Reviews tagging 'Child death'

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

57 reviews

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Dementia, Medical content, Child death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child abuse, Ableism, and Incest

xannietea's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Child death, and Mental illness

Minor: Incest and Domestic abuse

reicar's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

smallredboy's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-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

5.0

HAUNTING book. I much prefer it to The Haunting of Hill House; I absolutely adored Merricat's point of view, and I loved her codependent relationship with her sister. It was such a tragedy and very intriguing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Ableism, Murder, and Death of parent

mari_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It’s been a long time since I read a book with such an unreliable narrator. Mary Katherine and her whole family are totally unstable, spooky and weird. I found Mary Katherine to be almost demonic, with really questionable coping habits for her situation. If you like context you might not like this book! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

mossgoblins's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Dementia, and Forced institutionalization

oftheolivetree's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is an incredibly dark and compelling story as told by the survivors of a mass murder. Both ethereal and grim, the story discusses the concepts of othering and dehumanization, and begs the question of who the true villain is:

Merricat, Charles, the Village, or all 3

? Delightfully pervasive and gothic, I highly recommend this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Classism, Dementia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Sexism

Shirley Jackson faced a lot of anti-semitism and othering while living in Bennington, Vermont, where this story takes place. Jackson prompts the discussion of the othering and dehumanization that marginalized communities experience as imposed by society.

sar_a_i's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

---

Content Warnings

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

atlas_shruggs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

This book felt very disturbing and trippy, but in such an excellent way.
One of Shirley Jackson's most notable works, We Have Always Lived in the Castle follows Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood and her sister, Constance Blackwood, as they try to live a normal life following the mysterious murder of their family. The entire village hates them and sees them as murderers, and seeing the way they treat the sisters through the eyes of Merricat, who reads as a young child, is very interesting. 
The story was beautifully written, I was barely able to put it down once I started it. The way Shirley Jackson writes is so descriptive and haunting, the entire time I read this I felt this sense of dread in the back of my head. 
I felt the plot twist was both fairly predictable and not, but that might be because I read this while flying from Croatia to Iceland on very little sleep. 
I would highly recommend this book for someone who wants to get more into classics, especially horror classics, as the language is fairly easy and the story is easy to follow as well. Do look up trigger warnings though, as usual. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Mental illness

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