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A review by mariakureads
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I honestly thought this was going to be a story of the house told by the POV of Mericat but was I wrong.
It's a haunting read of two sisters and their uncle, the remnants of a family, living through the ordeal of a very public murder of their family, a very suspicious and nosy town, and the greed of a cousin calling to prey.
This is my first Shirley Jackson read so I was very unsure of what to expect but I found her writing to be full of well placed tension, idiosyncrasies, slightly toxic, and in this case fragile and unreliable but all the more entertaining because of it.
So glad to have read this and be able to knock another book off my TBR and the final book of 2024!
It's a haunting read of two sisters and their uncle, the remnants of a family, living through the ordeal of a very public murder of their family, a very suspicious and nosy town, and the greed of a cousin calling to prey.
This is my first Shirley Jackson read so I was very unsure of what to expect but I found her writing to be full of well placed tension, idiosyncrasies, slightly toxic, and in this case fragile and unreliable but all the more entertaining because of it.
So glad to have read this and be able to knock another book off my TBR and the final book of 2024!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent and Murder