Reviews with content warning for Death - Death in Her Hands

There were a lot of questionable moments that felt less like "this is an unlikeable character/bad choice on the character's part" and more a Choice by the author that was definitely unnecessary. I'm talking about the fatphobia. It stopped being a character thing and became an author thing pretty early on, so do be aware of that going in.
The weirdness of it isn't what turned me off from this book, instead it was some of the narrative decisions that I just didn't vibe with. It's easy to see what Ottessa Moshfegh is so popular, but equally easy to see why people find her books hard to like. The way this is written feels very stream of consciousness, which works for this narrative.
Pacing wise, there was a chunk near the final third that I just did not care about. I got bored of the repetitiveness (which was intentional), and coupled with everything else, I nearly checked out entirely.

oh, and the dog dies at the end.

Content Warnings

sydexo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Death in Her Hands is a complicated story about a complicated character, maybe two: Vesta, our main character, and Magda, our murder victim.

You stay with Vesta the whole time after she discovers a note reading:

“Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.”

You follow along with her action and inner monologue as she uncovers what happened to this girl who was potentially murdered.

A story with touching quotes, a lovable dog named Charlie, plus themes of grief, madness, murder, and more.

I always have mixed feelings with Ottessa Moshfegh’s work because she has a way of writing unlikable, unreliable, and unattractive characters. However, I don’t think it’s as effective when she writes about “fat” characters. It just usually rubs me personally the wrong way…idk.

It took me soooo long to finally finish this book. Also not sure why, but maybe the pacing or plot wasn’t as pleasing to me as past books?? I enjoyed the second half quite a bit and finally felt myself feeling more intrigued/hooked.

Still searching for my fav Ottessa book

Content Warnings

sassylk's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

wow - what a strange ending. it fits with the sense of total suspense that the reader feels throughout the novel, but it also made me SO ANNOYED. I feel like I understand everything and nothing about this book. Either everything Vesta believes is true (proven by meeting Shirley and Blake) or this is the rankings of a lonely woman slowly going mad. And it can be read both ways simultaneously! I also loved the slow reveal of Walter’s abusive personality, almost as though Vesta is realising it as we are. The monologue style is done so well, with this obsessive nattering voice making the reader feel like they are taking on Vesta’s madness too, and what an interesting main character to see the world through the eyes of! I never read books centred around elderly women. I feel like nothing actually happened, and that’s what I hated about My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but the character-led narrative worked perfectly here. BUT I NEED THE ENDING EXPLAINED TO ME!!! I NEED MORE DETAILS!!!

Content Warnings

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

kelleywithanextrae's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

akadie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark 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

2.75

At first I stopped reading the book, because it started slow and then made quite a few fat phobic comments that I did not see the point in. However, the other reviews on here intrigued me to at least continue a little further. After finishing the Story, it is really interestingly written. However still a rather slow development with the fat phobia continuing throughout.

Content Warnings

More...