“I don‘t want realism. I want magic!”

The first half of this book was perfection. Each and every sentence was well crafted and laden with darkness. This isn't a story about plot or characters but thoughts. I had to take steps back from this book because everything she said were like thoughts taken from my own mind. "...everything people did was so silly, because they only died in the end." The story of the fig tree, about not choosing and just dying, was beautiful. #sylviaplath

It‘s a book primarily about motherhood and the sacrifices people make for their children. The characters live their lives together, we learn about Mia, and follow a custody battle. I wish we had more backstory on the Male characters though. In a way, men were to blame for the situations the women in this book found themselves in. This was the primary reason I didn‘t rate the book any higher.

“ I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not omniscient. I have to live my life, and it is the only one I‘ll ever have. And you cannot regard your own life with objective curiosity all the time…“ pg 9

The story was intriguing as it kept you wondering throughout. Our narrator unreliable, but delightfully so. It was the perfect setup, a haunted house no one in any town nearby had heard of. There was a doctor and a thief, a rotting stairwell and writings on the walls. I had so many questions! “ Is the bourbon poisoned? Is Mrs Dudley a robot? Does Hill House even exist?” I couldn‘t put it down.