A young woman, Everly Tertium, encounters a mysterious man claiming to be her grandfather and is drawn into a surreal apartment building where she experiences a constant sense of déjà vu, uncovering hidden truths and facing a race against time and space to find a way out. The novel blends elements of horror and science fiction, exploring themes of memory, identity, and the blurred lines between reality and illusion in a captivating and suspenseful narrative.

Reader Review Summary

"The Building That Wasn't" by Abigail Miles is a stunningly imaginative and atmospheric science fiction/horror novel that takes readers on a mind-bending journey through the unexplained. From the very first pages, Miles immerses us in an engrossing sense of mystery and unease as Everly Tertium encounters her long-lost grandfather and is invited into a building that seems to exist outside the bounds of our known reality.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its rich, vivid world-building and establishment of an eerie, almost dreamlike mood. The Eschatorologic building itself is a mesmerizing paradox - mundane in its grey corridors and drab apartments, yet imbued with a palpable strangeness that creeps up on Everly and the reader alike. Miles' evocative descriptions make the off-kilter setting leap off the page, creating a claustrophobic, liminal space that festers with unanswered questions. Why does Everly feel such powerful déjà vu? What is the true nature of this place outside the laws of physics? The novel's atmosphere of creeping dread is nothing short of masterful.

Complementing the rich setting is an intriguing exploration of thought-provoking science fiction concepts like temporal loops, parallel dimensions, and theories of space and time. Miles deftly blends hard sci-fi elements with more metaphysical, surreal ideas, constructing a complex, mind-bending narrative that keeps readers perpetually off-balance and theorizing about where it could possibly go next. Even as the stakes escalate and dark forces emerge, the story maintains an aura of mystery that teases a deeper truth waiting to be uncovered.

At its core, "The Building That Wasn't" is an engrossing puzzle-box narrative, peeling back layer after layer of strangeness while posing profound questions about the malleability of existence itself. Yet Miles ensures that human characters and relationships remain the anchoring emotional throughline. We see the traumatic impact of the building's effects through Everly's eyes, as well as flashes of hope and connection with other "trapped" characters like Luca. Their grounded emotional states provide a tether of relatability amidst the high-concept metaphysics swirling around them.

What's more, Miles' confident, polished writing style imparts the novel with a seamless dynamism. She deftly varies perspectives and time frames to optimally dribble out revelations, all while maintaining a singular, unsettled ambiance. Her imaginative concepts are grounded by crisp, visceral prose that accentuates the creeping dread and mystery. With its taut pacing and immersive atmosphere, "The Building That Wasn't" exerts a magnetic, unshakable grip over readers from beginning to end.

For those who revel in disorienting, mind-expanding journeys through warped realities and existential uncertainty, "The Building That Wasn't" is a superbly crafted, uncanny reading experience not to be missed. Abigail Miles' debut novel announces her as a bold new voice in weird, unsettling fiction that pushes the boundaries of imagination. By the novel's startling conclusion, it's apparent that Miles has crafted something truly original - a work of speculative fiction that lingers in the mind and soul long after the final pages.