Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

18 reviews

kclark's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

The first 40% of this book or so was extremely disorienting which makes sense given the plot of the novel. I appreciate a story that does something I don't expect, but I also see why people might bounce off of it, but I liked it. 

The book deals a lot with memory and it's ephemeral nature of memory, constructions of masculinity and how that intersects with friendships and sexuality, and how class distorts how our culture views guilt and innocence, among much else. 

The protagonist reminded me of other Moshveigh protagonists: lonely outsiders struggling to connect to society but this time in the mold of a drunken sailor. That sort of archetypical writing is understandable given this is Moshveigh's first published work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Excrement, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

gracetrimper's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Excrement, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Murder, Gore, Child death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, and Addiction

elise_allberry's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Self harm

liviahalltari's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Body horror

labinsky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

this book felt like the way my best friend writes in the best way possible. moshfegh’s first book is literary fiction in both the most classic way and the most unconventional way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs

stormblessed16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

kazy's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

reading mcglue is like picking at a festering wound i didn’t realize i had but now that i’ve noticed it i can’t stop digging my finger into it again and again and again until eventually i’ve got this big ugly hole where chunks of flesh used to be but i’m still running up to people i know asking if they would please consider trying this new form of self-mutilation. 

the VA for the audiobook is very good and really brings it  to life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

juliapetal's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

One of my favorites of all time, holy cow. What a writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Violence