Reviews with content warning for Blood - Eileen

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

55 reviews

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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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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vbarsi's review

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dark reflective 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

3.75

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sofiam19's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

A bit boring, skillfully written, gross main character, the ending was flat. It was whatever.

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augusta_'s review

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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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