Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

25 reviews

kcakes719'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

5.0

Opening with that Demi Lovato quote was like a punch in the gut.

I think I might be severely desensitized because this book didn’t gross me out in the way others have described. It certainly has moments where I can see why someone would be disturbed though. This is a medieval slice of life with zero likable characters and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The audiobook narration by the author was *chefs kiss*

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Incest, Mental illness, Slavery, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Grief, and Classism

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

historybabe's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

Where do I even begin..... Honestly, I have never had to put down a book so many times in my life. I was shocked by the sheer depravity within its pages. If you can imagine a sin, it is in this novel. If you want to be sick to your stomach by all means, read it. I'm going to go take a hot bath in bleach and read my Bible. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

k31r's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

Horribly terrific 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rgracyalny's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

porporina's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

quiltsandtealibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

Loved this book. Fucking wild as hell, but good. Not for everyone & not an easy read (emotionally) but it’s so well written it is an easy read? If that makes sense? 

Longer review:
Lapvona is nothing like anything I have ever read before. The book is disturbing, distorted, unsettling, & most of all very distressing for the most part. There is no chapters, just Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, & Spring again as we follow the story of the people of Lapvona through multiple POVs. Lapvona is a self aware story of the evilness of humans, how it’s shaped & how it’s created, greed & society. The book explores religious beliefs & traumas, daring to ask “if the creator is so great, then why has this happened?” 

I couldn’t put Lapvona down & read it in one sitting. There’s so much, yet so little to understand. It is a well written book that is hard to read at times. I do not recommend going into Lapvona blind & to maybe even spoil yourself for certain scenes to prepare yourself.

There is a way motherhood, childhood, coming of age/self discovery, & parental care that is explored in this book & shown in this book that will haunt me for the rest of my life. 

I don’t know if there will ever be another book like Lapvona, but I am eager to read more from Ottessa Moshfegh

5 stars

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest and Pregnancy

This book is,,,,,something. Please maybe read some spoilers or just be prepared with the warnings i provided. This book just explores like everything grim & awful of the nature of humans. It frames all these ugly, evil things as bad so it gave me some peace of mind while reading it. But it’s??? Something

gigette's review against another edition

dark funny sad tense medium-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

4.75

Wild. Dark. Disturbing. I don’t know how many “what-the-fucks” i’ve said. No likable characters (except for Lispeth maybe?). This is so good and intriguing though, it will either leave you wanting for more or just rage quit the damn book 🤣

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jabberwalky's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

A window into the generously disturbing part of humanity or lack there of. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Abortion

Minor: Cursing

thearchivist03's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

So...where to start?
You're not supposed to like the characters, and it's very body gore oriented with a side of medieval soft world building. It's captivating at first when Ottessa writes about each character's suffering, but you soon get desensitized and perhaps go a little mad and laugh at the over the top chaos.
I hear some people say that one of the characters is representative of female rage, but this character strikes me as thrown in out of the blue for more plot development. It does have an open ending, just a heads up.
I have such a love-hate relationship with the author and this book. I did enjoy the descriptions and her writing style of scenery and the world, but keep in mind her character descriptions and development brink on grotesque and nihilistic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Lots of detail in the excrement and fluids part. And all the sexual violence scenes primarily take place in the abuser's point of view, even though it's omniscient. It demonizes women a lot, be warned.