Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

17 reviews

brinnavirginia's review

tense slow-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

1.0

I'm apt to love a book in which nothing much happens and of course welcome a book rich in plot. This book is at least 50% exposition and then attempts to squeeze the rest of a plot into the final third or so--one that's just-ok and simply not worth trudging through what comes first to get there.
I'm down with an unlikable protagonist, but Eileen was not interesting enough to warrant her detestable character (and intense, over-the-top, makes-me-think-it-might-be-the-author fatphobia). I enjoyed the womanly yuckiness at first until it was just soooo much puke.
This book could have been, like, a hundred fewer pages. I had to read the Wikipedia plot summary to convince myself to just finish reading it (pulled through for book club <3). In the end, it wasn't worth the effort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Misogyny, Incest, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Child abuse, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Blood, and Chronic illness

gaeliloveweiss's review

dark funny 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

4.75

Don’t read this unless you love an awful person character study.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Torture, Incest, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Murder, Gun violence, Body shaming, Vomit, Pedophilia, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

libellumartinae's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

My main problem with this book is the pace. Nothing - LITERALLY NOTHING - happens through the first page and in the last two chapters everything goes down, which might have been interesting as the previous chapters depict Eileen's life but ugh, was it just plain boring. and the plot-twist? not that impressive. Certainly doesn't make up for the whole waiting.

Still, I love the way that Moshfeg just write something like so unhinged and yet so close to the truth. She hangs onto the line of 'what if we just listened and did what that dark part in us tell us so?'. And it's strangely cathartic. STILL, it was plain boring and badly paced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Drug abuse, and Vomit

scoutgreimel's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Rape

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

aeamanda's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Rape

Moderate: Eating disorder and Body shaming

hannibanani29's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Murder, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gun violence

Minor: Drug abuse

weepingstones's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Animal death, Murder, and Addiction

flossiepalmer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Vomit, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Grief, and Emotional abuse

alisha247's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit