Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

90 reviews

hiarac's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

I think this book is a perfect example of how you can enjoy something and still be critical of it. I can't say I didn't enjoy this book, I loved the way it was written and found the matter-of-fact descriptions of certain gross and/or terrible things quite interesting, however I do agree when people say it consists of just a whole lot of pain and suffering for the characters. I think that the book was shocking in its subject matter but not necessarily profound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Gore, Abortion, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Grief

emilycm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

giving this a solid 3.5, with the likelihood as i think about it, my rating would change and go up to a 4 star rating. ottessa moshfegh is funky in her darkness, and i think that's why we are all drawn to her work. i didn't really intend to buy this right when it came out, but i was certainly hungry for some of her dark humor and profound understanding of these leading themes of classism, grief, the list goes on. she has a hold on them, and there is no denying her cultural impact as a new literary mind in our time. i really didn't go in with expectations to this, other than it being more grotesque than her other work, or what i may expect.

i see a lot of criticism with people expressing their dislike and disappointment on this. and i agree and empathize with that. this didn't 'wow' me, but certainly as i think more about it, retrace chapters and character's moments to understand them better. but actually, i want to add to this criticism in saying where people might perceive this to have 'failed' is in its writing. the writing itself is the gift, and it is unconventional, and perhaps bland, or bland in its description of the grotesqueness, and therefore that deviates from one's taste of what a genre like the one moshfegh crafts to be her own can gift us.

i love the fact that there is no definition to what ottessa writes. and that's what i liked about this, it subverted my expectations and treated me to something new.

was it a memorable something new? maybe not. but her work, and this especially is layered. layered in its themes, the complexities within it, and the general aura that this story and its characters exude. i liked being welcomed into that odd fantasy of complexity under ottessa's dominating pen, but i generally rate this "lower" since it didn't strike me in a way that is going to stick with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, and Excrement

olivianw's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Grotesque. Moshfegh has a talent for making hideous stories impossible to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Suicide, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Body horror, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

lycheejelly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Rape, Self harm, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence, Pedophilia, Abortion, Body horror, Bullying, and Confinement

reginahafner_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

r.i.p to lispeth a true homie

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Miscarriage, Incest, Ableism, Blood, Pregnancy, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Minor: Cannibalism

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Murder, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Infertility, Incest, Grief, Gaslighting, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Gore, and Emotional abuse

bugcollector's review

dark tense slow-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

1.0

gross just for the sake of it doesn't make the book good. 
quite shitty, literally, and very edipus-esqe 
left me feeling 'ugh' and being glad that it's over. 
now it's time to forget, which will be easy for me. 
although I probably should have stopped early on giving that it wasn't giving. 
can be similar to Murakami, if you took the fun and life out, and left the way he writes woman characters and off-putting scenes. 

to conclude, 

It's so bad I want to give you a zero. But that's not possible. so I give you- a one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Incest, Sexual violence, Violence, and Infertility

avaaustin's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

Moshfegh looked at a list of content warnings and said let’s put them all in one book. Lapvona was totally en(gross)ing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Excrement, Abortion, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Torture, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Incest, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Ableism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

katiemanring'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

3.5

What a gruesome novel - Truly a visceral experience that definitely resembles some of the graphic physicality of her other works, but with a weird, haunted, medieval vibe. Very strange and yet still enjoyable if you don’t mind or even like gruesome tales —  but not for the faint of heart.  Highly recommend looking at all the content warnings if you’re unsure. 

Thank you so much to PENGUIN PRESS and NETGALLEY for access to the digital ARC - Releases officially on June 20 2022

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Violence, Incest, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, and Infidelity

ribhb's review against another edition

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Death, Body horror, Gore, Child death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Vomit