Dark and fascinating.
591367
Gyllenhaal nailed it.  His character is an awful person in this one.  I thought he was fantastic.
3487111
If you like a dark story line with some seriously strange twist and turns, this is for you.  I read a lot of murder mysteries and dark stories and I recommend this book to a lot of people because it's so different.  There's mystery, suspense, drama and maybe even a little bit of a romance.  Great read.
3668981
I, like the introduction to this novella predicts, am one of many who read "The Lottery" without knowing who the author was.  I read confidently forward, sure that I was going to find as much deep, dark enjoyment in here as I did in the aforementioned title.  I wasn't disappointed.

"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is very dark, and I expect the reader must have at least a few macabre sparks in his or her heart to get all I did out of it.  The synopsis reads as if we're supposed to consider the Blackwood sisters strange and/or neurotic, but I had a distinctly different experience as I turned the pages.  There's an air of mystery around the family, and we never come to understand *exactly* what happened, or why it did, but we do get enough pieces to know that there's a reason the Blackwood sisters hardly ever go out.  We get the sense that they are a compelling combination of polite and misanthropic; superstitious and self-aware; loving and dangerous.  Merricat, particularly, is under no delusions about how the family is viewed.

There are so many nuances I don't want to ruin that I'm afraid I can't say much here.  This is a tale with great appeal for the misanthropic introvert who wants to be locked away in a self-imposed exile.  It may be fiction, but it's a great testament to the notion that people will persecute and hate in broad daylight, and attempt to ease their guilt (if they feel any) at night, when no one can see them.
3599073
This was a extremely interesting book.  There are no characters with whom you can identify, but I liked it nonetheless.  The writer does a good job of roping you into the narrative and I really wanted to know more about the characters and how they became so despicable.  It is not for the faint-hearted and the story itself is very dark, but also very entertaining.  Not your typical thriller or mystery.
2191239
Deeply disturbing and dark--I often find these types of reads fascinating--but this is even a bit much for me...beautiful drawings, depth and care, excellent artistry and story telling.
2957739
Very dark book, but strangely compelling and almost addictive. I could not put it down. The ending was great. Would read another by this author.
258062
An amazing, dark psychological thriller. I was fascinated by the little hints of observations about human nature - things that go against the grain. And the overall structure of the violence only occurring at the end made for great anticipation.
689335
This is not an easy reading, though very interesting. Do not expect anything similar to TV series. This one is quite dark. A lot of factual information. But I've read it in two or three evenings. Definitely worth it.
3203090
Fascinating story. Gripping and disturbing but very well written.
2614032
I didn't think I would like this story but by the end I was hooked and fascinated.  Not for the squeamish, but a dark and daring journey to what motivates us all
3205596
This is a dark, entangling, deeply unsettling sort of book. The type that digs gritty fingernails deep into your skin, your very bones, and doesnt let go, not even after you're finished reading.

The main thrust of the plot follows Kate whose mother is dying of cancer. Her stepfather is concurrently sleeping with Gillian, who happens to be a doppelg&auml;nger of Kate and further, there is a serial killer called the Doll Collector on the loose killing girls who have similar appearance to her as well. Gillians stepbrother Jonah increasingly matches the description of the killer, but it couldn't really be him, could it?

Kate begins delving into her past and her mothers past, bringing things to the surface that she would have preferred to keep hidden. Abuse, mental illness, loss, and pain begin narrating the pages and her emotions, especially negative ones like anger and rage, start boiling over in a way she can no longer control and the lines in her own mind begin to blur.

Perhaps the answers to now lie in the past, no matter how difficult it is to face them. Chilling and compelling, this is beautifully written debut novel.
4839924
I found this a riveting read. Although it seems like an incredibly dark subject matter it's well worth the read.
1125463
Fascinating and intricate and intriguing story.
4141377
I was unfamiliar with the author's work prior to reading this book, so I frankly had no idea what to expect. As I got into it, however, I found it to be darker than other stories, but not quite in a noir sense. With elements reminiscent of Alan Dean Foster's Thranx, surrealism reminisncent of the movie Transcendenz, and just plain weirdness that would probably resemble Videodrome in movie form, the story has a way of taking hold of you. A part of me feels a morbid fascination while another part of me would like to see what sort of universe Werbeloff will continue to  create.
2286759
Dark and twisty, but you won't want to put it down.  This is a new world and it is all about human evils, with a version of a romance thrown in.  Violence, murder, and other horror are every day living and for some they don't just live in it, they thrive in it. The characters are complex and the story is well developed.

The story line is interesting and I want to read the next book, but I must also say there was quite a bit of spelling and formatting errors in this book. I checked it on my iPad, iPhone and kindle and the errors appeared on all three.
1657285
This well-written dark historical mystery tells us about Marta Rosenthal, daughter of renowned psychiatrist Arnold Rosenthal in early nineteenth century Austria. Marta herself is a bright scientist, who yearns to conduct her own studies and be known for work in her own right, she is encouraged by family GP Leopold Kaposi, to plan to branch away from her father. Marta then meets the enigmatic Elise, a doctor, recently qualified from Paris, who has ambitions to further her career in the field of paediatrics and a gift for manipulation that has aided her to get far. Both women are trying to make it in what is very much a man's world, however, they do not realise the extent to which both their lives have been manipulated.

This thriller unravels tantalizingly drawing you in to the characters, who are flawed and have much to hide. At times whilst reading this it has the theatrics to make quite a compelling stage-play but there is a lot of internal dialogue we are witness to from Martha particularly which gives the psychological element to the novel and wouldn't translate as well to stage. What starts as a book about two bright women trying to make their way in a male-dominated competitive field turns into a dark thriller where the women face a ruthless antagonist who wields much power and is hell-bent on destroying them.

An intriguing historical read, I thoroughly enjoyed.
110868
Very dark, but it did hold my interest.  Told from the view of three of the characters who are entwined in the mystery.