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A review by pancake_pages
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
4.0
The best way to describe this book is it’s like an accident you can’t look away from.
This book was so incredibly messed up. I wanted a book that made my jaw drop in shock and boy, did I get that with this one. I plan on rereading this in the near future, annotating every moment my jaw drop, I made a disgusted face, or the characters commit one of the 7 deadly sins.
I felt there wasn’t much plot in the book, and with the lack of plot, I tried filling in the caps with symbolism. With everything they do being for or because of God, it was ironic that they performed the most heinous acts. The 7 deadly sins, being pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, were all present themes within the novel. Actually, most horrible things you can think of were present throughout the book; pedophilia, rape, self-harm, child abuse, cannibalism, animal abuse/death, suicide, murder… all were present.
Not only did I feel there was a lack of plot, there wasn’t a consistent narrator nor did I feel the speech was consistent. At times the speech felt appropriate for its medieval era, and some it felt too modern. There wasn’t a consistent narrator, as you changed perspectives every few paragraphs. To my surprise, I didn’t mind this. This, plus the lack of chapters, was not a style of read I was used to, but Ottessa made it easy enough to follow along with and I was never confused.
Some things were predictable, like Marek becoming lord, Agata not actually being dead in the beginning, Villiam getting what he deserves… but I still have questions. Like in the end, did Agata die during childbirth like Jude said happened when she gave birth to Marek? Did Marek throw his baby brother off the cliff where he pushed Joseph? Does Ina actually possess magical abilities? Did she switch the horse’s eyes for Agata’s eyes and that’s why they weren’t bulging as much?
As much as I wanted to walk away from this book to separate myself from its darkness, I couldn’t. It had me hooked from the beginning. I’m a slow reader but I was able to finish this book in under a month. It was fast-paced and I could NOT put it down even though I wanted to. I just had to know what other messed up stuff would happen.
It’s a shame, really. I used to love grapes. Now I’ll never be able to eat them the same way again.
This book was so incredibly messed up. I wanted a book that made my jaw drop in shock and boy, did I get that with this one. I plan on rereading this in the near future, annotating every moment my jaw drop, I made a disgusted face, or the characters commit one of the 7 deadly sins.
I felt there wasn’t much plot in the book, and with the lack of plot, I tried filling in the caps with symbolism. With everything they do being for or because of God, it was ironic that they performed the most heinous acts. The 7 deadly sins, being pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, were all present themes within the novel. Actually, most horrible things you can think of were present throughout the book; pedophilia, rape, self-harm, child abuse, cannibalism, animal abuse/death, suicide, murder… all were present.
Not only did I feel there was a lack of plot, there wasn’t a consistent narrator nor did I feel the speech was consistent. At times the speech felt appropriate for its medieval era, and some it felt too modern. There wasn’t a consistent narrator, as you changed perspectives every few paragraphs. To my surprise, I didn’t mind this. This, plus the lack of chapters, was not a style of read I was used to, but Ottessa made it easy enough to follow along with and I was never confused.
Some things were predictable, like Marek becoming lord, Agata not actually being dead in the beginning, Villiam getting what he deserves… but I still have questions. Like in the end, did Agata die during childbirth like Jude said happened when she gave birth to Marek? Did Marek throw his baby brother off the cliff where he pushed Joseph? Does Ina actually possess magical abilities? Did she switch the horse’s eyes for Agata’s eyes and that’s why they weren’t bulging as much?
As much as I wanted to walk away from this book to separate myself from its darkness, I couldn’t. It had me hooked from the beginning. I’m a slow reader but I was able to finish this book in under a month. It was fast-paced and I could NOT put it down even though I wanted to. I just had to know what other messed up stuff would happen.
It’s a shame, really. I used to love grapes. Now I’ll never be able to eat them the same way again.