Reviews tagging 'Death'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

90 reviews

amarige's review

dark 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

3.0

A profoundly disturbed and lonely young woman is obsessively seeking some sort of validation - her motives are perplexing at best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Self harm, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Rape, Incest, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Body horror, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Confinement

zoecitterman's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual violence, Stalking, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Torture

ferneedssleep's review against another edition

dark 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Vomit, Abortion, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Eating disorder, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Addiction

kellyisntcool's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Eileen, while deeply flawed, uncomfortable, and morally reprehensible has to be one of the more relatable protagonists of any novel I’ve read recently. Very honestly and carefully written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, and Death

ellxnmcgrxth's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, Murder, Grief, Rape, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Incest, Violence, Mental illness, Hate crime, Confinement, Body shaming, and Alcohol

mreisen's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Physical abuse, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcoholism, Vomit, Torture, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Incest, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Dementia, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Car accident

lameura's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Vomit, Death, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Addiction, Drug use, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

olive_lol's review

dark 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

This novel's setting over the Christmas season creates a uniquely lonely atmosphere. Each scene is packed with description of often mundane things, which, for me, at least, got old after about a hundred pages. Some topics, like alcoholism and child abuse, are explored deeply through multiple characters who experience them.

This novel obviously makes you uncomfortable and grossed out on purpose, but I honestly don't think the story benefits much from that. Most of the sensetive or gross topics feel like they were only included for shock and contributed little to any wider commentary. However, some topics are very well-explored, just not most of those included. That said, make sure you check the content warnings for this book.

Nothing much in the plot happens until about the last third; most of the book leading up to that point is a mix of anecdotes, atmosphere, and gross-out description. For most of the first third, I was really considering picking up another book instead because so little was happening or felt significant. It did create a nice payoff when, in the last third, things started happening, but that didn't outweigh the slowness of the beginning and middle for me.

This book really wasn't for me. It had some merits, like strong descriptions and atmosphere. However, I couldn't look past the overly slow pacing and the overuse of some sensetive topics seemingly for shock.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Incest, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Vomit, Body shaming, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs, Classism, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Homophobia, and Animal death

fresias's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Rape

Minor: Fatphobia, Death, Vomit, and Body shaming

augusta_'s review

dark mysterious 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

3.25

Hm. I don’t think Ottessa Moshfegh’s books are for me, and this will probably be the last that I’ll read. Personally, her writing comes off to me like it’s trying to be shocking/edgy/grimy without actually having any further effect or commentary. 

I liked it better than My Year of Rest and Relaxation—one of her other books I read previously, which, the more I think about the less I like. 

The thing is, Eileen still has some of the same problems that disenchanted me with that book. I really don’t love the reused themes of eating disorders, the fantasies of sexual assault, the ultra descriptive paragraphs about laxatives and shitting, with seemingly nothing insightful or redeeming attached to them. Maybe it’s going over my head, maybe i’m not reading deep enough, maybe i’m being too demure. But I don’t think i am. It feels like Ottessa uses these themes for shock and and unconventionality—especially in the form of her narrators—rather than having perceivable psychological significance. 

There are a couple moments in the book that escape this and do have a commentary that is more significant, but most of the time that doesn’t feel like the case. 

I will say that the pace of this was a lot faster than R&R, and I very much appreciated that. But by the same token I also feel like nothing really happened? It’s fast paced and feels like it’s leading up to this huge thing…but once we get there it feels like about 3 pages of action. Given all the prior building up and alluding to of this “life changing event”, things really fell a little flat once you arrive there. I feel like I was much more intrigued by the lead up, than the actual “climactic” event. 

The end falls into the same problem I had with My Year of Rest & Relaxation. We have a character who’s suddenly turned around their once cynical view on life, and yet it doesn’t seem earned—or even really plausible, to me. It feels rushed and neatly tied off, in a way that doesn’t align with the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gore, Rape, and Incest

Moderate: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Death

Minor: Gun violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Stalking