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A review by saoreads
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
dark
funny
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It was definitely disturbing how the story evolved, yet it has the sense of welcoming from an angle of being shunned and living a different kind of life. It was an isolation that ended up being a comfort. Somehow it flowed into a metaphor of denying reality and conversing about staying in moons to the point of protecting that lifestyle involved death. The two sisters were strange enough, but it has shown the values they uphold towards a life they consider that makes them happy. Though there was this manipulation, as if the younger sister brought out these circumstances to prove to her older sister why their space shouldn't be messed with. It was a fine read, but nevertheless bewildering.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury