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

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

25 reviews

peasandpancakes's review

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

I really immensely enjoyed this book. Merricat was a very interesting narrator, obviously very unreliable, and I loved her little disturbing thoughts. A reddit user whose account was deleted really nicely summarised the writing as a “sense of overwhelming dread that lies beneath the surface of ordinary life. Like something sinister is slowly, but surely, making its appearance, but you don't know when or how it's going to happen”, and I fully agree with that.

At first I was a bit confused with the kind of sudden ending, but I have come to appreciate it. This will definitely be a book that I will think back on from time to time!

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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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lakea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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deathmetalheron's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

As a concept this book is phenomenal. The narration and perspective are really what adds to the unique telling of this story. Merricat's personality is evident within the first half of the first page and her personality defines and shines throughout the story. She is such an enigmatic and deceitful little protagonist and her spicy spit takes on her perceived "enemies" are delightful.
Unfortunately I feel as though the high points of this book are few and far between and the majority of the book is caught between these moments repeating a lot of the same dynamics over and over. For a 145 page book, it took me a while to get through because each page is dense. The story outline is great and the overarching themes are there, but the vehicle to get them to the reader is not worth the trip.

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_lily_'s review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

this book was so wonderful oh em gee. i love merricat and constance so much. their dynamic and everything about them is just so amazing i luv them. my only complaint is the lack of commas & the absurd amount of ands in some sentences... but other than that, this book was very very good.

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omair's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

A story where the mystery isn't a mystery and the absurd is treated as creepily mundane... and yet I found myself enjoying it. The juxtaposition for what I was feeling to what Merricat was feeling or saying was handled brilliantly that I can only assume it was intentional. If I were to plant myself in this world, I would almost certainly see things the way the villagers do, yet reading from the POV we have, I want to side with our main characters...

which an insane thing to say about a pair that are made of quintuple murderer with little remorse and a no-hesitation accomplice!

And yet in such a short space, powerful themes of gender roles, sexual identity, family trauma, possibly abuse, and severe mental illnesses are liberally sprinkled in along with commentary on individuality, agoraphobia, societal norms, greed, maturity (and familial responsibility in raising a child), and so much more. So much of what happens is left with such vague motives that the answers feel simultaneously obvious and yet impossibly absent.

The deeper I found myself into the book,

the more the reliability of the narration came into question

, and the more I felt a need to re-read sections to convince myself I didn't misunderstand or even completely miss details. Sympathizing with our protagonist even as

her twisted world and controlling mannerisms became more crystal clear

felt as confusing as the plot - in a good way - for me. I can certainly understand why this would not be the right cup of tea for everyone, but it was one I thoroughly enjoyed...

even though I certainly wouldn't take mine with any sugar.

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