Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

196 reviews

gbmillar2002's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

aubdyson's review against another edition

dark

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

02kloun's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

i love this book i will never read it again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

starvation due to drought is a core plot device throughout one of the sections of the book

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

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

criscroscris's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

furtherjoy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Dark, obscure, and challenging. An interesting commentary about human selfishness and blind faith. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, and Pregnancy

ckopack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

This book was billed as very disturbing and dark, and there definitely are very disturbing scenes, but it’s very compelling and absolutely pulls you in. It’s a very good book but dear God, please read the trigger warnings before you read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Abandonment