Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

20 reviews

abi_ch0m's review

adventurous dark sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Animal death, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

missymaus's review

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

2.25

One of the most grotesque books I've ever read. Interesting but definitely not for the faint of heart/stomach.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Bullying, Classism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Gore, Colonisation, Death, Child death, Abortion, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Incest, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

this__nerd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

I’ll admit that part of my rating is that I don’t think I “got” the book. This book is just a series of bad things happening to bad people and everyone blaming it on each other and/or god. It did manage to be an effective critique of toxic religious culture and exploitive wealth while also being extremely uncomfortable to read. Major trigger warnings on this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cannibalism, Abortion, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Violence, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Gore, and Body shaming

nixieba25f's review

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Self harm

quiltsandtealibrary's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved this book. Fucking wild as hell, but good. Not for everyone & not an easy read (emotionally) but it’s so well written it is an easy read? If that makes sense? 

Longer review:
Lapvona is nothing like anything I have ever read before. The book is disturbing, distorted, unsettling, & most of all very distressing for the most part. There is no chapters, just Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, & Spring again as we follow the story of the people of Lapvona through multiple POVs. Lapvona is a self aware story of the evilness of humans, how it’s shaped & how it’s created, greed & society. The book explores religious beliefs & traumas, daring to ask “if the creator is so great, then why has this happened?” 

I couldn’t put Lapvona down & read it in one sitting. There’s so much, yet so little to understand. It is a well written book that is hard to read at times. I do not recommend going into Lapvona blind & to maybe even spoil yourself for certain scenes to prepare yourself.

There is a way motherhood, childhood, coming of age/self discovery, & parental care that is explored in this book & shown in this book that will haunt me for the rest of my life. 

I don’t know if there will ever be another book like Lapvona, but I am eager to read more from Ottessa Moshfegh

5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Self harm, Body horror, Gore, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Incest and Pregnancy

This book is,,,,,something. Please maybe read some spoilers or just be prepared with the warnings i provided. This book just explores like everything grim & awful of the nature of humans. It frames all these ugly, evil things as bad so it gave me some peace of mind while reading it. But it’s??? Something

swamphag42069's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This was on a "wtf did I just read" list and I mean, that really says it all. Wtf did I just read. Haven't felt this weird since seeing Midsommar for the first time, which I think is a cool thing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Abortion, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Slavery, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

nolalee's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

No one writes the disgusting, walking, talking, scientific experiment that is the human body quite like Ottessa Moshfegh.
Lapvona is a novel that lingers like the stench of a rotten potato lost in your pantry; something is rancid but you aren't sure what. 
Every perspective narrative is unreliable and every character is the worst version of themselves. Moshfegh has created a Hieronymus Bosch painting of horrors with words.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Incest

celbl8o's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Blood, Child death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Ableism, Bullying, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

rhinaissance's review

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

kellyung's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Abortion, Animal death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Physical abuse, Violence, Ableism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Rape, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pedophilia