Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

309 reviews

noisivweneht's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.75

Debauchery is a great word for this book. Ottessa is really good at making characters you want to feel bad for and then two sentences later make you hate. I don’t even know what to say. I like dark books, but I think I flew too close to the sun on this one. It was still good. Very very fucked. But good.

Marek is a little fucking weirdo and I cannot believe what he did that the end, well, I can. But dude.

I don’t think I’ve ever hated characters as much as I hated the ones in this book. The ending was expected and felt a little rushed and just lackluster I guess. It was still good. And it will be on site shovel in hand beating these mfs 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

megmax's review against another edition

dark

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

respectfully, what the fuck. what was the point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Abortion

Minor: Incest

kyleeb4by's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

pretty gross, but not too bad if you’ve read unsettling, gory books before (like tender is the flesh). i liked reading it, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

emmaj_xo'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? No

3.0

A bizarre folk horror tale. Not as shocking as it had been pitched to me, but i think that’s more a matter of taste - and I’ve a strong stomach.

Was an easy, fast pace read for me and i enjoyed the mysterious setting and strange cast of characters.

Enjoyed this enough to read more Moshfegh. I only come away feeling I need to read more folk horror (a genre I love in film) as it fell short of fully scratching that itch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Gore

misterbugman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

smurphy5337's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

2.5

Depravity and gore and destruction for no apparent narrative reason other than to simply be so extreme it is unsettling. Very difficult to read plot and content wise. Boo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

kimipr's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, and Abandonment

miathy's review against another edition

adventurous 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

2.25

This book has amazing writing, and I often found myself having to put the book down and return to it later because of the gruesome horrors imprinted through the language. 
Horror isn't a genre I typically read, but Moshfegh's beautiful style of writing is one that I definitely enjoyed. 

However, I found myself losing interest in the second half of the book. It felt as though the development and journey of the characters fell short through their abrupt deaths.

In the end, I really was expecting more, and it felt a more forced read in the end for me.
This ultimately comes down to reading practices and the atmosphere one is looking for when they're going in for a read. I wasn't reading this to analyse or really to engage my brain at all, and saw it as more of an avenue for entertainment, and this felt like a missed opportunity. 

This book is so character focused, and the result is an array of equally complex and compelling characters, each with their own backstory and ability to alter the course of the plot. 
I think this is where I lost the direction of the story, because so much of it extends to the village of Lapovna as a whole. As the story progressed, more and more characters were introduced, developed and explained, but I wasn't able to find a connecting link outside the physical acquaintances and relationships between the characters. 

I think I definitely have to revisit this book in another time, but it seems that horror is just not something I can handle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

bananhan's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This book is not for the faint-hearted. Definitely good for those who can stomach Moshfegh's style of writing, but it is hard to get through. Be prepared for incredibly graphic scenes of human debauchery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cwbillings's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

I forced myself to read this in a day and I’m so glad I did. I truly love it. It’s exceptional. But this story is not one you can carry in your mind for long. It’s heavy. It’s demented. And the allegorical messages are superbly written. I’d recommend reading this if you’ve got a strong stomach.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism