Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

278 reviews

cwiita's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Well, after marking My Year Of Rest and Relaxation as my only DNF ever, I managed to make it through this one. I purchased this book before I started MYORAR, before I had any idea how much I would struggle with Otessa Moshfegh. I find her to be a difficult read, not for lack of skill or quality, but for the simple fact that she seems to have an ongoing problem with fatphobia and ableism, among other things.  I discussed my initial problems with MYORAR with a friend who has read most of Moshfegh's work, and the consensus was that her stories relay very similar views each time and that her characters tend to be the same type of people across the board. I am a big fan of unreliable narrators and I appreciate the challenge of crafting a story around difficult characters, but to do it unrelentingly in every book while consistently implying hateful messages is tough for me to get behind.
With that being said, I blew through Lapvona. This book is absolutely vile, but incredibly readable when it comes to pacing and language. It was also much easier to tolerate the actions and views of the characters knowing that the events were taking place under a feudal system in medieval times. Moshfegh did a wonderful job of characterization, for better or for worse. The plot is somehow both ceaseless and unrecognizable. It's an infinite circle of pointless suffering, but maybe that's the point.  In an uncanny way, there was something enjoyable about this read. Since I already own MYORAR, this piece almost convinced me to give it another try. Almost.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Drug use, Excrement, Ableism, Blood, Death, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

2ofhearts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

ottessa loves to be yucky gross as shock value while making some pretty succinct criticisms/praises of religion (and religious hierarchies) as a mode of corruption, community, and epistemology. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Rape, Vomit, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

evantmellon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Abortion, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

emmastrange's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-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

The writing style was beautiful and I could not put it down. The story was really well served by the third omniscient perspective. I had a good time reading this, but I’m not sure if the themes were as well developed as they could have been (particularly those about class), and yet at other points the themes about women seemed to be glaringly obvious. Yes, it was incredibly disturbing, but I did not find it gratuitous. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death

laranjadosalgarves's review against another edition

slow-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

2.5

This is my first and most likely my last Ottessa Moshfegh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Rape

Minor: Pedophilia

loedai's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Like a car crash you don't want to see but can't look away from

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Pedophilia

hlb2023's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Excrement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Violence

emelynreads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

2.0

This book wasn't it. I felt nauseated 65% of the time, and bored the other 35%. I was thinking it would be a grotesque but mysterious, creepy read but it was mostly god fearing Christians and child predators. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Suicide, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Self harm, and Excrement

barfbabe's review against another edition

too torture porny like everything sucks and is gross I don't really care what happens to anyone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Ableism, and Vomit

Moderate: Pedophilia

braddersmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual assault, and Rape