Flying Kick-a-pow!

To be honest, I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own. (I was assigned to read it for my creative writing class this past semester.) I'm not a fan of Shirley Jackson. Her writing isn't bad, but I don't really like the attitude it expresses. There always seems to be this situation where the main character is disliked by everyone for little to no reason.I understood that in this book in particular, the other townspeople had their suspicions about the protagonist and her family, but their hatred of the family felt like overkill much of the time. It was like, every time Merricat went out of the house, everyone seemed to be out to get her. (And maybe it was all in her head, but ... eh.) Also, I just didn't find Merricat to be a likable character. Her train of thought got a little repetitive, what with her hatred of everyone and her fantasies about people just dropping dead around her all the time. Plus, it turned out she killed the rest of their family so ... there's also that. I wouldn't have minded her being an unlikable person, but I didn't find her a very compelling character either. But anyway, this book wasn't all bad. It had a surreal and horrific undertone that gave it a distinct and consistent atmosphere. The dynamic between Merricat and her sister was interesting, as well as the sisters' relationship with their uncle. There were plot twists I didn't see coming. Over all, though, I felt pretty "meh" about it.