Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

96 reviews

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

m4ggie's review

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Violence, Death of parent, and Child abuse

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

I didn't enjoy it but it was quite good. I saw someone call it "Carol for psychos" and honestly that's not too far off. Not quite as boring as Carol, but not lively, either. A very good character study. Not quite my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Incest

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Classism, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Stalking, Vomit, and Blood

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

nyah_lou's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Excrement, Death of parent, and Child abuse

rottenpixiee's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is a wild ride. The beginning is an introduction about this troubled woman Eileen. She starts as a flat, monotonous woman whose life only consists of taking care of her drunk father and working at the Boys Prison. Then she meets Rebecca, a beautiful and enchanting woman, who is the newest employee. 

She thinks she has found friendship. As she describes her feelings towards Rebecca, it becomes clear how “pathetic” Eileen was. Due to the trauma she’s endured, she’s codependent on Rebecca. She recalls so many feelings of longing for friendship. In a twist, Rebecca pulls Eileen into a crime of which she is now complicit. Eileen’s’ complicity in this crime takes her imagination farther than she thought. This is a perfect winter read for those who like myster, thriller, and uneasy female narrators/characters. 

I’ve come to appreciate Otessa Moshfegh’s writing. It is concise and smooth. One of my criticisms of her, is her persistent need to write her characters with a disdain for overweight people. It’s something I picked up on especially in this book, My Year of Rest & Relaxtion (which was interesting to say the least, not in a good way), and Homesick For Another World. Sometimes the writing can be a bit pretentious and too many adjectives make it so the sentence drags on. Almost like typing random words so you can reach the word count type of thing. Other than all of that, it’s still a 5 star read for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Eating disorder, Rape, and Alcoholism

bibliomich's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Eileen is one of those reads that you're (probably) either going to absolutely love or totally hate. Moshfegh delivers a brilliantly written unlikeable female protagonist who reminds us that when you remove the thin veneer of civility, humans can be kind of disgusting creatures. I found the book to be gross, but in a fascinating, I-can't-stop-reading-this kind of way.

There's a lot of exposition in this one, and it feels like it takes nearly 75% of the book for anything to really *happen*. I personally prefer character development over plot development. But either way, the payoff is well worth it in the end. There was a specific line towards the end of the book (which I won't quote here, at risk of spoiling the story) where my brain went, "Ohhh I'm reading a thriller." I'm excited to read more of Moshfegh's writing in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Pedophilia

Moderate: Vomit, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Violence

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

carijacqueline's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment

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