Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

9 reviews

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

okay. when i first finished this book, i didn’t really care for it. i didn’t not like it, but i initially found it a little boring. i’ve had time to let it marinate, and i am finally aware of just how crazy this novel is. the whole thing is just this poor old lady (vesta) driving herself absolutely mad. 85% of this novel takes place inside of vesta’s head. most of the things that “happen” in this book don’t even happen! she’s just making shit up!!! and the ending. wtf?! great use of an unreliable narrator.

ngl the ending had me giggling. it also COMPLETELY caught me off guard. and wtf was up with charlie at the end?? i wish we got some sort of explanation on that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Murder and Cancer

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Alcohol, and Animal death

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

grunbean's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.0

I love Mosfegh’s writing, and this is by no means a bad book. I can only describe is lacking in a way, but I can’t put my figure on what it is exactly. 

Definitely for you if you like mystery, as every part of it feels like a mystery in some way. It just seems to lack something that ties it all together, I finished it feeling confused.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

natalia_booksss's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Cancer

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

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

shoohoob's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

This book is for people who have anxiety and frequently make up scenarios in their head. The entire book is this one woman’s internal monologue and she slowly spirals further and further. I actually really liked this book, to my surprise! It took me a bit to fully commit to the writing style, but once I was about a quarter of the way in I was Hooked.

I also liked viewing this book as someone trying to cope with grief and loss while understanding past trauma. It’s interesting just how little we learn about the main character and her backstory even though we are fully immersed in her narrative. However, the main threads throughout the book was death and grief. I viewed Vesta’s slow descent into madness as her way of coping with her grief (not a healthy coping strategy lmao) and it helped me understand the book on a deeper level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Alcohol

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cancer, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content

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