Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

598 reviews

infinite_helix's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This is the second Ottessa Moshfegh book I've read, and I think it'll be the last. My dislike of Eileen is echoed in my dislike for this book. I spent the whole time waiting for a religious revolution and old magic (as advertised) and just got

a lot of shit (literally), rape, and incest, and then in the last maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the book a "virgin" pregnancy

. It left me as dissatisfied as Eileen. It's just gross for the sake of grossness, I think, with no real purpose for the plot. Not for me.
There was a bit of interesting exploration of classism and religious bigotry/false piety/etc, but it was severely bogged down by how bleak and gross everything around it was, and it didn't feel like it paid off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Cannibalism

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Excrement

jessiekind_'s review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Cannibalism

ceciltheceaselesswatcher'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

nasty and disgusting but very well written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

floorse's review against another edition

Read for a book club. DNFed because I missed the meet and it was too gross for me to continue reading. Probably won't read another of her stories in the future. Might've finished it just to discuss it with folks from a literary POV but as a solo read,,,,,,,,, no thank u

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Cannibalism, and Murder

mimipeaches's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

eveningreverie's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

5.0

This book felt like it was missing its final chapter in a very good way. The threads and themes that are introduced throughout the course of the book can be combined and built on in so many myriad ways that I still am finding new connections to explore even days after finishing the book.

It's dark, yes, it's gross, yes, it's intense, yes, but it's also genuinely and immensely funny. I feel like many people have been so mentally flashbanged by the content early in the story to fully realize the amount of humor in these pages. Utilizing each of these characters as their own self-foil was such an incredible method to tell a story about faith and the betrayal of faith, no matter what that faith may look like. Reading it as part of a book club definitely added another layer of enjoyment atop an already solid reading experience. There were so many connections that others had made that I had never seen, and it made for a constellation of constructively interfering brainstorming. 

This is really good. I've seen mixed reviews on this, but this was so satisfying in a very real way. I'm very excited to read Moshfegh's other books after this, knowing how controversial those are as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, and Murder

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

allydavis's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

jessica_flower's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

CW/TW: incest, on-page rape, cannibalism, death, violence, misogyny, incredibly masochistic views of religion, abuse and trauma, a disturbing amount of bodily fluids, graphic descriptions of anything and everything

What in the absolute fuckery was this

A mess of fucked up characters to talk about God and theology in the most masochistic way possible?

The only reason this isn't 1 star is because Otessa's writing is good

But

This shit is fucked up and I will never read this again

Do not recommend unless you can handle reading terrible things happening over and over with no hope or peace in sight 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry