Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea?
Oh no, said Merricat, you'll poison me.
Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep?
Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!
Hello book lovers, it's me your ridgette! It's been a long time since I religiously read a book. Perhaps it's because of my busy school schedule these past months, but anyway, I still keep on buying a book each month haha. So now that I'm on vacation, I'll grab this opportunity to share with you a review of the book that I finished recently. I just encountered this book recommendation in one of socmed account, and its definitely the book cover that piqued my interest. The cover art was fascinating and I liked the art style because it looked so unsettling yet enthralling. So now let's delve more into the story of the remaining Blackwood family as they navigate their daily life surrounded by people who both hate and fear them.
About the Book
We Have Always Lived In The Castle is a novel written by Shirley Jackson, and it was first published in 1962 by The Viking Press. This novel is all about the lives of the three survivors of the said unsolved arsenic poisoning that happened six years ago the current timeline of the story. The three survivors—Constance, Merricat, and Uncle Julian, lived together in their secured grand mansion. Their mansion stood proudly among the humble village and even though it stood strong despite the tragedy, still they weren't safe from the mockery of the villagers who both feared and envied them.
The story was narrated in Mary Katherine 'Merricat' Blackwood's voice—a quirky, defiant and imaginative point of view. Despite saying that she was already eighteen years old, I somehow didn't feel like it. It's like listening to a younger narrator because she sounds so much younger and free-spirited. However, fascinating as it seems, her point of view also featured her twisted and disturbing musings. She'd been the center of her family—the adored, the dearest, and always beloved Mary Katherine.
However, a change was coming and Merricat knew it. Perhaps Constance suspected it, but as usual, Merricat has something up her sleeve to ward off this unwanted change. Armed with his occult and superstitious practices, she hoped to ward him off with them. Yet this one was more formidable, so she was forced to resort to stuff you can't imagine an eighteen-year-old girl could do—and certainly it wouldn't be pretty.
The way Merricat narrated the whole story was definitely entertaining. Of 'course there are dragging parts because the way she shared her point of view was really detailed. Also, I like how a seemingly harmless cousin became a threat to their seamless lives. He isn't much of a villain because Merricat made sure he wouldn't do so. The way it ended was something that I didn't expect. The amount of foreshadowing was something else because even at the start of the story there are already details that you wouldn't expect would be significant to the plot twist.
The whole story was so slow-burn, however, the way Merricat told it made it foreboding, thus making me me anticipate what would happen next. Also, I like how all of the characters were utilized well—from the hypersensitive Constance, frail and probably demented Uncle Julian, greedy and misogynist Charles to my favorite character among them, the evil psychopathic Merricat. Even the villagers weren't overlooked because, in the climax of its story, they also served great roles in forever changing the lives of the remaining Blackwood family. Their presence is like the perfect representation of how humanity would react to possible threats to their existence and even just their fragile egos.
I really felt bad for what happened to the Blackwood sisters that night, but it's something that wasn't entirely unexpected because it's already hinted at in the earlier chapters. The Blackwood hate the villagers just as much as they hate that family, but something happened in the last chapter that made me curious because the intention of why they did that was so vague. At first, I thought it was out of guilt and pity, but later on, it seemed like fear all over again. However it's now amplified, and by the end of the story it had taken roots to its place—even becoming an urban legend.
Overall, this novel is nice if you're interested in odd dark humor with equally peculiar characters that really match the dark yet fascinating mood of the story. The way Merricat narrated her point of view made me feel as if I was also in their place witnessing an exciting mystery slowly unfold. Since I religiously read the entirety of its book, I already got spoiled by its introduction before its first chapter, so if you're gonna read the physical or its digital copy, the reading experience would be much better and thrilling if you skip that introduction because it would totally spoil you on who's the real culprit behind the unsolved poisoning that killed most of the Blackwood family members.
Anyway, even if you don't pay much attention to the giveaway details, it's still pretty obvious who's who, but the doubts are something you can't cast off until the revelation finally uncovered it all. As I said it's a slow-burn story with a lot of details shared and once you get entangled with their them, there's something special that makes you want to finish it. I got intrigued with its cover art (as usual), but it's the story that made me stay. Reading it was like reading a horror novel—only that, it's not horror at all. The story was nothing complex, but the simplicity, the intrigue, the malice, the thrill and even the little spook in it made the story really enticing. So if I were to rate it, it would be a solid 4.7/5.
So that would be all for today, bookworms. I hope you enjoyed my book review and always keep in mind that it's not spoiler-free, so beware!
All the pictures that were used were taken by yours truly, ridgette while the last picture was edited in Canva.