Reviews

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

cjeanne99's review against another edition

Just could not get interested in the story

emkhaz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

kellyisntcool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Enraging and heartbreaking. A beautiful debut by Ottessa Moshfegh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicide, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment

samgray's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

updownwrong's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

Bleak and totally unenjoyable but I couldn't put it down. Moshfegh's writing is really engaging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Murder

djjuicy's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

sofiact's review against another edition

4.0

“‘you did a stupid thing,’ he says.
‘thank god,’ i say.”
from stupid thing to stupid thing, McGlue is strange, disgusting and wonderful at the same time. a tale of a gay, beyond saving drunk sailor and proof that you can tell a story perfectly in little more than a 100 pages.

smillie's review against another edition

3.0

read this in like one hour
mad short
quite a jarring read
but interesting that this was otessas first ever book
disgusting but i guess those were the days

kitmacneil's review against another edition

5.0

This book is delightfully cruel. 4.5 stars. Trigger warning though: it uses a number of racial and homophobic slurs, which are meant to establish a racist character and the time period (1850s). At times, the use of these slurs feels excessive, but there are many uncomfortable details in the book that feel excessive, which in part make it what it is. The homophobic slurs however, in particular the f-word, are entirely anachronistic which pulled me out of the story. A bit frustrating coming from an author I respect so much.

ellawalken's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5