Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

37 reviews

wormeaten's review against another edition

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

i thought about dropping this book at least 5 times before i got to the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

kadinelouise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

This was one of the strangest books I have ever read. The MC’s internal monologue is the majority of the story, so it is interesting to see how she is interpreting the world around her into the story she is spinning. Made me think a lot about growing old, loneliness, and dealing with the world’s demons.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, Grief, and Abortion

acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Infidelity and Alcohol

witchintherain's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

1.75

I really wouldn't recommend this book. I didn't find the story or characters compelling and had to force myself to read it all the way through. It felt as if the author was just using the book as an excuse to be incredibly fatphobic. Such a disappointing read :(

There are other books that write unlikeable characters struggling with mental health issues that subvert their reality so much better and not offensively. In my opinion, this is not one of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, and Police brutality

texashippie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Grief

joensign's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

_jaybee_'s review against another edition

dark funny sad slow-paced

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

5.0

If you're looking for a creepy/dark plot-driven mystery this is *not it* and absolutely DO NOT ENGAGE lol. This is 100% character driven and written in the stream-of-conciousness style. The narrator is completely unreliable, objectively a pretty terrible person (fatphobic, classist, neglectful), and as we find out later, traumatized as well.

The first 60-70% read like a dark satire on the power of the stories we tell ourselves. The last bit documented the unraveling of a mind from within that very mind. By the end, any clarity you thought you had between reality and imagination is very fuzzy. 

I've seen other reviews that interpreted the book as a bleak meditation on loneliness, and that is definitely a theme, just not the one that jumped out at me the most. It's incredibly well-written and thought provoking, but I can see how it would annoy readers if it's not their thing or if they expected something different. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, and Classism

oliviah1111's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

this book is very very slow paced. from what i understand, it was only over the span of 2-3 days. i enjoyed it either way, but there are some weird elements i didnt like.

there was random hints of fatphobia, and what kind of felt like fetishization of foreign women. this may be because of the narrator being an older woman, but it seemed to be the writers opinion sneaking through especially with the weird comments about fat people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Alcohol

grunbean's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.0

I love Mosfegh’s writing, and this is by no means a bad book. I can only describe is lacking in a way, but I can’t put my figure on what it is exactly. 

Definitely for you if you like mystery, as every part of it feels like a mystery in some way. It just seems to lack something that ties it all together, I finished it feeling confused.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Alcohol

parsnipsnap's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Excrement, and Grief