Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Lapvona

As someone who has a complicated relationship with religion/faith, I really enjoyed the themes in this. I particularly enjoyed the use of the seasons (Summer being the most effective).

However, as we moved towards the end of the novel, the pace slowed down, and the narrative became more dull, ultimately leading to an ending I didn’t find satisfying.

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mediocrity_is_expected's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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eemily's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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cwiita's review against another edition

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dark 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

Well, after marking My Year Of Rest and Relaxation as my only DNF ever, I managed to make it through this one. I purchased this book before I started MYORAR, before I had any idea how much I would struggle with Otessa Moshfegh. I find her to be a difficult read, not for lack of skill or quality, but for the simple fact that she seems to have an ongoing problem with fatphobia and ableism, among other things. I discussed my initial problems with MYORAR with a friend who has read most of Moshfegh's work, and the consensus was that her stories relay very similar views each time and that her characters tend to be the same type of people across the board. I am a big fan of unreliable narrators and I appreciate the challenge of crafting a story around difficult characters, but to do it unrelentingly in every book while consistently implying hateful messages is tough for me to get behind.
With that being said, I blew through Lapvona. This book is absolutely vile, but incredibly readable when it comes to pacing and language. It was also much easier to tolerate the actions and views of the characters knowing that the events were taking place under a feudal system in medieval times. Moshfegh did a wonderful job of characterization, for better or for worse. The plot is somehow both ceaseless and unrecognizable. It's an infinite circle of pointless suffering, but maybe that's the point. In an uncanny way, there was something enjoyable about this read. Since I already own MYORAR, this piece almost convinced me to give it another try. Almost.

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cmorelli's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

3.25

Oh boy, where to start unpacking this one.

First off, it feels like this book tries to hit any and all triggers possible, so be warned in advance.

Marek, a crippled, abused, motherless shepherd’s son, constantly lives under the fear of his unworthiness in God’s eye. With jealousy and anger, he commits a crime that puts him as a ward to the Lord of the fiefdom - Villiam, who is childish as the very least, abusive, controlling, and wildly incapable of his position as a lord at the very most.

This book, written in a medieval setting, gives you a sense of discomfort every page of the way.

While written to pull you in to the horror show of Lapvona you can’t possibly look away from out of morbid curiosity, Lapvona’s story falls flat without meaning. It’s a press just to see how uncomfortable you can be made.

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