Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

309 reviews

pavonated's review against another edition

dark 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

1.0

 Perverse, yes. But "provocative"? It's not substantial enough. A tour through a cast of characters being miserable, and taking pleasure in another's misery. It's set in a "medieval fiefdom" that has about as much grounding in history as Monty Python, except not funny or satire and instead boring and stale. The whole 'everyone used to live in muck and mud' thing is so trite. Doesn't help the lack of substance. Plenty of graphic sexual violence for.... Some reason. There's not really a reason to anything here. If I'm being generous, characters seem to switch between masks of different purposes and analogies frequently, so nothing is said in the end. We're all sinners I guess? We're all damned? Everyone has a capacity for cruelness and innocence? I could've put this book down at any point and gotten the same thing out of it. I only finished it because I have nothing else to read on this train.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Incest

jade_smith's review against another edition

dark slow-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

4.5

Every character was so deeply unlikeable and it this book was incredibly disgusting. I loved it. 

This was my first Ottessa Moshfegh book and I’ll be running to pick up the rest of her catalogue. 

Darkly absurd and almost fairytale-esque in its depiction of greed and human perversion, Lapvona is half pseudo-historical fiction and half a horror comedy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Alcohol

megann853's review against another edition

4.0

V hesitant on this rating!!! Idk!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

polysemy's review against another edition

I found the book too triggering and bleak for me. I understand that the purpose was to disgust and alienate the reader, but it did this too well for me to find it redeemable. The graphic description of rape was the last straw for me and I just couldn’t continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, and Classism

books_and_sea_salt's review against another edition

It's just too much. The absurd and disgusting details can be valuable or even a niche, but this was just so over the top. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

charlisaurus's review against another edition

4.5

i love this book and how everyone is a complete freak show <3 please read content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lizzymcalpine's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.75

mixed feelings with this one. kinda feel like the plot was lost about 3/4 of the way through the book, but at the same time the ending felt predetermined. 
so much to explore and reflect on about the exploitation of the poor and women, about morality and its role in religion, religious justification, governmental neglect. definitely a thinker book, but left me wanting closure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

miafromorchardstreet's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

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

3.5

moshfegh continues to be a genius, but this one made me too nauseous to rate it any higher than this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Bullying and Pedophilia

fiction023's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

the book is a BIG trigger warning tbh

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