Review - We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

The story revolves around two sisters: Mary and Constance. They live in a house where nobody visits, and they hoard food items as if many people live in the house, but they are only three. The protagonist is Mary Katherine, and it’s hard to form an opinion about her. Most of the time, I liked her and conformed with her thinking, but as I read further something didn’t feel right. Yet, I could not put my finger on it. In the book, there were many instances where you wanted to make things right, but by the end, you questioned your choices. Despite knowing the suspense, you want more from the story and don’t want to stop there. From the beginning, the characters were eccentric, which resulted in a love-hate relationship with them. I like the way the story is shaped, as it keeps you on your toes. Also, the ending felt abstract as it leaves the reader a lot to ponder upon things.

I didn’t know that it is gothic fiction. But after reading a few pages, I understood it has a dark theme. I wasn’t prepared for a dark book like this, as I wanted to read something light; even then, this book hooked me up. As my attention span is a little low these days, this book didn’t make me feel like that, so that’s a plus. The narration is good and has a good flow that you don’t want to interrupt. People who love reading suspense, mystery or horror fiction might enjoy it more.

Rating – 3.5/5

Genre – Gothic Fiction, Suspense, Mystery & Thriller

Comments

Book Review - The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

T here are certain books where you know you will like them even when you have read just 10 pages. There can be reasons behind it though, perhaps you have read the author before, or have found the narrative interesting, maybe the first para hooked you since the beginning or your instinct made you feel so. All these factors sum up what I feel for this story. It was too much to see Rumi long for the alter ego, meanwhile taking part in the worldly things where he used to judge and help people but from a distance. And as Shams entered his life, things changed drastically overnight. Meanwhile, there is a parallel story going about Ella and Aziz Zahara. These two stories intermingle in such a way where you can’t stop comparing one character to another. This book is all about love in different forms, it doesn’t restrict itself to romance but love between father and children, between two friends, between husband and wife, between a teacher and his disciples and between two strangers. There are ...

Review - The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

There are moments when you just want to ask questions and sit beside your friend. You want someone to answer them for you even if you know the answers yourselves. When the answers come from someone you are close to, they look much easier to deal with than before. They make more sense whenever you fail to convince yourself. Such is the magic of good friends and companionship. This book is all about it. You will read all about love, kindness, tenderness, and courage. The book revolves around The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, as the title suggests. First, the boy meets the mole, and later they meet Fox. As the journey goes on, they ask each other questions which are simple but thought-provoking. You would want to sit and think about answers that you would have given or hoped for after you are done reading. It will make you wonder how sometimes the simplest of things have the most impact. My favourite quote from the book is when the boy asks, “What is the bravest thing you’ve e...

Productivity & Time

“As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself. – Haruki Murakami” We all have been given this luxury right now to utilise the time at hand as per our needs, but are we able to do it? It seems so easy when we think about it but it isn’t; because if it would have been, we would not have been sitting in our living room wondering about either what to do next or how to get things done without being lazy. This lockdown has solved as well as created many problems for us. Where once we used to crave about the much-needed free time; now, we don’t know what to make of it. On top it, the added pressure of doing something productive is wreaking havoc in our mind. We all want to do something, learn something and some just want to chill (because that is the ultimate goal of their life). I wish I had that luxury too. Yes, I always end up using this statement because after every few ...

Shadow of Life

Search This Blog