Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

72 reviews

lena_pls's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

emacmillan's review against another edition

Too graphic 🤢

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hounded's review against another edition

dark tense

4.5

Really good and very disturbing. At first I felt very lost in some parts of the book but it ended neatly and gave me a reason to re-read it and think about it even more! The characters were so good and consistent. It was a strange experience reading it but a recommended one. Look at the trigger warnings before reading!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

captainyaht's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment

k31r's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Horribly terrific 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

geraldinerowe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I'm not entirely sure what this book was about, but I enjoyed it. Yes, the book is gory and unpleasant at times, but not unnecessarily so as It's set in unpleasant times (although not quite in our universe as there are magical elements). The masses being kept in poverty by an idiot man-child ruler advised by a self-serving hypocrite could be a story for our time, as it could for pretty much any other time. Power corrupts. The consequences of blind faith. Any of these things could be the message of Lapvona. Whatever the case, I'll miss this grumpy bunch of characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

daydreamsofareader's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

margozaldivar's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad slow-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

Ottessa Moshfegh continuously surprises her readers with the way she can be subversive, writing about the most unorthodox themes– whether it be about the self-destructive ways a woman practices to get through life in the early 2000s, or the intricacies of human behavior explored through a medieval fiefdom. In many ways, she constantly challenges literary norms with “novels that live in an amoral universe, past the political agenda described on social media” (Bookforum, June 2021).

Grotesque and raw, with an accurate portrayal of religious hypocrisy, Lapvona is a musing on the human condition. There is no plot. The novel is character-driven, which— at this point— is what is so special about Moshfegh’s books. You get to delve into the mind of the persona without a harness. As for the setting, the imagery of what happens in the fiefdom stays with the reader. There is no middle ground. Some scenes are funny, demoralizing, and unsettling all at once. In spite of the age-old themes, the novel is a new take on bigotry and how it brings out the ugliest parts in humans, especially when they are starved of love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Incest, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming

kirareads02's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.25

This book was so weird and disgusting but I couldn't stop listening to it. There wad no real sense of plot or movement really it was basically a year in lapvona. 

I don't know what I expected from the ending but it was very fitting. 

Just a weird story and I loved it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

this__nerd'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

3.0

I’ll admit that part of my rating is that I don’t think I “got” the book. This book is just a series of bad things happening to bad people and everyone blaming it on each other and/or god. It did manage to be an effective critique of toxic religious culture and exploitive wealth while also being extremely uncomfortable to read. Major trigger warnings on this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy