Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

7 reviews

noahoha's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Classism

mindespair's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

overall this just dragged on way too much for me and it was a very ‘nothing happens’ kind of book. nightmare for my adhd. also so much fatphobia like girl what did i ever do to u. it was interesting enough to finish reading but i don’t think i’d recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Fatphobia, and Cancer

Minor: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Cursing, Excrement, Abortion, and Classism

the dog does indeed die after being neglected for the whole book

_jaybee_'s review against another edition

dark funny sad slow-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

If you're looking for a creepy/dark plot-driven mystery this is *not it* and absolutely DO NOT ENGAGE lol. This is 100% character driven and written in the stream-of-conciousness style. The narrator is completely unreliable, objectively a pretty terrible person (fatphobic, classist, neglectful), and as we find out later, traumatized as well.

The first 60-70% read like a dark satire on the power of the stories we tell ourselves. The last bit documented the unraveling of a mind from within that very mind. By the end, any clarity you thought you had between reality and imagination is very fuzzy. 

I've seen other reviews that interpreted the book as a bleak meditation on loneliness, and that is definitely a theme, just not the one that jumped out at me the most. It's incredibly well-written and thought provoking, but I can see how it would annoy readers if it's not their thing or if they expected something different. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Classism, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

oliviah1111's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

this book is very very slow paced. from what i understand, it was only over the span of 2-3 days. i enjoyed it either way, but there are some weird elements i didnt like.

there was random hints of fatphobia, and what kind of felt like fetishization of foreign women. this may be because of the narrator being an older woman, but it seemed to be the writers opinion sneaking through especially with the weird comments about fat people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Xenophobia, Cancer, Fatphobia, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Alcohol

lycaenide's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

1.5

I struggled to get into this, then at the half way mark I raced to the end only to be left literally saying "what the f*" out loud. I'm thoroughly confused, unsatisfied and left with a disgusting taste in my mouth. I read this as someone I follow online said it was a favourite of the last year, but I must be really missing something.

Full breakdown under spoilers: 

Characters: 5/10
The narrator was both likeable and unlikeable, and really well crafted. It felt like you were inside someone's head. I liked the fact that the narrator was elderly.

Atmosphere: 6/10
Really atmospheric descriptions of the woods, and by the end I was on edge just from the setting.

Writing style: 6/10
The writing itself was wonderful. It felt like this character had just unloaded her unconscious mind onto the page in a way that was engaging, if wildly confusing.

Plot: 1/10
Absolutely what the f*. What was that ending. I had to skim it because that is my most hated trope and I'm so bitter that that's how this story ended and I wasn't forewarned. I'm not a stranger to endings that aren't neatly wrapped up, and this reminded me of Earthlings, how you didn't know what was real or not. But I must be missing something because I have no clue what happened. 

Intrigue: 5/10
The first half was relatively boring but then it really picked up in intrigue.

Logic: 1/10
I think we can all agree that there was no logic here. 

Enjoyment: 1/10
The little spark of enjoyment I felt once the story picked up was squashed by the ending. This is obviously not the book for me. Honestly I wish I could throw it across the room but my copy is from the library. 

Overall rating: 3.57/10

I'm ignoring the balanced CAWPILE rating for this one and going off vibes. Basically, out of 5, it gets a point to acknowledge the writing ability and a half point for having an elderly protagonist and that's it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Excrement

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Addiction

robi_locksley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Excrement, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide attempt and Infidelity