Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

151 reviews

bloupibloupreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

Imagine having top quality ingredients and yet still baking a disastrous cake because you can’t follow the recipe correctly. This was my opinion on Ottessa Moshfegh’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation”. This opinion still stands with her latest book, Lapnova. 

The intrigue picked my curiosity, the idea in itself is great but the way Moshfegh worked around with it was just not it. It’s always tell, never shown, the book is trying to be “something” deep in a way but completely fails because there is no substance, there’s nothing concrete in this story. 

For My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh just scratched  the top of an amazing idea with her fingernail and never tried to go deeper, here she sprinkles a semblance of deeper knowledge onto a great idea, she works around it never on it. She adds stuff here and there, left and right to the story that just makes everything feel a little bit too much. The book just comes off as trying too hard. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

carolinachiesa96's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.0

The moral of the story is: abortion 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Pedophilia, Vomit, Incest, Abortion, Sexual assault, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

lau_charest's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Excrement, Blood, Vomit, Suicide, Physical abuse, Gore, Cannibalism, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Self harm, Child death, Rape, Murder, and Incest

saintesasha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

Such a thrilling and gripping read, but it definitely will not be for everybody. Moshfegh skillfully conveys the horrors of medieval life while leaning into mysticism and the influence of religion, sexuality, and the taboo. I devoured this in less than 24 hours - I found myself shocked yet riveted by the complex characters. Moshfegh richly describes the town and citizens of Lapvona, and it only took a few pages to become fully immersed in her descriptions of the world Jude, Marek and Villiam inhabit. The reflections of the meaning of religion and how religion is used to manipulate but also provide hope for those who suffer was very interesting and navigated in an interesting way. 

This novel was very refreshing and I personally loved reading such a depraved novel that teeters between a thriller, fantasy and horror novel! This book is probably best suited to those who can cope with confronting and long passages about violence/sexual assault and content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Blood, Rape, Cannibalism, Incest, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, and Vomit

kcakes719's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Opening with that Demi Lovato quote was like a punch in the gut.

I think I might be severely desensitized because this book didn’t gross me out in the way others have described. It certainly has moments where I can see why someone would be disturbed though. This is a medieval slice of life with zero likable characters and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The audiobook narration by the author was *chefs kiss*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Slavery, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Vomit, Incest, Alcohol, Bullying, Excrement, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Classism, Grief, and Animal cruelty

chloeforkerway's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Ableism, Abortion, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Classism, Gore, Vomit, and Rape

literarybitch's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

.... Huh??????????? 

P.S. If you like stories where literally nobody is in the right, go for it, but holy shit dude it's A LOT 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, and Pregnancy

marxeism's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

Weird book about weird and crazy people. If you're looking for a dark story about casual human evil, this is for you. Characters are interesting and diverse, but all but one of them is just awful. Personally I had a hard time getting into this and being invested/following a flow. Kind of reminiscent of game of thrones (the tv show, not the books)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Incest, Misogyny, Child death, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal death, Ableism, Abortion, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder

saint_eleanor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ok sorry everyone but i actually love this book so much. 
Opening with a demi lovato quote is craaaazy, especially because of what followed. This was so bleak and upsetting and so complicated and complex even though the writing and story were so straight forward. It felt so incredibly haunted even though there was no supernaturalness, just madness. 

I'm so curious to know what people thought of the fact that the servants seemed to be worshipping a completely different deity the whole time, and also what it meant at the end when ina 'put god' into grigor. Assuming that ina killed Agata by slowly poisoning her with tansy, but still kind of uncertain how she got younger (maybe just eats more) and why all of a sudden she cares about god. 

This book is kind of abt love in the time of capitalism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Animal death, Self harm, and Child death

Moderate: Excrement

iron stomachs only.

inkhamartia's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Body horror, Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Child death, Blood, Vomit, Rape, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty