Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

41 reviews

ariana3's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.0

I was not a fan of this at all. It was recommended by a friend and I can see why she liked it, but it was not my cup of tea. The book was slow and ambling, it just felt like it was stream-of-consciousness writing, like the author was supposed to be telling a story but then would get themselves down a different rabbit hole. It was just odd, the timeline, the story, everything. Only in the last half of the last chapter did it kind of get good. And even when it ended I was confused and was just left with a "that's it?" feeling. Like the entire book was a waste.
Plot summary:

The main character, Eileen, lives with her dad who used to be a renowned police officer. After her mom died, he became a terrible drunk and was emotionally abusive. Eileen herself is a slob, gross, frumpy, doesn't care about her appearances and yet is utterly obsessed. As a young adult, she thinks she's the only "higher being" in her small Massachusetts town. She's a secretary at a youth prison and has been for several years since she was pulled out of school to care for her sick mom. Her childhood sucked, her parents sucked, her life sucks. Then this mysterious woman starts at the prison. She's obsessed with her and wants to be her lover or friend? It's confusing what she wants, she just wants attention and admiration from this woman, Rebecca. Rebecca reads a case file from one of the boys at the prison that disturbs her (a father was raping his son, so the son killed him). The mom did nothing about it and would help facilitate it. So in the last half of the last chapter, you find out that Rebecca has tied up this mom to elicit the confession. Eileen gets it and Rebecca is pissed but doesn't know what else to do. Eileen comes up with a plan to frame her dad for the mom's murder, since he's a drunk, but they would kill her. She knows Rebecca won't join her, so she says "bye" to her dad, gets her money, drives north to a pretty part of the forest, and leaves her beat up old truck running with the mom inside (passed out from pain pills) to die from carbon monoxide poisoning while she hitches a ride back south to NYC to start a new life. That's it. Literally nothing else happens...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Incest, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming

annasorr's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Eileen is full of writing that is beautiful, tense, strange, and scary. I enjoyed getting to know Eileen and her world and deeply related to Eileen’s lack of self-assuredness. The novel’s narrator, Eileen’s older self, turns this narrative from a self-indulgent thriller to a well-paced, mysterious puzzle of the past. As this is Moshfegh’s first novel, it lacks some of the polish that her later writing has, but it’s still very much worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Grief, Vomit, and Violence

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Grief, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Stalking, Torture, Incest, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Vomit

jnestwd's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Well, Ottessa, you are "quite a gal!"

No one manages to simultaneously repulse and intrigue me quite like Ottessa Moshfegh. When I read her work, I know I'm about to be thoroughly disturbed and I am here. for. IT.

Eileen did not disappoint. The story of Eileen Dunlop's miserable life spent living with her emotional (and at times, physically) abusive, alcoholic father and working at the local Boys Prison was exactly as uncomfortable as I've come to expect from Moshfegh's work.

Moshfegh somehow manages to get right under your skin and touch nerves you never thought existed. Reading Eileen move through life selfishly and disgustingly (intentionally ripping clothes in a store, wiping her dirty mouth on scarves for sale, touching herself and then shaking hands with someone before washing them... that sort of thing) somehow had me absolutely hooked and I could not put the book down before finding out whether or not Eileen managed to find happiness or not.

Ottessa's work is not for the faint of heart.

Often the reviews are scathing of the body horror and grotesque descriptions.

But that is part of the magic in my opinion.

I read Ottessa Moshfegh when I want to be disturbed. And she never ever fails to disappoint!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

um_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

This is me expanding my reading horizons! 🤩
Diving into Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' was a journey unlike any other, not my preferred genre but was not disappointed. 

At first glance, the narrative seemed deceptively mundane – everyday routines, mundane interactions, nothing out of the ordinary. The juxtaposition of the mundane and the disturbing was jarring, yet strangely mesmerizing, like watching a trainwreck unfold in slow motion.

‘Eileen' left me feeling deeply disturbed yet utterly captivated. It's a testament to Moshfegh's talent that she could take something as mundane as daily life and turn it into something so profoundly unsettling. Eileen is definitely worth a read.

Check your trigger warnings for this book ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Excrement, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Death

ricketycricket's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.75

Don’t read this unless you love an awful person character study.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Torture, Incest, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Murder, Gun violence, Body shaming, Vomit, Pedophilia, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

lunablch's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.75

Wow this book is so depressing. I'm a little glad I read it but I also feel like I have grown more cynical as a result.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Vomit

amarige's review against another edition

dark sad 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

A profoundly disturbed and lonely young woman is obsessively seeking some sort of validation - her motives are perplexing at best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Self harm, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Rape, Incest, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Body horror, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Confinement

ellxnmcgrxth's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.5

The absolute misery of the protagonist's POV is very difficult to put up with considering not much else really happens. The ending is beautiful, but not beautiful enough to offset the bleakness of the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, Murder, Grief, Rape, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Incest, Violence, Mental illness, Hate crime, Confinement, Body shaming, and Alcohol