Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

65 reviews

mediocrity_is_expected's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, Rape, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Child death, Classism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Confinement, Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Bullying, Incest, Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death

cwiita's review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.0

Well, after marking My Year Of Rest and Relaxation as my only DNF ever, I managed to make it through this one. I purchased this book before I started MYORAR, before I had any idea how much I would struggle with Otessa Moshfegh. I find her to be a difficult read, not for lack of skill or quality, but for the simple fact that she seems to have an ongoing problem with fatphobia and ableism, among other things.  I discussed my initial problems with MYORAR with a friend who has read most of Moshfegh's work, and the consensus was that her stories relay very similar views each time and that her characters tend to be the same type of people across the board. I am a big fan of unreliable narrators and I appreciate the challenge of crafting a story around difficult characters, but to do it unrelentingly in every book while consistently implying hateful messages is tough for me to get behind.
With that being said, I blew through Lapvona. This book is absolutely vile, but incredibly readable when it comes to pacing and language. It was also much easier to tolerate the actions and views of the characters knowing that the events were taking place under a feudal system in medieval times. Moshfegh did a wonderful job of characterization, for better or for worse. The plot is somehow both ceaseless and unrecognizable. It's an infinite circle of pointless suffering, but maybe that's the point.  In an uncanny way, there was something enjoyable about this read. Since I already own MYORAR, this piece almost convinced me to give it another try. Almost.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Drug use, Excrement, Ableism, Blood, Death, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

evantmellon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Abortion, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

jessica_luvs'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Abortion, Animal death, and Body horror

mnatale100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Rape, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Abortion, Confinement, Excrement, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Incest

gonzogamer's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Gore, Incest, Death, Excrement, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Ableism, Alcohol, and Animal death

AND MORE

emacmillan's review against another edition

Too graphic 🤢

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Torture, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Body horror, Self harm, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Vomit, Child death, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Incest, Gore, Grief, Excrement, and Emotional abuse

archer3's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Vile, disgusting, perverse, and extremely grotesque. Certain passages made me physically recoil. Yet, somehow, I loved the story. It was very well-written and I couldn't stop reading. I loved the third person narration that gave insight into the intricacies of so many different characters. I absolutely hated the main characters, and didn't care about the other ones in the slightest, but that was definitely the point. Going back and forth between so many characters and reading their views and personal opinions on each other didn't leave enough time to start liking any of them anyway, and it was genuinely great and so cool to read. Seeing their varying beliefs and conflicting viewpoints was fascinating and gave the story so much more depth and complexity. The subtle message about how differing perspectives alter perceptions, beliefs, and circumstances was striking. 
Some plot points were really not wrapped up well, though.

What on earth was up with Ina taking the horse's eyes?? That felt like very sloppy writing, it just didn't make sense. It seemed it only happened for the shock value. I would've liked there to be a passage about what happened to Dibra. I also didn't enjoy how Jude faded out of the story and then was randomly brought back to replace Luka. I wish that whole situation could've been explained better (like how they even found his cave, for example).

But on the other hand, there were some plot points that I actually really loved and thought were developed perfectly (

such as Marek's biological father being the bandit he kissed at the beginning

). 
I did not find this book predictable at all, and I loved it. Definitely not for everyone, though. (Don't read it if you have a weak stomach...)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gore, Murder, Abortion, Cannibalism, Child death, Pedophilia, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this but also struggling to put into words why.

It definitely feels like a pandemic novel, as we see the undeserving rich living in largely oblivious luxury while the poor starve, die, and are driven to insanity by the drought. Though the setting is medieval, a lot of modern human behaviour is laid out here: the rich playing with people's lives for amusement, resource shortage artificially created in order to ensure obedience, religion and faith used as tools to impose suffering on the masses, by people who do not even believe in a God, and how these come together to prop up the capitalist system. 

The book is incredibly atmospheric and I read it in three sittings, the writing style pulled me in and the characters are so awful you can't look away. 

There is a lot that goes without explanation particularly revolving around the village "witch" Ina. I enjoyed parts of this mystery, with some other aspects frustrating me with their vagueness. I also felt like the ending fizzled out a bit, whereas I was expecting a big crescendo. 

This has been my first Moshfegh read and I'm really excited to delve into her other novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Animal death, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Rape

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, and Body horror

rgracyalny's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Alcoholism, Confinement, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Abortion, Cannibalism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Self harm, Gore, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse