Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

41 reviews

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

missjeann's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Child abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, and Classism

lacanadienneinreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.75

I wanted to love this book. It was very well written and literary in its exploration of dark themes. I wanted to go on a Hitchcockian caper, filled with questionable people and questionable situations. But whereas some of my favourite noirs are populated with bad people doing bad things entertainingly and with some sort of catharsis in consequences, this novel has mediocre people doing inane to depraved and evil things in an ongoing trudge of monotony and horror. The pacing of the novel makes it far more an exploration of complicity in wrong doing, generational trauma, substance abuse, neurotic coping mechanisms, shame, arrested development in a tragic moment between girlhood and womanhood, sexual deviance routed in trauma... Darkness in general, really, more than it reads as a thriller. Eileen sucks. The people around her suck. The world she inhabits is morally corrupt and also painted with the strokes of her narrating brush. This is a novel I might recommend to those who like unreliable narrators, can stomach misery porn, have interest in uncommon narration approaches and who don't mind a slog in pacing. I didn't like Eileen. But it's worth reading, analyzing and discussing. It's a book I could write an essay about but would never casually recommend to a friend. Trigger warnings for sexual abuse, eating disorders, substance abuse, trauma, generational abuse and mistreatment of minors should all be flagged here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, and Death of parent

hannnah_besss's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Eating disorder and Death of parent

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

roseknows124's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

brinnavirginia's review against another edition

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

I'm apt to love a book in which nothing much happens and of course welcome a book rich in plot. This book is at least 50% exposition and then attempts to squeeze the rest of a plot into the final third or so--one that's just-ok and simply not worth trudging through what comes first to get there.
I'm down with an unlikable protagonist, but Eileen was not interesting enough to warrant her detestable character (and intense, over-the-top, makes-me-think-it-might-be-the-author fatphobia). I enjoyed the womanly yuckiness at first until it was just soooo much puke.
This book could have been, like, a hundred fewer pages. I had to read the Wikipedia plot summary to convince myself to just finish reading it (pulled through for book club <3). In the end, it wasn't worth the effort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amsswim's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.25

I'm not sure really what to say about this. I enjoyed it. This is the second book by the author Ottessa Moshfegh I have read, the other being 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation', and just as that one this book is just unhinged. I think this one may be more based in reality but still gave me the feeling of unsettlement. If you like weird things this may be for you. 

I am now very interested in watching the movie they made recently based on this starring Anne Hathaway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Car accident

kaylanoellesims'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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage and Lesbophobia

lunablch's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.75

Wow this book is so depressing. I'm a little glad I read it but I also feel like I have grown more cynical as a result.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent