Reviews with content warning for Bullying - We Have Always Lived in the Castle

This is a story about so much and so little, and that’s the least of the conflicting or opposing elements involved. If you like character driven stories with a side of mental health issues and some darkness, this story will serve you well.

It’s a story where no one is innocent and no one escapes unchanged, but whether the end is happy or tragic is left up to you.

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perth_is's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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elsabell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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rceparski's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This is such an unconventional book and I wasn’t sure how to rate it. But I thoroughly enjoyed the odd characters, the way some of the repetitive phrases/scenes felt like a fever dream, and that even though there is so much unsaid you can read between the lines and still understand.

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lia_mills's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Strangely makes me want to take up cooking.

A classic for very good reason — does an excellent job of getting you to understand a unique and (at least to some extent) unlikeable protagonist. The extent to which it’s ultimately a psychological horror vs. a psychological drama story depends largely on how you respond to Merricat’s perspective (I for one was very much drawn into it), but it’s a compelling tale either way.

Works (1) this made me think of: Sharp Objects (2018 miniseries) — also based around a wealthy family in a small, unloveable American town, also focuses heavily on psychologically unhealthy women, and has a similarly strong ghost-story-despite-not-having-literal-ghosts kind of atmosphere.

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ylimets's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jully_bean's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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