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blyttgh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
03/13/24 3.5/5 stars. I loved how claustrophobic being in the narrator’s mind felt. The intensity of her stream of consciousness almost made up for the sparse plot but overall it felt like something was missing. Maybe that was an intentional oversight to really connect how deteriorated her mental state was or maybe it really was all for nothing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal death, and Body shaming
pkc's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
This was such a bizarre book and I thiiiiink I get what it was going for. However, if you’re picking it up and thinking “ooh look a small murder mystery” it’s much more and I don’t know if I’d consider it a spoiler to say there’s no neat resolution. There are a ton of hints that suggest what has likely happened but no resolution per se. Vesta as a main character was fascinating but - her actions strike me as being the actions of someone who is aging and trying to make sense of a traumatic life with a loathsome man as her mind fragments from age and trauma
This is the third Otessa Moshfegh book I’ve read and as with her previous books, it was wholly unlike anything else I’ve read.
This is the third Otessa Moshfegh book I’ve read and as with her previous books, it was wholly unlike anything else I’ve read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body shaming, and Animal death
Moderate: Mental illness and Infidelity
no1coelocanthfan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Body shaming, Animal death, and Grief
sierrainstitches's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming
texashippie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Grief, and Emotional abuse
unhingedreader's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Death and Fatphobia
britts_booknook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, and Fatphobia
jude333's review against another edition
I just couldn’t deal with the writing style. The long paragraphs about seemingly nothing just couldn’t capture my interest. I understand that it’s more to show her thought process, but things like that almost every 3 pages just killed me. I can (kind of) deal with an unlikable character, but this was extensive. I need SOMETHING that keeps me wanting to continue spending my time reading about them, and everything was just so awful.
Also the fat phobia was just too much to handle. These awful view points and long rants about these “fat women” did nothing to explore the character for me. It just showed how awful she was, which I was already EXTREMELY aware of. I understand that the point of her character is that she’s completely delusional, but I can only read about delusion so much before I start to discount every word and then it feels like I’m just wasting my time.
I will say, I did have an interest in her relationship with her husband, and that might have kept me going, but there was just so much noise around it that it wasn’t enough. I was reading on a kindle, but then I switched to the audiobook (which honestly did help a little), but I found myself continuously looking at the progress bar to see how much time I had left, and I didn’t want to force myself into a reading slump because of this book.
All in all, I see how some people could carry on with it, but it’s just not for me.
Also the fat phobia was just too much to handle. These awful view points and long rants about these “fat women” did nothing to explore the character for me. It just showed how awful she was, which I was already EXTREMELY aware of. I understand that the point of her character is that she’s completely delusional, but I can only read about delusion so much before I start to discount every word and then it feels like I’m just wasting my time.
I will say, I did have an interest in her relationship with her husband, and that might have kept me going, but there was just so much noise around it that it wasn’t enough. I was reading on a kindle, but then I switched to the audiobook (which honestly did help a little), but I found myself continuously looking at the progress bar to see how much time I had left, and I didn’t want to force myself into a reading slump because of this book.
All in all, I see how some people could carry on with it, but it’s just not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Abortion
charvermont's review against another edition
challenging
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? It's complicated
4.0
Disturbing, an unlikeable protagonist but it is interesting to see her slowly unraveling. Wished the mystery was more than just in her head but great writing nonetheless.
Unnecessary fatphobic commentary (which is apparently Moshfegh’s thing across all her novels)
Unnecessary fatphobic commentary (which is apparently Moshfegh’s thing across all her novels)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
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
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