Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

54 reviews

swamphag42069's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

This was on a "wtf did I just read" list and I mean, that really says it all. Wtf did I just read. Haven't felt this weird since seeing Midsommar for the first time, which I think is a cool thing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kendalsbookcase's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Abortion

Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicide, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Alcohol

seanamcphie's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fionagerman's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

I dont really know what I just read. It was a good read though. Seeing how people are created and formed through the way society sees them and how they see society was interesting. Absolutely everyone is terrible in this book, some through no fault of their own for sure but they still do horrible things to themselves, to each other. Placing it in ( I assume) Medieval europe is an interesting choice since I think it allows you to see clearly how it doesn't really matter what time period you're in, people are gonna people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

issyd23's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

Elites use religion and class to control masses 3🍇 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

memegi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

aweso10's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.25

this the most disturbing shi i've read in a long time. props to ottessa mosfegh for creating theee most horrifying images in my head i guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Torture, and Pregnancy

Minor: Incest

jabberwalky's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

A window into the generously disturbing part of humanity or lack there of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Abortion

Minor: Cursing

dannilmp's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

Once again, another head scratching book by Moshfegh with a just as ambigious ending. The only other book I have read by this author is My Year of Rest and Relaxation but I can see some consistency in the writing. Cetainly a good book to read if you are looking for something dark, mysterious but also like endings that leave you thinking. I'm starting to notice a theme with Moshfegh's books. The pacing appears slow in the beginning but you hit a major event at about 75% and then the last quarter feels like it was only ten pages but there is enough content to sink the titanic! 

I did not really enjoy this novel so finding something positive to say is difficult. However, despite the dark themes of this book, there were occasions that had me laughing as there were quite humurous. The ability to write characters and to be able to viserally hate every single one of them, but I still want to read every word? Amazing, but not a book I will ever read again. Make sure to prepare some good eye bleach and take plenty of rest breaks while reading this book. 

Looking at the downsides to this novel, it felt as though a lot of the scenes were made even more gory or stomach churning for effect rather than plot purposes. Make sure to read content warnings carefully before venturing to read this novel. Not a single character had a single redeeming trait in their bones and some characters were certainly worse than others! Despite the fact that there were clearly some otherworlding magic things happening in this world, the setting felt strangely comparable to our physical world, especially concerning topics such as public unrest, greed/hoarding wealth, poverty and famine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy

quietlex's review against another edition

dark funny 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

5.0

I loved this book. It’s disturbing, uncomfortable, and makes you feel icky inside, but it is written beautifully. So many horrible things happen- sexual assault, imprisonment, suicide, cannibalism, murder, drought, starvation, greed, religious trauma… and lots more I won’t mention, this book has it all. You hate every character, yet can’t wait to turn the page to see what they do next. Nothing is predictable, besides maybe the legitimacy of heirs. Trigger warnings galore, but a captivating story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail