Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

20 reviews

erenreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this definitely was one of the books i’ve read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Cannibalism, Classism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Abortion, Incest, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Classism, and Excrement

Minor: Miscarriage

belle_oftheball's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Impossible to rate with stars. Great book, hated every minute of it. It takes a great author to write something this upsetting and also worthy of the time and effort to get though it. Give it a try if you want to feel bad, read about gross things, and write "ugh," "gross," and "Jeeeesus" in the margins every few pages.

*EDIT* I'm adding a star rating because I haven't stopped thinking about it since I read it. Unforgettable book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Miscarriage, Death, Drug use, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Rape

thearchivist03's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

So...where to start?
You're not supposed to like the characters, and it's very body gore oriented with a side of medieval soft world building. It's captivating at first when Ottessa writes about each character's suffering, but you soon get desensitized and perhaps go a little mad and laugh at the over the top chaos.
I hear some people say that one of the characters is representative of female rage, but this character strikes me as thrown in out of the blue for more plot development. It does have an open ending, just a heads up.
I have such a love-hate relationship with the author and this book. I did enjoy the descriptions and her writing style of scenery and the world, but keep in mind her character descriptions and development brink on grotesque and nihilistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Ableism, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Lots of detail in the excrement and fluids part. And all the sexual violence scenes primarily take place in the abuser's point of view, even though it's omniscient. It demonizes women a lot, be warned.

rhinaissance's review against another edition

dark funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book had me in a chokehold the whole time. It is bizarre, perverse, and a bit uncertain of its own ideas at times, but really really fascinating. And enjoyable (if you're weird, like me). I barely put it down the entire time, because I could not at all predict what would happen next. It was chock-full of "....what?" moments without being too overstated and obscene like Tender is the Flesh. I will admit, the moment I finished the book I was mad, but then as 24 hours have passed I find myself laughing at the absurdity. So it has won me back. 

On the surface, it appears as if there is no point, but I urge you to not stop there when thinking about it. There doesn't need to be a neon sign for something to be worth reading/analyzing. 

This book is not everyone's style but Moshfeg has really won me over.  I liked this novel a lot more than My year of Rest and Relaxation. But now I am *almost* tempted to go back. 
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Bullying

tamimin's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An a24 movie in a book. That's all you need to know 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Rape, Pedophilia, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, and Eating disorder

fartrat's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Miscarriage, Vomit, Excrement, and Eating disorder

brucatini's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Abandonment, Rape, Violence, Murder, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Ableism, and Pregnancy

laura_crowther's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Self harm, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

stefanyizreadin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Vomit, Body horror, Classism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

gardenofroses's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 This was my first Ottessa Moshfegh read and I was so excited to finally read one of her novels. This was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year and it did not disappoint.

It was definitely a lot more gruesome than I was expecting but after I got over the initial shock I was able to keep reading. I understand that this kind of book may not be for everyone so if you’re thinking of reading this book please check the trigger warnings.

This book centers around the medieval town of Lapvona which is controlled by a fiefdom. Because it focuses on a whole town there is a wide range of unique characters that we focus on. There’s Marek who is a disabled 13-year-old, his dad Jude who cares for lambs, Ina the witch that lives on the outskirts of town, Villiam, the Lord controlling the town and so many more.

There were many themes within the book but the one that interested me the most was the relationship that each character had with their god. They all had very different ideas of what their god represented and what he expected of their devotion to him, whether that be self-flagellation, starvation/restriction, pain, hard work, etc. A lot of the time it was these beliefs that led them to make some horrific decisions. Ottessa does not shy away from the grotesque or from exploring the depraved parts of humanity. She consistently put these characters into situations that just kept getting worse and worse. I was at the edge of my seat half the time because I was so scared of what the characters would do next, that I didn’t trust any of them.

I definitely want to reread this again sometime in the fall or winter just so that I can fully examine all the different cast of characters. Especially Ina, the witch, and her relationship with the town, because I feel like the first time around, I was so surprised by all the gruesome details that I didn’t get to focus on the characters as much as I wanted to.

Also, when I was reading this it was playing in my head like a movie directed by Ari Aster. It gave those same sinister vibes you get with Midsommar and Hereditary.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence