Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Sempre hem viscut al castell by Martí Sales, Shirley Jackson

25 reviews

davidrb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

DAMN. Shirley Jackson is a master of dread: the entire book is a slow build to one disaster interrupted by another, and the entire time, your hair is on end. You don't know exactly what is going to happen, but also, don't you? Perfect despairing horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

When it comes to the incest warning

it's debatable, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable. However, I wouldn't say it's viewed in a positive light beyond Merricat herself being the narrator and thinking all of her actions and thoughts are justified.

audrey_12's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Chronic illness

solliereads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

5.0

Jackson yet again manages to weave a story that makes her books borderline impossible to put down. I came off of the heels of her other novel, The Haunting of Hill House, full of high expectations as that had quickly become one of my favourites of all time and can confidently say this book may be even better. Her narrator, Merricat (Mary Katherine) often slips into fantasies and we see the lines are so blurred between her fantasy and her reality that we're drawn into it in equal measure. There are very few named characters who are prominent, as is the same with Hill House, but I find that this is a great way to make sure the story doesn't become too crowded and there is plenty of room in it for painstaking detail to character. I think this is an essential read if you enjoy gothic fiction, and feeling unsettled by a story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Bullying

Moderate: Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

merricatblackwood's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Murder, Mental illness, Confinement, and Chronic illness

anigoose's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Frequent visits to the wood, and yet, 0/10 🐻. Sigh!

This was a charming but rather dull little book. It was on a list of thrillers to read and while it had some murder and some Suspense About the Murder, it absolutely didn't feel like a thriller to me! More like a funky, darkish little coming of age novella. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders