Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

13 reviews

pamnc's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

I wanted to love this book based on the premise but it didn’t happen. The FMC is fat phobic, kills her dog, and spends an incredible amount of time obsessed with a murder that never happened. (The stream of consciousness is both interesting and frustrating.)

Similar to the other Moshfegh book I read recently, I finished mostly unsatisfied with the time spent reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Terminal illness and Sexual harassment

pv_789's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicide, and Terminal illness

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

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

Death in Her Hands is an eerie, winding novel that introduces you to the spiraling mind of an unreliable narrator. By the end of the book we are left with more questions than answers, though I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others looking to get lost in something strange. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Trafficking

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

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

eversnow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, and Abortion

lycaenide's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

1.5

I struggled to get into this, then at the half way mark I raced to the end only to be left literally saying "what the f*" out loud. I'm thoroughly confused, unsatisfied and left with a disgusting taste in my mouth. I read this as someone I follow online said it was a favourite of the last year, but I must be really missing something.

Full breakdown under spoilers: 

Characters: 5/10
The narrator was both likeable and unlikeable, and really well crafted. It felt like you were inside someone's head. I liked the fact that the narrator was elderly.

Atmosphere: 6/10
Really atmospheric descriptions of the woods, and by the end I was on edge just from the setting.

Writing style: 6/10
The writing itself was wonderful. It felt like this character had just unloaded her unconscious mind onto the page in a way that was engaging, if wildly confusing.

Plot: 1/10
Absolutely what the f*. What was that ending. I had to skim it because that is my most hated trope and I'm so bitter that that's how this story ended and I wasn't forewarned. I'm not a stranger to endings that aren't neatly wrapped up, and this reminded me of Earthlings, how you didn't know what was real or not. But I must be missing something because I have no clue what happened. 

Intrigue: 5/10
The first half was relatively boring but then it really picked up in intrigue.

Logic: 1/10
I think we can all agree that there was no logic here. 

Enjoyment: 1/10
The little spark of enjoyment I felt once the story picked up was squashed by the ending. This is obviously not the book for me. Honestly I wish I could throw it across the room but my copy is from the library. 

Overall rating: 3.57/10

I'm ignoring the balanced CAWPILE rating for this one and going off vibes. Basically, out of 5, it gets a point to acknowledge the writing ability and a half point for having an elderly protagonist and that's it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Excrement, Vomit, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Abortion

akadie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

2.75

At first I stopped reading the book, because it started slow and then made quite a few fat phobic comments that I did not see the point in. However, the other reviews on here intrigued me to at least continue a little further. After finishing the Story, it is really interestingly written. However still a rather slow development with the fat phobia continuing throughout.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Grief

hanreadin's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion