsea (gofetchabook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one and thought it was decent. I had no real complaints.

It was a YA horror about a group of teens who get involved in art theft. When one of the paintings is haunted, someone ends up dead and someone ends up haunted.

I guess the story was fine except I didn’t fully understand how a group of high schoolers ended up with a blackmailing, high end art dealing handler in the first place. You kind of just had to accept the story.

At the heart of it, I liked the characters and liked following what they were going through, I just didn’t fully grasp how they got there.

[Sidney Ann Coleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ahh this was such a disappointment.. There were so many elements of this that on paper were great, but when put together they just didn't work..
I also feel that the story felt like it was dragging on much longer than it actually did, which is never a great thing for a story.
There were also many moments that the horror kinda felt shoehorned in.

[molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up because i dont want to be mean
but this is the type of 300ish page book that makes you feel like youre reading a 800 page textbook hello

[Brittany |planted.library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC!

I didn’t love this. I found it so slow and just honestly kind of boring.

I was initially drawn because of the amazing cover, but I just couldn’t connect to the story. I found that I really didn’t care about each POV, and was just reading to get the story over with.

[Wen-yi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

With gothic touches and prose like a submerged dream, WE WERE NEVER HERE paints ghostly grief for the gay Buzzfeed Unsolved generation. A delicately-wrought haunting of those who've grown versions of themselves online--about complicated love, reclaiming yourself, and the exorcising power of seeing and being seen.

[Martino Salciccioli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Amelia Willes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, this was a really slow start but definitely picked up about half way through. there were parts i loved and parts i really didn’t, but overall it was a very cool take on haunting and possession that i haven’t seen before. also great queer representation too!

[Sarah Street · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so fantastic and I'm so happy it's being published so I can read it for the first time all over again!!! Soph's talent is truly a spooky force to be reckoned with <3

[Risa]

DNF at 22% (Read Through Chapter 8)


This isn’t a bad book by any means. The writing is actually pretty good, and I think the characters’ voices sound accurately like teens.

Unfortunately, however, the pacing was just too slow for my personal tastes. Also, the story centers around the grief of losing Jules a bit too much, which contributes to the rather slow pacing. (So I think if someone was looking to read a book that explores the inner turmoil that comes with grief, they would really enjoy this book. I, however, was looking more for a gothic horror read.)

I also found it hard to believe that these teens would be in the situation they are in, without their parents getting involved. I actually thought they were college kids at first, with the way so much of the setting was described, and the freedoms they have. (For example, wouldn’t Georgia’s parents be notified if she was missing so many classes at this prestigious school? And wouldn’t the trio’s parents be more worried about their kids being away at school after their friend was just murdered during a job all of them were part of?)


I could see myself maybe trying more of this author’s work in the future. This book just isn’t for me.





NOTES I TOOK WHILE READING:


⁃ Ch2: I like the writing style. But because I’m listening to the audiobook, it’s distracting that we have Jules, Georgia, and James—all names that start with the same sound. It’s hard to keep track of who is who when we’re just being thrown all these names at us.

⁃ Then there’s Circe and Sienna—this author really didn’t think about how to differentiate the names of the characters a bit more (so they don’t sound so similar on audio).


⁃ So it sounds like Jules and Circe were childhood best friends, and then James and Georgia were childhood best friends; but then the dynamic between Circe and Jules changed once Jules and Georgia started secretly dating.


⁃ There seem to be hints that Georgia may fall in love with Circe at some point… which is interesting.

⁃ I quite the diversity of the cast, from having characters of color to have queer characters.


⁃ Ch4: Wait whoa—I’m sorry, this is a HIGH SCHOOL biology class??? I thought they were in college, with how we’re describing the dorms (with the lacy underwear), the going to class or not, etc. If they’re in high school, when where the hell are their parents? Wouldn’t the parents have been notified of Georgia’s slipping grades? Wouldn’t the parents have asked about WTF their kids were doing int he haunted house? Where do the parents assume they are getting the money to afford this school?

⁃ They made it sound like Jules told them to choose this school, because of the haunted house. So I assumed it was a college rather than a private (high) school??

⁃ Yeah, that kind of put me off the book to be honest—I find it hard to believe that teenagers still in high school are not only skilled art thieves, but also have gone viral on the internet, and yet their parents haven’t stepped in at all after a massive event that left one of the teens dead!


⁃ 16% in: I can appreciate the author’s attention to detail when it comes to grief and inner turmoil, but the pacing of this novel is really suffering for it. Like I understand they are all grieving Jules; but (1) we don’t know Jules, and thus don’t really have a connection to her, so it feels like we focus on her/their grief a bit too much in each chapter. And (2) I was so excited for the paranormal elements/gothic horror of this book, and I want to get to that!

⁃ I appreciate that James is the tech nerd who’s really smart and has plans to go to a prestigious school, while also supporting his family financially. But that’s a tall order for a seventeen year old away at private school—does his family not wonder where he gets the money from?


⁃ This isn’t a bad book by any means. The pacing is just really slow, and I’m getting bored.
⁃ So I’m gonna DNF (read through chapter 8, 22% in, which is 2:08:26 into the audiobook)

[Teenage Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spooky, unsettling, and opening with a murder, Sophia Hannan sends readers on a paranormal YA thriller that makes anything seem possible. The story follows three teens attending an exclusive private school that they cannot afford without the income from their unusual side job. Together, they break into supposedly haunted buildings to steal valuable artwork while filming episodes for their ghost-hunting show. There were originally four of them, but after their last job, their leader, Jules, was found brutally murdered. Georgia was discovered standing over her body with blood on her shoes and no memory of what happened that night.
I loved Hannan’s decision to switch between the perspectives of the three remaining characters, each trapped in their own cycle of grief. Georgia is mourning her girlfriend while desperately trying to recover her lost memories. Circe is grieving too, but her feelings are complicated by her love for Georgia and her lingering anger toward Jules. This I wished was explored deeper, as Georgia kind of just accepted Circe’s love as a replacement for Jules, and there was no fight, nor real feel of guilt that Hannan was suggesting she was feeling. Meanwhile, James wants Georgia to return to normal while also dealing with the pressure of succeeding in life, something he sees this school as his only chance to achieve. This also felt a bit 2D as it was a panic James felt, but not one that made it to my feelings. Overall, Hannan made their friendship feel authentic, and does an excellent job giving each character meaningful one-on-one interactions with the others. As a result, the trio feels fully developed, allowing readers to explore both past and present relationships while weaving together themes of romance, friendship, and grief.
Unfortunately, while the premise is fantastic, the pacing lets the novel down. Hannan spends so much time exploring the characters’ emotions and their grief over Jules—a character readers never actually get to know—that the paranormal elements often take a back seat. Rather than leaning into the spooky atmosphere promised by the cover, much of the novel focuses on emotional processing and interpersonal drama. The ending does pick up significantly, and I loved unraveling the mystery of what was really happening. However, I wish the beginning had moved faster and included more moments of tension and revelation throughout. Instead of building toward a single climax, the story could have benefited from several smaller peaks to maintain momentum and better balance its emotional and paranormal elements.

[Alexandra Morales · Rating 2 out of 5]

****Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced eArc in exchange for my honest opinion****

2.5 Solid Stars

This had the bones to be something pretty spooky.

I really needed at least four chapters in the beginning to set the mood. Each from James, Circe, Jules and Georgia about what really happened in the De Lys house that fateful day in July. The infrequent flashbacks to the past really didn't cut it for me. There was no clear way provided to acknowledge we are in the past which bothers me, it might be a me thing but I like to have a page break or a new chapter or an interlude etc.

The teenage angst was on a WHOLE new level. I was rolling my eyes until about 50% of the book and it slowly starts to pick up. To be honest I would read who's POV chapter it was but a few pages in all the names start getting dropped I would have to stop and go "wait... who I am reading right now?" Circe said that, Georgia sullenly doing something and James sitting in the guidance counselor's chair... Scenes would go from Georgia staring at the wall at night, to sleepwalking to Circe's room to them going to look at canvas the transitions didn't flow for me.

Something that actually SHOCKED me was the negative comments on the Jules & Georgia show.

"anyone who still supports them is pathetic. If you only like wlw couples when they are unconfirmed and palatable to straight audiences just say that..."

"they're literally profiting off lgbtq for views without being willing to come out themselves.. Please educate yourself."

UMM wtf??! You are telling me people even in the community are mad when relationships aren't confirmed? Red Flag. To be honest I feel like Jules and Georgia were pushed together by outside forces when Georgia wasn't even ready. That is just ICK. You don't have to do anything your "audience" wants EVER. Absolutely take the time to grow and learn for yourself, those comments were down right disgusting. The moment in the greenhouse with Circe healed a little of that annoyance.

The Lady, Drowned was actually pretty great. I wish we had gotten more of her early on, that we got more little unhinged moments. I enjoyed The Lady's ending.

[Courtnie Pollard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.3⭐️
Genres: YA Horror; Paranormal
Pub Date: Out Now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With an amazingly gorgeous cover & a story involving a ghost-hunting show, art heists, secret girlfriends, & a mysterious murder, this book seemed like such a promising read; unfortunately, it didn’t hit the mark like I hoped it would.

✍🏻 Notables:
•multiple POVs
•Palestinian character

➕Positives:
•well-written spooky/scary parts
•second half of the book was more fast-paced & thrilling
•included short transcripts of their videos & some of the comments

➖Negatives:
the first half was tough to get through:

⚠️ ᴘᴏᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴀʟ *ꜱʟɪɢʜᴛ* ꜱᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀꜱ ᴀʜᴇᴀᴅ ⚠️

•the timelines were confusing & inconsistent
•the characters were one dimensional, & it was hard to believe that the three main characters were close friends months beforehand or that that they actually liked Jules before she died
•the characters would repeatedly & individually tell us that they were angry with Jules & that Jules was a liar, but we were never shown or even told the context
•information/explanations was/were kept from us for too long for no reason & needed to be presented earlier, including:
- a setup for the job that went wrong & Jules’ death (this could have been done with a prologue via a video transcript like those sprinkled throughout the rest of the book)
- how they got into doing the videos & the heists & the characters’ roles for both
- why Georgia wanted to keep her relationship with Jules a secret (this was one of the most frustrating parts for me because, after multiple vague mentions, it wasn’t until the 68% mark that the reasoning was revealed, and then we were presented with inconsistent reasonings afterwards. It would have at least helped us to know what year the characters were in at an earlier time and possibly which country or US state they were in.)

With all that said, since a 33-year-old is not within the range of the book’s target audience, it’s possible that these wouldn’t be negatives for teens. 🤷🏼‍♀️

🧑🏻‍🎤💻👻

[Tess Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I went into this book super excited about the premise that blended ghosts with murder and art heists. The cover immediately drew me in. It's gorgeous and a great fit for this story. However, I think the story itself encounters several pitfalls throughout, inhibiting the story that I think still needs a lot of work to become something great for shelves.

Disclaimer before I get into my thoughts and critiques: I think this is a great book for teens, which is the goal. I think many of the issues I had with the book will be overlooked by the target audience. Teens who love Jamison Shea, Holly Jackson, of Tiffany Jackson, will probably love this story. As an adult who is no longer in the target demographic, I just found it a bit sloppy at times.

I did love the inclusion of a Palestinian character! Circe was great, and probably the only character I found myself liking at times. None of these characters are good people or good friends to one another. That's my complaint with them. They all have communication issues (like teens do), but they don't even seem like friends. I found it hard to believe they had all been best friends, particularly James and Georgia were the hardest to believe. This seemed like a group that hated one another before the murder happened, but it was under the surface. No one seemed to like Jules, even though everyone claimed to miss her.

My biggest complaint with the book was the timeline. Everything in this book happens over the course of 2ish weeks, but the days got so convoluted by the end, I wasn't sure what was going on. I think there were several chapters where it claimed different events were happening on Halloween near the end. I think with an editing pass, this could be an easy fix that clears a lot of issues for future readers.

Overall, a bit disappointing for me, but it has a massive amount of potential with the unique concept and some editing passes.