Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

11 reviews

easybakeoven's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Animal death and Homophobia

yogomagpie's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Not my favorite read of the year but it held my attention until the last page. I love Moshfegh’s writing, even when becomes so disgusting. This is a collection of stories about people who carry some amount of misery, all of whom have flaws. I strongly disliked most of the characters, but I couldn’t put the book down.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Mental illness and Miscarriage

Minor: Excrement, Stalking, Vomit, and Self harm

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexism, Self harm, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

vivica's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to give this book 2 stars, but the very last story broke my heart to pieces, and it's for these emotions that I give this book 3 stars. However it if far from perfect - the author writes like a man who read a little bit too much of Bukowski's prose and let it get into his head. To say the least.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Ableism

Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Misogyny, Grief, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit

girlinlavender's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This is the second Moshfegh book I've read. I've noticed a pattern when I read her books. I'm not necessarily in love with the novel, the plot(s), the characters, etc., but her books leave me wanting to read more. I'm even more excited to read another Moshfegh book than I was when I finished my first Moshfegh book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I think the writing is strong, but I didn't love any of the stories; none of them were standouts. They were all pretty okay. I will say there's something about the fact that Moshfegh can get me to read about these characters I don't like at all that I respect. I don't know if I want to give the other ones a try because she's such a popular author or because of pure interest. Either way, I think l will give another one of her books a read. Reminded me a lot of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. If I had to pick which ones I enjoyed the most: "A Dark and Winding Road" and "Slumming (probably my "favorite")."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

kia_y_k's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Misogyny

c_serpent's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

 The voice is interesting.

There's too much sex in this book for me to pretend to have enjoyed it.

It felt like a collection of short stories I would have been forced to read in a college lit class, and I would come up with something to say in class, and maybe pretend to like a single story, but actually I would have hated it, and I would draw things in the margin of my notebook while the girl I sat next to talked about the sex in the book, and I would be uncomfortable.

Then I would write a three-paragraph comparative essay on three of the stories in the book and what the common theme was in these stories(displacement) and how the author achieved this (by placing every single character in some kind of a fugue state, and using first person to force you into their perspective, and then having the characters do things that are amoral, like not telling a girl she's having a baby or a miscarriage, or lying to random people, or sex with somebody that they have no business even interacting with).

And then I would get an A on the paper, and I would sell the book to Half Price Books and spend the money on a Snickers bar to get me through L203: Intro to Family Law.

One star has been awarded because of the interesting literary voice. Another has been awarded because I could see one of my favorite professors assigning this book, and I loved her, and I hope she's well.

Total score: 2/5 stars 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Addiction and Racial slurs

Minor: Self harm and Blood

_jennaalbright_'s review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Moshfegh writes the grossest, most unappealing characters but I’m not complaining. I love crawling inside of her weirdo head via her writing.

*** As someone who tends to not LOVE short stories, this collection was very fun and engaging. It will most definitely make you very uncomfortable. ***

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Body horror, Death, Alcohol, Stalking, and Addiction

nora333's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Chapters to reread: Bettering myself, Mr. Wu, Slumming, The beach boy, The Surrogate, The locked room, A better place <3

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Death, and Drug use

shlbee's review

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? Yes

3.75

I love unlovable characters, and would have loved this so much more without Moshfegh’s weird and in the words of Roxanne Gay “bizarre and increasingly annoying preoccupation with fat and detailed descriptions of fatness”. Still, Moshfegh knows how to put the worst of us on a page and leave you begging for more. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence