Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

11 reviews

um_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This is me expanding my reading horizons! 🤩
Diving into Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' was a journey unlike any other, not my preferred genre but was not disappointed. 

At first glance, the narrative seemed deceptively mundane – everyday routines, mundane interactions, nothing out of the ordinary. The juxtaposition of the mundane and the disturbing was jarring, yet strangely mesmerizing, like watching a trainwreck unfold in slow motion.

‘Eileen' left me feeling deeply disturbed yet utterly captivated. It's a testament to Moshfegh's talent that she could take something as mundane as daily life and turn it into something so profoundly unsettling. Eileen is definitely worth a read.

Check your trigger warnings for this book ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Excrement, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Death

amsswim's review against another edition

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

4.25

I'm not sure really what to say about this. I enjoyed it. This is the second book by the author Ottessa Moshfegh I have read, the other being 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation', and just as that one this book is just unhinged. I think this one may be more based in reality but still gave me the feeling of unsettlement. If you like weird things this may be for you. 

I am now very interested in watching the movie they made recently based on this starring Anne Hathaway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Incest, Dementia, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Car accident

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

happily's review

dark mysterious 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

alaynafaith'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

2.0

idk I just didn’t really like it 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Vomit, Addiction, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Body shaming, Gun violence, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fatphobia, Violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

merlinduh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

Minor: Murder and Religious bigotry

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.0

There was one too many talks of bowel movements.
I'm sorry, but I just didn't vibe with the book. I see so many people praising it but to me it was a book where it took forever for something to start happening. The first half of the book was just so boring to me with burst of disgust whenever bowel movements were mentioned. Seriously I started to really detest the word bowels.
 I recognise that this book is just not for me and if I was not given it by my friend I would never have read it. But hey maybe a film adaptation with foxy Anne Hathaway will change my mind, who knows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Body shaming, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Torture

triple_m's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.0

Really unenjoyable.

This book is boring for like 200 pages. I was literally forcing myself to read it. It was very bleak and repetitive and I like dark topics but nothing really happens until the very end.

I’m okay with slow burns but I was never invested because I found the hook of this book uninteresting and weak. The whole thing we’re leading up to is why a 24yo “ran away” from home. ?? That’s just called moving out. And of course it alludes that “something” happens to make her suddenly leave but since she fantasized about leaving the entire novel I wasn’t surprised she left.

Eileen is wholly unlikable to me. I get that she had a rough life but I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her, and I definitely was never rooting for her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Rape

Moderate: Religious bigotry

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The story had huge potential, but made me feel uncomfortable, unfortunately for the wrong reasons most of the time.
Telling the story retrospectivly was a weird decision and made the book less suspenseful. It also could have been definitely shorter, which was mainly caused by the author underestimating the reader and over explaining every single characteristic or situation important for the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

dealingwithdragons's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Torture, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Excrement, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Abortion