Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

51 reviews

scarfires's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Gore, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Torture, Suicide, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Abortion, Ableism, Mental illness, Grief, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Abandonment

lonnie_rockwithfrog's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

quiltsandtealibrary's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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

ohheyoberon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The audiobook can be difficult to follow because the point of view constantly changes between every character with no breaks or pauses.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Incest, Classism, Death, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

sarahbeth01w's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

This review contains spoilers 

Wow. That's all I can really say about this book. 

I was loaned a copy of this book from a friend. I would never have picked up a book like this if it had not been recommended to me. 

I enjoy media with creepy motifs. However, I like my creepy media with a hefty side of hope and humor. 
This book has no hope or humor, but I didn't dislike this book. Conversely, I didn't like this book. It definitely made me feel a certain way

 I don't know what the author was trying to say, but it's clear that she was trying to say something. The only theme I could possibly pin down is," Humanity uses God to justify their own thoughts. God is a human creation"

There are way too many trigger warnings and plot points in this book to examine individually in such a short review. So, instead I have invited a co-author to write this part of the review. Take it away Stefon!

2022 hottest book is Lapvona. It has everything: a
Medieval fiefdom, politics, magic, an old woman gouging her eyes out, lambs, rape, love, medical masturbation, religion, bad parents, adult breastfeeding, and poison. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Classism, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual violence, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Incest and Miscarriage

geneebee's review against another edition

dark tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Incest, Cannibalism, Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Self harm, Rape, Murder, Gore, Pedophilia, Blood, Animal death, Abandonment, Death, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Abortion

sweetpea's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.5

I had a difficult start with the first 1/3 of the book. Put it down for months and then read it all in one sitting. I felt I had no entry point for any of the characters. Truly all were unlikable, which is not a fault in and of itself, but the way they were written was so alien to me that I could not be remotely invested.  The characters seem to survive off spite. Mosfegh's obsession with bodily functions and filth, while curiously funny in other works, was so tiresome here!  There was something generally underbaked about the novel. I'm not a deeply religious person, so, the novel's central themes of faith and religious artifice might have gone over my head. This was just a chore to get into and a bit predictable (again not a fault). The setting was really intriguing to me and I could tell she put effort into researching it. I just felt the story never went anywhere... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Excrement, Kidnapping, Rape, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

celbl8o's review against another edition

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

elisabeth_with_an_ess's review against another edition

It just... Went from one gross thing to another. The only likeable character died in his first scene. I decided I'd had enough when got to a rape scene presented without any sense of horror or pity on behalf of the victim.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence