Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

180 reviews

minayana's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

This was so compelling and well written while also being one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read. Please do yourself a favor and check the trigger warnings before reading! There are so many horrific and horrendous things that happen in this book, and I’ve seen a lot of reviews that feel that they happen just for shock value. I would disagree, I definitely think that the author goes overboard at times, but all the events in the book serve the message of the story. How the rich take advantage of the poor, women’s oppression-being tied down to men and motherhood, how religion is used to suppress the wants and feelings of the underprivileged and make them accepting of their own suffering. I wasn’t able to put this book down during the first half, but I do feel like the ending was a little rushed. Overall, I think it’s a great book but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. It’s definitely not for everybody!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Abortion, and Abandonment

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

chloeforkerway's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Classism

marxeism's review against another edition

dark 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

2.25

Weird book about weird and crazy people. If you're looking for a dark story about casual human evil, this is for you. Characters are interesting and diverse, but all but one of them is just awful. Personally I had a hard time getting into this and being invested/following a flow. Kind of reminiscent of game of thrones (the tv show, not the books)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

ginnydw's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Incest

alexlouise97's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

gia0203's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

As someone who has a complicated relationship with religion/faith, I really enjoyed the themes in this. I particularly enjoyed the use of the seasons (Summer being the most effective). 

However, as we moved towards the end of the novel, the pace slowed down, and the narrative became more dull, ultimately leading to an ending I didn’t find satisfying. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

mediocrity_is_expected's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death

eemily's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

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