Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

209 reviews

perth_is's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

elsabell's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death and Fire/Fire injury

kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

"It's complicated" sums it up pretty well😅 if you like weird, creepy and slightly disturbing books, this is for you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism

Minor: Gaslighting

rceparski's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, and Death of parent

aduqu's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

I think I would have rated this book higher if I wasn't going into it looking for horror. It's good enough, but it didn't shake me the way I wanted it to.

However, I loved Merricat's interesting system of "magic" and rules she's developed. Her narration was endearing and whimsical, and only becomes disturbing when you remember she's an adult woman and not a child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

ylimets's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

jully_bean's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Dementia, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

jaybonesjackson's review

lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is truly a classic - although written in 1967, I still thoroughly enjoyed it in 2024. 

The story centers around our narrator, and her family. We are given small snippets of information at a time, and I loved how my mind kept wanting to jump ahead and unravel the mystery behind each snippet. This story was both fun and melancholy at the same time, like the author was having a game of leading the reader on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury

neonskylite's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

I never understood people who read Lolita and are so charmed by Humbert they forget that he's a pedophile. And then I read this book and that distinct first-person narrative voice of Merricat draws you in when she is childish and psychopathic and spends most of the book doing complicated rituals that have no effect on her world because this isn't a magic realist book just Merricat being disconnected from reality and yet,

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Dementia, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty

Incestuous themes: Charles is trying to marry his cousin, Constance, and they take on aspects of the Blackwood parents during their "courtship", or at least from Merricat's point of view. And Merricat and Constance are so thoroughly enmeshed with each other...

tey_lynn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury