Reviews tagging 'Grief'

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

27 reviews

omair's review

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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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chananya's review

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

4.25


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suhbreenah's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75


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coolaboutit's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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torismazarine's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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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fiz23_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25


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suchsweetsorrow89's review

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

the more i think about this book, the more fond of it i am becoming. this tale, one that is part ambiguous, part philosophical, part fantasy, but ultimately entrenched within the evils and dangers that exist in our present reality come together to make a story that keeps to interested, makes you laugh at some points, but leaves you thinking of so much. while it was a bit slow for me in the beginning to imagine where we were, i think that was partly the point. this text is jarringly modern, breaks the typical ideas of what horror can and should look like in a literary space, and makes itself a quick favorite for me in my informal "summer of horror" journey. it's honestly shocking that this book is not more spoken about than it is, and i highly recommend it for anyone, yes, but especially those fond of unreliable narrators, The Stranger by Camus, The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, and skeptics of those who preach that the world we live in and the problems we face is "the best of all possible worlds" (thinking of Voltaire v Leibniz here). 

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jelenwalker's review against another edition

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

4.25


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hannahpings's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective 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


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shieldbearer's review against another edition

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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

Another book read because it was a favorite of Suzanne Collins', I did not know what to expect going into this and I really enjoyed it. A deeply layered text with so much complexity, its ambiguity is also its brilliance.

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