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standgiza.bsky.social · @standgiza.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated We Have Always Lived in the Castle 6/10

Expected to like it much more than I did. It's fine, but it doesn't quite establish the reality of the world. Strange family whom the town hates in a stereotypical country bumpkin kind of way. The narrator is unreliable. Yes. But mental illness isn't magic. It's also just not a narrative device and certainly not one that can excuse obvious plot holes and lack of story development. It's a roundabout loop of the same story over and over again. The climax is the same story but with more people involved doing the same thing at the same time. I know that's the point. We are in the minds of the Blackwood sisters. They are stuck. But is it magic or mental illness? Those two aren't the same and it's a bit tiring when authors seem to expect that people will accept them to be. There is nothing spooky here. Doll Bones was a more interesting ride.

Maybe her other books grip me.

#book

Published 2026-09-17 22:31 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere