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

Oof. I don't even know where to start... there are so many layers to this book that I really did not expect. In some parts it was incredibly hard for me to read - that dread of somebody snaking themselves into your life and turning those you love into somebody you do not know and trust anymore. The despair in this book was tangible; it still weighs heavily in my heart, and I suspect it will continue to do so for long. I feel so much for Mary, this little girl who's had her world thrown upside down, who simply wants a better life - a moon to live on, where everything is okay - and doing every thing she can to get to that moon. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is filled with the desperate need of a child to hold on to a world she can cope with. This novel was so heartwrenching and tragic... I feel as though nothing I could say would accurately describe the pure pain in this novel.
I'm going to need a long time to truly process this book I think, and I will probably find myself coming back to it again and again.

Content Warnings

jmschnepp's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

We Have Always Lived in a Castle tells the story of Mary Katherine, Constance and Uncle Julian - the three remaining members of the Blackwood family. Mary Katherine narrates from her perspectives and experiences. The story begins with Merricat (Constance's nickname for her) in "the village". We learn that Constance hasn't left the yard since her family mysteriously died 8 years earlier. Its interesting to follow the train of Merricat's mind and the lengths to which she goes to maintain the life she believes she deserves.

The books was so well written, that I got caught up in Mary Katherine's story telling. She was authentic and transparent in her perspective of the world around her. However, not all that glitters is gold.

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Jackson does such an excellent job of creating an unsettling atmosphere with a narrator that refuses at acknowledge it. The themes of being trapped, either by family or fear are so good. I read that Jackson herself was agoraphobic which she does such a great job of portraying as deeply unsettling with so little and such simple words. This was such a good mind fuck I love psych horror.

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jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

„ Fate intervened. Some of us, that day, she led inexorably through the gates of death. Some of us, innocent and unsuspecting, took, unwillingly, that one last step to oblivion. Some of us took very little sugar.„

Content Warnings

minadorissa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

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