Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

304 reviews

jesslynnking's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.75


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shay_talksbooks's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

Borrowed from my local library

I don't know where to start with reviewing this book: it was all vibes, no plot. And I didn't particularly like the vibes!

Filled with the most horrid characters, behaving in the worst of ways and doing vile things to each other. The writing was good, and I got a decent impression of this medieval village (which felt somewhere in Eastern Europe) and the people who lived there. Their struggle and starvation was clear as crops failed & rain refused to fall, and the contrast between those in power and those without during that period was made clear. The author made some very valid points about how those in power keep it, and how those without often end up blaming each other instead of those truly responsible - but it was very loosely done and sometimes felt like it tipped into satire and back out again, which I wasn't sure on.

Although the writing itself was engaging, the content turned my stomach at times. Some of those moments felt necessary to show a characters desperation, but others felt like they were put in purely for impact/gross factor/trauma p*rn.

It's not a long book (only about 300 pages), however it took me forever to read because it left me feeling heavy and icky each time I entered the story. I've rated 2☆ but I may revise that in time. It's definitely a book that will stick in my mind, although maybe not for the reasons I want it to.

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lanamackreads's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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leolai's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Disgusting, disturbing and vile and I liked it. This is satire on religion and power and it was brilliant. Lapvona is unapologetic tale about religion's dark corners, showing abuse, patriarchy/misogyny, human stupidity and hypocrisy in piousness. How death is more important than life we are living now. Suffering is a virtue and everyone feels superior to everybody else, justified in their hatred and selfishness. This book is easy to understand but hard to read because it's so dark. 


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yulimaru's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

all the bad reviews made me want to read this. so thanks for that. i really enjoyed it. 

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bookmuva's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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hanner_stritch's review against another edition

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dark mysterious
  • 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

3.0


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n3verm0r3's review against another edition

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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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gbmillar2002's review against another edition

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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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lopez27sergio's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

2.75

Gave me many mixed emotions on the main characters and story. Hard to find a character you support 100% which is nice since it shows everyone with flaws and not being perfect. Also really enjoyed the twisted views on religion from multiple perspectives and how it shapes their lives.

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