Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

30 reviews

remytherat's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.75

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Cancer and Death

drwozniak's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

First things first: fatphobia is present and I’m not really sure what purpose it serves. That’s my biggest knock against the book. 

Otherwise, this was very interesting and built up to that coveted tense and eerie mood that I so often don’t get even from horror novels. I was nervous at the similarities between this and “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” but they only echo each other. I thought it might go one way but Moshfegh turned it on a dime for me. Really good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Fatphobia and Blood

kelleywithanextrae's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Child death

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

luke_823's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Infidelity

s_lorenz's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

Minor: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Abortion, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

sofiiaclaire's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence

hannahlouise_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

i thought i’d like this book a lot more than i did coming to it after reading my year of rest and relaxation but honestly it was slightly underwhelming? i felt that the ending only happened as a way to end it, and as much as i love a no plot just vibes read i wasn’t really connected to this book in any way 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Cancer, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Abortion and Adult/minor relationship

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Cancer, Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Body shaming

Minor: Abortion and Adult/minor relationship

abbystevenson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, and Murder