Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

142 reviews

bubwub's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense medium-paced

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

1.75

I could not put it down for the first 1/3. But by the halfway mark, it felt cheap and hollow. Eh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism

audreygroneck's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, and Abandonment

brittneypadilla's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jaygatz114's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

hannaheperry's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Classism

Minor: Excrement and Death of parent

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

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

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

ambersoda's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy