Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

88 reviews

jenniferthor's review against another edition

5.0

wow this book made me uncomfortable. but i loved it? 

it really is a weird lit fic read for the weird girlies. 

now i need to find someone to talk about this one with. otherwise i might go crazy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

misterbugman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

miathy's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

2.25

This book has amazing writing, and I often found myself having to put the book down and return to it later because of the gruesome horrors imprinted through the language. 
Horror isn't a genre I typically read, but Moshfegh's beautiful style of writing is one that I definitely enjoyed. 

However, I found myself losing interest in the second half of the book. It felt as though the development and journey of the characters fell short through their abrupt deaths.

In the end, I really was expecting more, and it felt a more forced read in the end for me.
This ultimately comes down to reading practices and the atmosphere one is looking for when they're going in for a read. I wasn't reading this to analyse or really to engage my brain at all, and saw it as more of an avenue for entertainment, and this felt like a missed opportunity. 

This book is so character focused, and the result is an array of equally complex and compelling characters, each with their own backstory and ability to alter the course of the plot. 
I think this is where I lost the direction of the story, because so much of it extends to the village of Lapovna as a whole. As the story progressed, more and more characters were introduced, developed and explained, but I wasn't able to find a connecting link outside the physical acquaintances and relationships between the characters. 

I think I definitely have to revisit this book in another time, but it seems that horror is just not something I can handle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

cwbillings's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

I forced myself to read this in a day and I’m so glad I did. I truly love it. It’s exceptional. But this story is not one you can carry in your mind for long. It’s heavy. It’s demented. And the allegorical messages are superbly written. I’d recommend reading this if you’ve got a strong stomach.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

filesm's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow y’all really mad at Ottessa for this one… it’s not her fault medieval people were freaks! 
I imagined Jude as Rhett from GMM and now I’m kinda scared of Rhett :,(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, and Cannibalism

franniiia's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

botulinum's review against another edition

dark fast-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

1.25

Disgusting. If I had a gun to my head and told to recommend this, I’d say pull the trigger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

superciliary's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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

So grotesque it was dope

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Incest, and Cannibalism

toujours753's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

veerau's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

How gross! (positive) 

TW for pretty much everything in existence, perhaps even more

Glad I read it, now my eyes can be glad nothing I'll ever read from this point on will be as disgusting 😃👍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Incest, Slavery, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism