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Hi, I'm Ti! I blog about books and life over at http://bookchatter.net
Book Review

Review: Such Sheltered Lives

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Such Sheltered Lives book cover. A house with a floor to ceiling glass window set amidst hills and mist.


Such Sheltered Lives
By Alyssa Sheinmel
Atria, January 20, 2026, 288pp.

The Short of It:

Such Sheltered Lives had its moments, but ultimately too many characters affected its flow.

The Rest of It:

Tucked among the pristine beaches and lavish manors of the Hamptons sits Rush’s Recovery, a rehabilitation center where ultra-high net worth clients can seek treatment away from prying eyes and paparazzi. ~ the publisher

The center’s patients masquerading as guests:

  • Lord Edward of Essex, a British aristocrat fighting his black-sheep status and a painful addiction.
  • Amelia Blue Harris, the daughter of a 90s rock legend struggling with an eating disorder.
  • Florence Bloom, a pop star trying to lay low after her latest tabloid scandal.

All of these guests are promised high-end care in a luxury setting; the BEST that money can buy. Each have their own therapist assigned to them, 24/7 but as good as this sounds, things are not what they seem.

For one, it’s easy for these guests to imbibe on their addictions. Lord Edward exists on his pocketed pain pills, Amelia starves herself or binges and then forces herself to get rid of all of it and Florence is just a mess, sleeping around and making bad choices. All this, while under 24/7 supervision. What gives?

Each of these characters have compelling reasons for being there but the author lost me with the alternating chapters and revealing a backstory that just didn’t strike me as being realistic. The creeping around and fraternizing with staff seemed inserted for drama, more than story flow. I didn’t care for any of these characters. I love a good flawed character but these characters don’t learn much and just seem to stumble along.

Sadly, I can’t recommend this one. Even the title doesn’t fit the story. They really aren’t sheltered at all. Had the author chosen to focus on one or two of the patients and not woven in that unrealistic backstory about the center itself, the story would have been better for it.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Book Review

Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a drawing of two young women set against a stark black and white backdrop.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle
By Shirley Jackson
Penguin Classics, October 2006, 160pp.

The Short of It:

An odd little read.

The Rest of It:

Two sisters, Merricat and Constance Blackwood live in an old, dilapidated house called The Castle. They live there with their disabled Uncle Julian. Disabled from a freak poisoning “accident” that killed their entire family.

This family is hated by the villagers in town. The Blackwoods are odd, unable to fit in and ostracized whenever they show up in town for supplies. Merricat, the youngest endures the bullying with a watchful eye. As nasty as the townspeople are, they’re also a little bit afraid. No one wants to be around a family that damned near killed everyone at dinner. Do they?

The house is surrounded by Merricat’s idea of protection. Buried items, idols of some sort posted on a fence, all to keep the townspeople away. It’s rather “witchy” in nature and will keep you guessing.

To shake things up, Cousin Charles makes an appearance. An unwelcome appearance. Merricat despises him. Julian, not all together there, also takes to disliking him; continuously calling him the wrong name and insisting that people are dead when they are clearly alive. This is when we learn of Constance’s insufferable nature.

She really needs a good slap across the face. Cousin Charles mows over her, tries to sell the house out from under her and she just smiles and goes about her day. It’s all too much. Clearly Charles is not there to support their lives in any way.

Then, tragedy strikes. Yes, more tragedy. Here, the story gets very weird. I questioned whether these characters were even alive or if they were actually dead, but refused to leave The Castle.

Here’s what’s true:

  • Jackson does an amazing job depicting the isolation of these characters.
  • She creates some really strange characters. Annoying ones with quite the air of mystery about them. You wanna know more.
  • The house is a main character. Falling in on itself, damaged later on, in disrepair yet still called home.
  • Jackson’s handling of the villain/s in this story piqued my interest.
  • There is no cut and dry way of interpreting this story.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a literary classic. It should be experienced but not everyone will love it. In fact, I think most won’t like it at all. It was adapted to the big screen. I am curious to see how they interpret the story. I am discussing this with a group and my interpretation is quite different.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.