Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

142 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

whenthepawnhits's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Incest, and Rape

amharless417's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Incest, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gun violence

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

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

i liked this a lot more than i thought i would! as usual, i loved moshfegh’s writing style and style of storytelling. i think she laid out the setting very well. once again, she utilized an unlikable character as her protagonist, but this one was much easier to “put up with,” so to say, compared to the protagonist in mcglue. there was this minute feeling of boredom i felt throughout the entire novel, and i caught my mind drifting every once in a while. though that seems to be a trend with moshfegh’s novels due to how she likes to dwell on certain things, similar to the “violet prose” style often seen in classics. the ending was kind of disappointing as well? though i’m not sure what i expected or what could’ve been done differently for me to feel satisfied. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Eating disorder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

janienejulia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Incest, Vomit, Pedophilia, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Fatphobia and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage

kmcgraw's review against another edition

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

4.25

I felt at times it was slow and repetitive but I was truly enthralled from the beginning. I read this in two days and couldn’t put it down. Deals with very dark/heavy themes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Excrement, Suicide, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Abortion, and Police brutality

emilyrosebooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I am giving this 3 stars because the writing is really wonderful, it is creepy and bold. However it is very very slow. I enjoyed the perspective of the narrator as the main character in her now 70s looking back and telling the story of herself at age 24. The main character, Eileen, is NOT lovable, especially not in her youth, but she is the sort of disaster you can't look away from. I do wish the book started with the sentence, "This is the story of how I disappeared" or something along those lines because it felt directionless for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Murder, Incest, and Emotional abuse

em_gauts's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Child abuse, Gun violence, Eating disorder, Sexism, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Vomit

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