Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

147 reviews

weirdow's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.75

An unlikable and unreliable narrator. Reminds me of Gillian Flynn's leads if they were a bit more thoroughly unlikable. A very, very slow build focused on developing Eileen, who is terrible but also somewhat understandable. 

Tw pedophilia, incest, sexual assault

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence and Incest

tanacef's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

My husband heard about Eileen and thought I would like it. It wasn’t badly written. In fact, one of the problems for me is that the FMC is so well-written, I just found her to be so viscerally unlikable and gross, which made the rest of the story, which already rambles and meanders quite a bit, very hard for me to “enjoy.” I flirted with the idea of DNFing this, but it wasn’t especially long, so I finished the audiobook in a day. If I’d been reading it, I probably would not have finished. The tale and prose gave me similar vibes as some works of Chuck Palahniuck, which I’ve also wanted to DNF—crude, bleak, and brutal stylings that make you wrinkle your nose and say, eww, that’s just weird for the sake of being weird. IYKYK. The ending and the reveal about Lee, for me, was also a little predictable, since it says right there in the summary that Eileen ends up complicit in a crime that Rebecca commits, however the summary also states that “This is the story of how I disappeared.” Well, the whole story was quite literally 77% exposition. I listened and listened and listened wondering when the main conflict would reveal itself, the crime and complicity mentioned in the summary, and then the action starts at 82%, and the ending is very anti-climactic.

This story is made 1000% more interesting when you consider the theory that Rebecca is Eileen’s alter-ego/imaginary friend, but none of that occurred to me until after I had already finished. Also, supposedly the author has confirmed this theory.

I guess I’ll watch the film now and see what it reveals.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Excrement, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Lesbophobia

kimberlyds's review against another edition

dark 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

It’s hard to believe this was actually published.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Rape

carojust's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

1.0

This book is 90% tedious foreshadowing, with an unsurprising climax. I'm realizing that Ottessa Moshfegh's brand is bored psychotic girl inner monologue told through every trope of perversion and filth, copy paste. 

I'm okay with that premise, but a whole non-plot about incestuous rape and pedophilia and a weirdly dismissive and predatory lens on incarcerated boys? 

I wish I could erase this from my brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lazarr0103's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

Interesting writing but I found myself put off by a fixation on certain bodily
functions. The life of the main character was quite sad and unusual. The ending was sudden to say the least. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, and Sexual violence

katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

eileen_asr's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

this is what I called a good complex character, this book is probably only 10% focused on the story itself rather that unraveling the mind of Eileen
that’s what I call the duality of a woman: feeling like the most repulsive person and also that i’m the most interesting person that you’ll ever see
we’re stuck between feeling empathy for Eileen that she never got to experience love and yet every time she take the rag under our feet with some rather disturbing thoughts
it was already weird to read a book where the main character shares your name but then to relate that was another level of insane
honestly I feel like Eileen has nothing special in the way she think and act, looking back, all of it it’s pretty common, she just feel out of her skin and who hasn’t feel like that, especially as a teenager
as much as her thoughts can be disgusting they’re also nothing shirt but brutally honest
anyway I did wish we could understand more Rebecca, like truly between the two of them she was the crazy one
(I found very funny and sad at the same time Eileen being so delulu abourt Rebecca’s friendship)
anyway a very good book to reflect on the human mind and how deranged yet normal it can be

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, and Self harm

rebekka_m's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

alanagrace7's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Fatphobia and Death of parent