Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

23 reviews

sydexo's review against another edition

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 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Fatphobia

le_lobey's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, Grief, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Cancer

Moderate: Infidelity

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

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

akadie's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Death, and Grief

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

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

_belty_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Fatphobia, Abortion, and Grief

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