Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

47 reviews

ellxnmcgrxth's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

2.5

The absolute misery of the protagonist's POV is very difficult to put up with considering not much else really happens. The ending is beautiful, but not beautiful enough to offset the bleakness of the rest of the book.

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mreisen's review

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Major trigger warning for multiple types of abuse and addiction. Read if you like introspective character studies and enjoy a winding, convoluted, sometimes unclear plot.

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hdelisle's review against another edition

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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

2.0

 Like all of Moshfegh’s characters, Eileen is gross and overall unlikeable. Some of the detestable thoughts that she had regarding others she thought that these were normal thoughts or at least nothing that should prompt worry. The first 72% of the novel was very slow where Moshfegh takes the time to get the reader fully understand what Eileen’s motivations were. Because of this I found the majority of the book kind of boring. Eileen, as a character, did not interest me all that much. Other than being kind of gross she never extracted any greater emotion than being a bit repulsed. However, this I could overlook if the climax of the story was worth it. While the story definitely picked up and became more gripping in the last 20-25% of the novel I did not think that the climax was worth the first 72% of the novel. I have had trouble with a few of Moshfegh’s other novels and I just do not think that her writing/novels are for me. 

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pages_turned's review against another edition

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

4.25

** Some spoilers below **

Atmospheric — that’s the best way to describe this book. 

The narration is confessional. Eileen’s account veers between startling self-awareness (this insight comes in hindsight — young Eileen is naive, easily manipulated, desperate and ashamed) and questionable memory. 

The reader is dragged alongside Eileen in the beginning half of the book. You exist in her dreary life. You stumble alongside her in drunken desperation, sit with her in her filth, and wince at her bald insecurity. 

But the “dark and glittering” world beyond her front door — covered in an unforgiving and unrelenting blanket of snow — is this expectant presence throughout the book. You’re just waiting to find out what forces Eileen out into the cold that final time. 

** Spoiler alert ** 

The twist on p222 was delightful. This moments catapults the reader from Eileen’s stagnant life of self-delusion. 

The deer at the end is the sign of rebirth. Stags shed their antlers every year and they grow back.

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binevolentbookworm's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i wanted so much more from this considering the praise i’ve heard people give it. boring. maybe i’ll have more words later on.

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hlb2023's review

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dark mysterious reflective 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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raisinreads's review

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wanted a bit more from the plot of the book, but it was the writing style that absolutely sucked me in. I know there's a movie out based on it now, which I am unsure about watching as the main virtue of this book by far was the prose

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lanternhillbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75


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phantompansy's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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 was dark, haunting, and entirely captivating. a beautifully written character study of a young woman at her breaking point. I wouldn't recommend it to people who want something to happen, as this is first and foremost a dissection of Eileen as a character, and plot takes a backseat which I really enjoyed. haven't stopped thinking about this since I read it.

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elizabethng2's review

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

4.75

there are no wolves, only mice 

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