Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

345 reviews

02kloun's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

i love this book i will never read it again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

starvation due to drought is a core plot device throughout one of the sections of the book

reads2cope's review against another edition

1.0

Was this published as a prank to see if people would actually read it?
It was so disgusting and pointless that I would have thrown it aside early on if I wasn’t reading it for a bookclub. This is especially strange because it had such potential - an interesting setting, ruined by a total lack of commitment to the alleged time period (people know disease was spread by ships, travelers, and rats [yet take no predations, just continue to die]; a character is asked if he had a “girlfriend”; a kid proclaims that he wants to be an “explorer” when he grows up, and so much more) and themes of religion, family, truth, sexuality, class, abuse, pandemics, isolation, and so much more are introduced, and then simply thrown aside.

In an especially jarring section at the end of the second to last chapter, the reader is suddenly addressed directly: “Everything seems reasonable in hindsight. 

Right or wrong, you will think what you need to think so that you can get by. So find some reason here.” Unfortunately, there was no reason to be found there or in any other part of the book.

The only partial redemption and what even allowed me to finish reading was the flow and some actually funny lines:
‘What about heaven, Ina? Don’t you want to go?’ 

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘I won’t know anyone.’
And even less often, a truly beautiful paragraph:
“his heart felt cold, like a sweat chilled by a sudden wind. It was a terrible feeling, the boy's first experience of nostalgia: the pain of his past.  Until now, time had had almost no meaning. The sun rose and set. The church bells donged, but he didn't bother to count them.”

“She had a wisdom that nobody could recognize; the deaths of her children hadn't torn the innocence from her heart, but had calloused her against her own rage.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

charismae_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

For the first book I have ever read of Otessa Moshfegh, I did enjoy it. Lapvona is a tale where nothing good happens and all the characters are truly rotten. A strange part of me admires series that are capable of writing an unlikeable and unforgivable cast with no redeeming qualities and Lapvona is exactly that. Every character in this book filled me with a sense of dread, bewilderment, anger, and discomfort. 

There is no resolution from the complete bleakness of this book from start to finish. It is so grotesque and morbid that after the last page, it is like the book's contents had seeped into my skin. 
 Nearing the end, it does lose its edge and just feels like a concoction of shock value paraphernalia which I grew quite bored of. As the story progressed, I felt like there wasn't much direction besides the concept of "horrible people doing horrible things to each other or in general" 

However, I did enjoy the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

friedathurman's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

2.5

The writing was okay. Some of the graphic subject matter was just not at all my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

infinite_helix's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This is the second Ottessa Moshfegh book I've read, and I think it'll be the last. My dislike of Eileen is echoed in my dislike for this book. I spent the whole time waiting for a religious revolution and old magic (as advertised) and just got

a lot of shit (literally), rape, and incest, and then in the last maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the book a "virgin" pregnancy

. It left me as dissatisfied as Eileen. It's just gross for the sake of grossness, I think, with no real purpose for the plot. Not for me.
There was a bit of interesting exploration of classism and religious bigotry/false piety/etc, but it was severely bogged down by how bleak and gross everything around it was, and it didn't feel like it paid off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Cannibalism

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Excrement

lozbug's review against another edition

dark books are my fav, but this one is a little too much right now. very heavy/graphic trigger warnings 👎🏻 I’d like to revisit at some point bc I do think I could really enjoy this book, but right now isn’t the time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

mimipeaches's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

eveningreverie's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

This book felt like it was missing its final chapter in a very good way. The threads and themes that are introduced throughout the course of the book can be combined and built on in so many myriad ways that I still am finding new connections to explore even days after finishing the book.

It's dark, yes, it's gross, yes, it's intense, yes, but it's also genuinely and immensely funny. I feel like many people have been so mentally flashbanged by the content early in the story to fully realize the amount of humor in these pages. Utilizing each of these characters as their own self-foil was such an incredible method to tell a story about faith and the betrayal of faith, no matter what that faith may look like. Reading it as part of a book club definitely added another layer of enjoyment atop an already solid reading experience. There were so many connections that others had made that I had never seen, and it made for a constellation of constructively interfering brainstorming. 

This is really good. I've seen mixed reviews on this, but this was so satisfying in a very real way. I'm very excited to read Moshfegh's other books after this, knowing how controversial those are as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, and Murder

yogomagpie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m surprised I loved this as much as I did. It was not an easy read, as a lot of it was disgusting and vile (as expected). I had to take a couple breaks after two super graphic scenes. But Moshfegh captures the flaws of humanity in a strange, fever dream-like way that I can't get enough of. There are so many themes to think about (religion, sin, family, class, life, death, etc etc). I hated pretty much every character, which seems to be a recurring trait of Moshfegh’s writing. I would say, though, that Ina is my favorite character. Her backstory and her connections and involvement across Lapvona and the manor were the most interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism and Body shaming

redrabbit0's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Pedophilia, Vomit, and Cannibalism