Book Club October Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Since it's spooky season (and it's one of my favourites), I really wanted to choose a horror novel for October's book club pick. I read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery in school, and I remember loving it because of the twist and the eerie atmosphere leading up to it. When I discovered that she also wrote The Haunting of Hill House, which was adapted into a Netflix series that I couldn’t watch because the first five minutes were too scary, I thought she would be a great choice for October.

(Spoiler: I was so wrong.)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a gothic novel about a family and their dark (potentially murderous) secret. When the arrival of a cousin throws their daily routine into disarray, it leads to unsettling events.

The Bad Stuff

Despite being advertised as a thriller, there weren't any thrilling moments to convince me of its choice of genre. The plot didn't grip me, and I knew what would turn out to be the plot twist from the first chapter. Expectations also fell flat towards the end. With the promise of deranged characters offering a surprising finale, the ending was at best endearing but mainly anticlimactic.

Whilst I don’t believe all books need likeable characters, it does help with the reading experience. Kay said she didn’t really care what happened to Merricat and her family, so it took every effort to finish the book. To some extent, I have to agree. Although, I was interested enough in their quirks to discover how it would all play out.

Finally, to borrow the words of Kay, she said, ‘It’s boring. What was the point of this book?’

The Good Stuff

All that being said, there were some things I liked about the book as well. Merricat’s voice, for example, was crafted well, showing off her unstable mind and alarming attitude towards the villagers. The juxtaposition of her physical age, her childlike voice, and the peculiar way her older sister treats her raises questions about her childhood, all of which remain unanswered.

It's this subtext that made the book enjoyable for me.

Rating

CY - Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either. 3/5.

Kay - I found this book a really difficult read even though it’s so short. I found all of the characters to be very unlikeable and the plot was extremely boring. 2/5.

Have you read this book? Let us know in the comments what you think.

I’m curious to see if you hated it as much as Kayleigh did, or if you generally enjoyed it.