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britts_booknook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Blood
jude333's review against another edition
I just couldn’t deal with the writing style. The long paragraphs about seemingly nothing just couldn’t capture my interest. I understand that it’s more to show her thought process, but things like that almost every 3 pages just killed me. I can (kind of) deal with an unlikable character, but this was extensive. I need SOMETHING that keeps me wanting to continue spending my time reading about them, and everything was just so awful.
Also the fat phobia was just too much to handle. These awful view points and long rants about these “fat women” did nothing to explore the character for me. It just showed how awful she was, which I was already EXTREMELY aware of. I understand that the point of her character is that she’s completely delusional, but I can only read about delusion so much before I start to discount every word and then it feels like I’m just wasting my time.
I will say, I did have an interest in her relationship with her husband, and that might have kept me going, but there was just so much noise around it that it wasn’t enough. I was reading on a kindle, but then I switched to the audiobook (which honestly did help a little), but I found myself continuously looking at the progress bar to see how much time I had left, and I didn’t want to force myself into a reading slump because of this book.
All in all, I see how some people could carry on with it, but it’s just not for me.
Also the fat phobia was just too much to handle. These awful view points and long rants about these “fat women” did nothing to explore the character for me. It just showed how awful she was, which I was already EXTREMELY aware of. I understand that the point of her character is that she’s completely delusional, but I can only read about delusion so much before I start to discount every word and then it feels like I’m just wasting my time.
I will say, I did have an interest in her relationship with her husband, and that might have kept me going, but there was just so much noise around it that it wasn’t enough. I was reading on a kindle, but then I switched to the audiobook (which honestly did help a little), but I found myself continuously looking at the progress bar to see how much time I had left, and I didn’t want to force myself into a reading slump because of this book.
All in all, I see how some people could carry on with it, but it’s just not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Abortion
charvermont's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Disturbing, an unlikeable protagonist but it is interesting to see her slowly unraveling. Wished the mystery was more than just in her head but great writing nonetheless.
Unnecessary fatphobic commentary (which is apparently Moshfegh’s thing across all her novels)
Unnecessary fatphobic commentary (which is apparently Moshfegh’s thing across all her novels)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Blood, and Grief
mindespair's review against another edition
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
2.5
overall this just dragged on way too much for me and it was a very ‘nothing happens’ kind of book. nightmare for my adhd. also so much fatphobia like girl what did i ever do to u. it was interesting enough to finish reading but i don’t think i’d recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Abortion, Pregnancy, 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.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Alcohol
paintbeetle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Sexual violence
lauraspeechly's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I know that lots of people didn't love this book but I did. I liked it better than Eileen and MYORAR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Xenophobia and Murder
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Excrement, Vomit, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Abortion
le_lobey's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity