Reviews

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

honnari_hannya's review against another edition

1.0

TW: Fatphobia, animal death

What can I even say about this book other than Ottessa Moshfegh took every chance she could to shit on fat people and ran with it, for absolutely no reason at all.

Also am not sure if this was intentionally referencing [a:Olga Tokarczuk|296560|Olga Tokarczuk|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1588949514p2/296560.jpg]'s [b:Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead|42983724|Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead|Olga Tokarczuk|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547225640l/42983724._SY75_.jpg|8099373] or what was going on, but there were a lot of undeniable similarities that I am side eyeing.

polywogqueen's review against another edition

4.0

this was traumatizing in the best and worst ways, a special type of fucked up

fjcrow's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Very slow I absolutely could not get into it

gooeylouie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

emily164's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

whatsmomreading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Vesta Gul is a widow, entering her Golden Years and reflecting on her life when she stumbles upon a note in the forest on her land alluding to the death (or murder) of a woman named Magda. What follows is Vesta spiraling out of control as she attempts to discern reality from her own imagination. 

I have always joked that my plan once I’m over 70 is to buy a piece of land in the middle of nowhere and have a dog or two, so I immediately had a soft spot for Vesta. Experiencing her unraveling reminded me of how often we can create these stories and “realities” in our own minds based off of little to no information and get wrapped up in them. 

I mentioned in my stories that this was my first time listening to an audiobook and the voice actor does such a brilliant job bringing Vesta to life that I felt completely sucked into the story she was creating, then I’d pause and have to remind myself this was all in Vesta’s head! 🙇🏻‍♀️

abigailmariexx's review

2.5

A story of a rambling old lady who didn’t deserve a dog.

alienarumpf's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

easyvisionary's review against another edition

3.0

I think I could tell very early on that the story wasn’t real. The way Vesta wrote the entire plot of a possible murder and then all the characters were suddenly real. Like how would she be able to guess correctly the names of the people involved based off a note alone. And that she would run into them with no problems. And then that last half where the plot was kind of abandoned?? It’s a frustrating read.

I liked how this was written but you finish it with nothing. It wasn’t real. I sometimes love the it was all an illusion or in her head kind of thing but this just wasn’t that for me the way I wanted it to be. Not enough happened.

cdbird17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75