Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

282 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I picked this up after hearing about it in a vlog on BookTube. 

“Lapvona” follows Marek, the abused son of a Shepard who never knew his own mother. Marek has a particularly close bond with the village midwife, Ina, whom he has breastfed from for most of his life. After a rather traumatic incident, Marek finds himself brought in the middle of a violent power struggle being had in the lord’s home. 

This is one of those books that I finished and am kind of unsure how to describe what I just read. This book felt very strange and often went off on tangents I was not expecting. 

Marek’s story is quite heartbreaking, and it was easy to become enamored with him. He never knew his mother, which would be a great challenge for anyone, but to top it off, his father abuses him. This neglect has really contributed to why he is so close to Ina, and why he still seems so dependent on her. There were some scenes between them that made me uncomfortable, but I think that was the point. The circumstances that brought Marek to the lord’s home were very traumatic, not only for him, but for the reader as well. 

The medieval setting of this story is not one I typically read from, so that was a great change of pace. It felt authentic for the time but still relatable in ways to today’s world. 

I think this novel overall breaks away from the expected, even what is to be expected from this author. This novel is hard to get through, but I also did not want to put it down. I did not like what was happening, but I also needed to know what was going to happen next. This author is so skilled at crafting a novel that pushes so many envelopes while still hammering home a point to the reader. 

I do not think I necessarily recommend this novel to anyone, unless they already had an interest in it, but overall I am happy I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy

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

chronicdazed's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Incest, Rape, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

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

julesh28's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

2.75

wtf?? ich weiß nicht, was ich davon halte. 
ig es ist gut, dass mich das buch emotionen fühlen lässt (disgust, discomfort, verwirrung). jedoch bin ich mir noch nicht sicher, was ich nach diesem read mitnehme. 
es war auf jeden fall ein fiebertraum. wenn "die verwandlung" und "lapvona" auf einem fiebertraum spektrum wären, wären sie auf zwei verschiedenen enden des spektrums, soviel sei gesagt.
i hated to read it but at the same time i couldn't stop reading it. i would not recommend or would i?? 
naja ich glaube, ich muss mich erstmal sortieren, sachen einordnen und es in einem halben jahr nochmal lesen. 
es war schon spannend ig. und auf jedenfall sehr comedy dafür, dass alle miserable waren. oder vielleicht gerade deswegen.

(nachtrag: alter, die content warnings reflecten super, was für ein fiebertraum dieses buch ist lmao)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cannibalism, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

rosatenena's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Child death

kkellz19's review against another edition

dark sad

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Cannibalism