Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

53 reviews

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

georgialee01's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Vomit, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide, Gore, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Excrement, Bullying, Animal death, Sexual content, Incest, Classism, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Ableism

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

rmanaa's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Verstörend, grausam und mehr als grotesk. Ein schonungsloses, polarisierendes Werk. Literarisch gesehen ihr bisher Bestes, in Stil und Sprache übertrifft sie sich auf sämtlichen Ebenen selbst. Ihre Faszination für den Menschen in seiner körperlichen (und geistigen) Abartigkeit kommt deutlich zum Vorschein. Es gibt kein Tabu, dass sie nicht bricht, keine Grenze, die sie nicht überschreitet. Dies ist definitiv keine Einstiegslektüre, nichts für schwache Nerven (bitte checkt auf jeden Fall zuerst die Triggerwarnungen!!) und vielleicht eher etwas für erfahrene Moshfegh-Leser*innen, die auch nur leise ahnen können, worauf sie sich hier einlassen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, and Incest

Minor: Suicide

nikmalikov's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

that was . certainly an experience 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Gore, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Rape, Excrement, and Animal death

Moderate: Bullying, Vomit, Abortion, and Ableism

lameura's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-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

3.5

As always I love a bit of dark and grotesque storytelling, superbly well written but lacking a solid plot I feel. All the characters were unlikable in their own right, but in themselves feel justified in their actions, making this a difficult read at certain points. 

The observations of the characters and the story itself felt very distanced, making some of the more brutal scenes more palatable but for themes like this I almost want to be viscerally disgusted and not

watching a rape from the rapists POV

if you get me? 

Anyway, still a great piece of storytelling and would recommend for fans of the genre.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Incest, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal death, Bullying, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

princesspunkass's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Death, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Abortion, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Respectfully, what the fuck 
The writing is *immaculate* the imagery is….. profoundly grotesque. Just as the author intended, so, mission accomplished. But at what cost, man. Otessa, you good? 5 stars for execution, but 1 star for content = 3 stars. Oof.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Classism, Misogyny, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Toxic relationship

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

thearchivist03's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.25

So...where to start?
You're not supposed to like the characters, and it's very body gore oriented with a side of medieval soft world building. It's captivating at first when Ottessa writes about each character's suffering, but you soon get desensitized and perhaps go a little mad and laugh at the over the top chaos.
I hear some people say that one of the characters is representative of female rage, but this character strikes me as thrown in out of the blue for more plot development. It does have an open ending, just a heads up.
I have such a love-hate relationship with the author and this book. I did enjoy the descriptions and her writing style of scenery and the world, but keep in mind her character descriptions and development brink on grotesque and nihilistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Ableism, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Lots of detail in the excrement and fluids part. And all the sexual violence scenes primarily take place in the abuser's point of view, even though it's omniscient. It demonizes women a lot, be warned.