Reviews with content warning for Self harm - McGlue

Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

17 reviews

inhaledmocha's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I genuinely have no words for how I feel about this book.

The way it's written you really get inside the head of a very very sick person for a short amount of time. It was worth reading (I got through it in one sitting so that says something) but I am truly depressed and now I need to touch grass and cry.

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uuuultraviolennnnt's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

3.0

Scrawny little sailor thinks he’s the shit, dies as his mind swims in nothing but red liquor

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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

2.25

look, i love otessa moshfegh’s writing style, but i can’t looks past the recurrent use of slurs throughout the book. it would be different if they only appeared every once in a while, but there were times when there were 3+ slurs on a single page. and i didn’t fuck with that. i understand what she was trying to pull off with the narrator, but it was too extreme. i love a good unlikeable or unreliable narrator—if done right. mcglue was not done right. it could’ve been done right if it had been written as “gay pirates with internalized homophobia learn to love each other and themselves.” sadly, i would instead describe this as “the narrator drops the f slur and racist comments every ten sentences while pining for another man.” disappointment.

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trashkatchewan's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

This was a great read, much better than Eileen and really gripping in its rhythm. I crashed through it in an evening and I'm glad I just pushed through, not a story I want to dwell on because it was just heartbreaking and then obviously the amount of slurs was just egregious , but it was absolutely of quality in terms of writing style, conveyance of the character's issues, and tone.

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sel_reads's review against another edition

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1.5

I had to force myself to finish this and it's only 145 pages. There is something to be argued regarding whether it is appropriate to use the slurs written in this book given the identity of the author. Specifically the N-word used on the second to last page. It was already awful to read the words bl*ckie to describe Black background figures, the N-word was overkill and inappropriate.

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