Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

74 reviews

janienejulia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Incest, Vomit, Pedophilia, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Fatphobia and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage

kmcgraw's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

I felt at times it was slow and repetitive but I was truly enthralled from the beginning. I read this in two days and couldn’t put it down. Deals with very dark/heavy themes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Excrement, Suicide, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Abortion, and Police brutality

khetti's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Kidnapping

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I didn't enjoy it but it was quite good. I saw someone call it "Carol for psychos" and honestly that's not too far off. Not quite as boring as Carol, but not lively, either. A very good character study. Not quite my cup of tea.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Incest

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Classism, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Stalking, Vomit, and Blood

amarige's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

3.0

A profoundly disturbed and lonely young woman is obsessively seeking some sort of validation - her motives are perplexing at best. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Self harm, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Rape, Incest, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Body horror, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Confinement

applesodaperson's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

I kind of don’t know how to feel about this book. I liked it and didn’t like it at the same time. The thing this book did really well was having a deeply unlikeable main character that is somehow still likeable to read about. Like seriously Eileen is downright gross and disgusting. And also creepy. She’s a stalker and very unhygienic. She also has an eating disorder, which I do think the book handled well and wasn’t unnecessary graphic with. But yeah she is just a weird person with a lot of weird beliefs and unrealistic expectations. She also is straight up delusional. Like she believes that her crush is secretly in love with her, and that Rebecca thinks she is her bff after hanging out once.
My biggest problem with this book is that there was too much exposition. It just went on and on and I kept waiting for things to speed up and for the plot to happen. And then the conflict happens so fast and was resolved within a chapter. It felt a bit like the book just wanted to be a character study, which is fine, but it also wanted to add a plot structure.
Another thing is that I think the retrospective format was not super necessary. It just reveals the mystery of the ending too soon, which got rid of some suspense. Because the reader knows that no matter what happens, Eileen survives and grows old.
Read a personal copy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Stalking

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

ellxnmcgrxth's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

2.5

The absolute misery of the protagonist's POV is very difficult to put up with considering not much else really happens. The ending is beautiful, but not beautiful enough to offset the bleakness of the rest of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, Murder, Grief, Rape, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Incest, Violence, Mental illness, Hate crime, Confinement, Body shaming, and Alcohol

hdelisle's review against another edition

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

2.0

 Like all of Moshfegh’s characters, Eileen is gross and overall unlikeable. Some of the detestable thoughts that she had regarding others she thought that these were normal thoughts or at least nothing that should prompt worry. The first 72% of the novel was very slow where Moshfegh takes the time to get the reader fully understand what Eileen’s motivations were. Because of this I found the majority of the book kind of boring. Eileen, as a character, did not interest me all that much. Other than being kind of gross she never extracted any greater emotion than being a bit repulsed. However, this I could overlook if the climax of the story was worth it. While the story definitely picked up and became more gripping in the last 20-25% of the novel I did not think that the climax was worth the first 72% of the novel. I have had trouble with a few of Moshfegh’s other novels and I just do not think that her writing/novels are for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Vomit

lameura's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Vomit, Death, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Addiction, Drug use, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

olive_lol's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

This novel's setting over the Christmas season creates a uniquely lonely atmosphere. Each scene is packed with description of often mundane things, which, for me, at least, got old after about a hundred pages. Some topics, like alcoholism and child abuse, are explored deeply through multiple characters who experience them.

This novel obviously makes you uncomfortable and grossed out on purpose, but I honestly don't think the story benefits much from that. Most of the sensetive or gross topics feel like they were only included for shock and contributed little to any wider commentary. However, some topics are very well-explored, just not most of those included. That said, make sure you check the content warnings for this book.

Nothing much in the plot happens until about the last third; most of the book leading up to that point is a mix of anecdotes, atmosphere, and gross-out description. For most of the first third, I was really considering picking up another book instead because so little was happening or felt significant. It did create a nice payoff when, in the last third, things started happening, but that didn't outweigh the slowness of the beginning and middle for me.

This book really wasn't for me. It had some merits, like strong descriptions and atmosphere. However, I couldn't look past the overly slow pacing and the overuse of some sensetive topics seemingly for shock.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Incest, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Vomit, Body shaming, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs, Classism, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Homophobia, and Animal death