Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

212 reviews

flo_sg's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Excrement, Gore, Sexual assault, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Incest

karmkeigh's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fantastically written book; however, a good portion of the content was fairly disturbing. While much of it was integral to the structure of the story and understanding who, exactly, these characters all were, Moshfegh certainly didn’t spare us any details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abortion

Minor: Suicide, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

cwiita's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Drug use, Excrement, Ableism, Blood, Death, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

hollasan's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Medieval, gothic, gory, and gross. Otessa uses dark humour and her wild imagination to bring out the worst in all the characters. Explores themes of religion and feudalism. An effortless read (if you don’t mind the gore).

If you liked this book, check out the 2015 movie “The Witch” by Robert Eggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment

evantmellon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Abortion, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

jessica_luvs's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Abortion, Animal death, and Body horror

jazthegreat's review against another edition

dark medium-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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Violence, Death of parent, Incest, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Vomit, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Abortion, Child death, and Grief

twelvekindsoftrouble's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

I enjoyed this only sometimes. The writing and characters were often difficult to connect with, and I guess this just wasn’t my kind of weird. Could have been worse though; the plot and setting were really unique. Also Grigor rules.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Abortion, Pedophilia, Sexism, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Excrement, and Gore

mollylikethedrug_'s review against another edition

challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Abortion, Body horror, Gore, and Adult/minor relationship

archivofrances's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Pregnancy, Torture, Abortion, Gore, Incest, Slavery, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence