Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

282 reviews

buud_w0rm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I couldn’t put it down but at the same time it was hard to read at some points.Not sure if I’d recommend it to anyone but it somehow felt fitting for October.The ending is

fucking

crazy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty

hick's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Excrement and Fire/Fire injury

lanamackreads's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

leolai's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Disgusting, disturbing and vile and I liked it. This is satire on religion and power and it was brilliant. Lapvona is unapologetic tale about religion's dark corners, showing abuse, patriarchy/misogyny, human stupidity and hypocrisy in piousness. How death is more important than life we are living now. Suffering is a virtue and everyone feels superior to everybody else, justified in their hatred and selfishness. This book is easy to understand but hard to read because it's so dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

cecilyroseceillam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Lapvona was very captivating and was very engaging, it had a lot of references to religion. Like LapVona and Villiam's manor representing heaven and hell; it had a lot to say about class systems and how religion is used to keep people in a certain bracket. I liked the representation of Ina as Eve/ Lilith. It was interesting to see her take part in nurturing all the people in the village with her breast milk, using herbs, and talking to the birds to learn about the world. Ina is my favorite character. It was interesting to learn about her powers, like being immortal through reversing her age. I also liked the symbolism of Cain, God, and Abel shown through Marek, his dad, and his cousin Jacob. The violence they commit to each other to go to heaven makes an interesting parody of how religion is used to justify evil. I also liked the commentary on what happens when taxes come from religion. The cultural impact it had on resources and people's land was shown in the book, as well as the constant fear of going to hell and sinning. The symbolism of the lambs and babes was also clever, and I enjoyed how it related to Marek and the ending. Villiam was also an interesting character because of how sinister he was. It could be referencing William the Conqueror/William the Eighth as he brought religion and taxes to LapVona for the sole purpose of being wealthy while keeping everyone else poor under the guise of God's decree. The philosophical conversations present what existence truly is, if there is a place for humans in the world, and how God seemingly promotes suffering. Seeing how the characters dealt with it was interesting. Overall I highly enjoyed LapVona and think it’s very effective at presenting its message. However, the book didn’t truly land for me since I’m not extremely knowledgeable on the bible, so many references went over my head as I only have a baseline knowledge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maddieasy'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was the strangest book I have ever read and I'm not quite sure how to rate it. Moshfegh's story is bleak and I never knew where she was going to take it next. Moreover, Lapvona was so distinct in my mind which is a testamony of Moshfegh's craftmanship of the novel. That said, I'm not sure I would recommend this book to a friend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

n3verm0r3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

gbmillar2002's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

Disgustingly grotesque, it is an amazing deep dive within a English medieval village and its intersection between religion, feudalism and the perverse nature of what is denied. It is amazing, I haven’t had a book that had made me say WTF out loud before.

For example when they talk about the old woman breastfeeding marrick even though he is 13, combine this with his own freudian sexual
Behaviours it is bizarre

. Highly recommend for those who want a book that is out there, intense and graphic. Give it a skip if intense and taboo topics make you uncomfortable as moshfegh describes these issues in albeit ye olde English, in intense detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

tiwwy's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Blood, and Murder

aubdyson's review against another edition

dark

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy