Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

151 reviews

centesimal's review against another edition

fast-paced

1.0

Narrow and meandering. Jumps from one character to another randomly from paragraph to paragraph. Characters know things they should not with no explanation. Heavily relies on shocking or disgusting the reader without providing any real narrative beyond people and the world being terrible, which maybe is the only point of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, Domestic abuse, Rape, Incest, Vomit, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

gnpunpun's review against another edition

dark medium-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

Great writing, type of book that is written specifically to disturb you. Type of book that makes you wish you were illiterate. I’ll never read it again, but, though I wanted to throw up at some parts, I also wanted to keep reading to see just how terrible it could get. It does get you hooked gotta give it that! Especially in the second half, it’s gross and dark and disturbing. The religious aspect and how it was used was really interesting to me so that’s basically what my stars for this review are for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Death, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death

Minor: Self harm

You should look up all of the trigger warnings before this book, I may have missed some!

kittycatcaitlyn's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Blood, Abortion, Child death, Death, and Cannibalism

kayla_wikaryasz's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

0.5

This book was gross. Not even in a good way. Clearly this author is talented, but the story was so perverse that it seemed they were just going for shock value. I only finished it because I invested too much time into it already, and was hopeful that it would at least end in a meaningful way. It didn't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Animal death, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Medical trauma, Gore, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Miscarriage, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Animal cruelty

b00murded's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

kind of disgusting in a "car crash you can't look away from" kind of way 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Violence, Blood, Child death, Self harm, Body shaming, Death, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, and Death of parent

theraindiary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Incest, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cannibalism, Excrement, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

amyy_'s review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

I really don’t know what to think of this. 
There isn’t really a plot at all just lists of disturbing events that happened over a year. Don’t really know why someone would want to write about them either. It’s like she just added all the most horrible things together and put them in a story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Abortion

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Violence, Death, Religious bigotry, Animal death, and Pregnancy

Minor: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Incest, Blood, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

Very weird

hedsek's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

A train wreck I couldn't look away from but in the end I wonder if there's any point to this book. Idk it just feels over the top ironic with how meaningless all the violence and gore is when all it seems to say is religion bad and humans bad.

Maybe it's because I'm used to fucked up stuff from reading Dutch literature but it's not as shocking as some reviews make it out. Still, unpleasant stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Excrement, Murder, Rape, Body horror, Classism, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Animal death, Child death, Self harm, Sexism, Pedophilia, Ableism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicide, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

e_milyking's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

If you want to read a book about a medieval town with absolutely no moral compass that is somehow also heavily religious, with absolutely zero likeable characters this is the book for you!! A very weird and interesting book but so fkn funny, everyone in this book sucks and no one communicates with each other. Read this in one go, some parts are so disturbing but you just can’t stop reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Sexual violence

zlizzyv's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This was easily the strangest book I have ever read. Previous reviews said it felt like a fever dream. Truly it is beyond wild. I was, however, invested, so I did finish it and was surprised by the plot line/ending.

Was the point to be as repulsive and evil as possible? Is it a cruel irony to have so many trigger warnings in one book?

I do not regret finishing the book, but I cannot say I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abortion, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Slavery, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit