Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - McGlue

This book is very well written in the way that it conveys alcoholism, however for this reason the prose can often be very confusing and difficult to understand. Despite this, I found myself very attached and sad for the main character by the time I got to the end. A very open ended and ambivalent ending.

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olivianw's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

I really like Moshfegh’s style. She is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers.
But I just could not get into this story at all, and upon reaching the end of the book, I still only have a very vague idea of what’s going on. I understand that this is possibly intentional, reflecting McGlue’s disorientation, but it didn’t work for me.
Moshfegh does write great sentences though! And this book, an early work of hers, still has plenty of examples of them!

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marytckm's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-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

3.5

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aweso10's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

a very dark, challenging read. obsessed with the bleak and foreboding setting, and the reading experience- almost as if you're in a drunken/brain-damaged stupor. the characters are tough to empathize with but there's definitely an undertone of raw humanity that i admired. mosfegh's characters undergo such a toxic relationship with existence that is fascinating to delve into!

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oatmeg's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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

2.25

I’m glad moshfegh has stuck to the unhinged female trope because the flawed male character does not make up for the lack of plot.. the addition of slurs was very unexpected from her & very distracting from plot

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