Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

41 reviews

amarige's review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.0

A profoundly disturbed and lonely young woman is obsessively seeking some sort of validation - her motives are perplexing at best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mreisen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

Major trigger warning for multiple types of abuse and addiction. Read if you like introspective character studies and enjoy a winding, convoluted, sometimes unclear plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

olive_lol'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

2.5

This novel's setting over the Christmas season creates a uniquely lonely atmosphere. Each scene is packed with description of often mundane things, which, for me, at least, got old after about a hundred pages. Some topics, like alcoholism and child abuse, are explored deeply through multiple characters who experience them.

This novel obviously makes you uncomfortable and grossed out on purpose, but I honestly don't think the story benefits much from that. Most of the sensetive or gross topics feel like they were only included for shock and contributed little to any wider commentary. However, some topics are very well-explored, just not most of those included. That said, make sure you check the content warnings for this book.

Nothing much in the plot happens until about the last third; most of the book leading up to that point is a mix of anecdotes, atmosphere, and gross-out description. For most of the first third, I was really considering picking up another book instead because so little was happening or felt significant. It did create a nice payoff when, in the last third, things started happening, but that didn't outweigh the slowness of the beginning and middle for me.

This book really wasn't for me. It had some merits, like strong descriptions and atmosphere. However, I couldn't look past the overly slow pacing and the overuse of some sensetive topics seemingly for shock.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

murakamiii's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

genuine shock at the twist. eileen is a messy btch but with her environment I don’t blame her

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Homophobia

iamfoundinbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape

hlb2023's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

hick's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and Classism

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

4.0

Very compelling story, a mix between true crime and dark academia in its themes. Do heed the warnings though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

karenvol6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

All throughout this book I kept wishing I’d read the content warnings before starting it. I kept reading because I wanted to know more about Eileen’s story but it’s such a rough read :/ The author’s other books are comedies compared to this one so maybe either skip this one or just go in prepared! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

this was dark, haunting, and entirely captivating. a beautifully written character study of a young woman at her breaking point. I wouldn't recommend it to people who want something to happen, as this is first and foremost a dissection of Eileen as a character, and plot takes a backseat which I really enjoyed. haven't stopped thinking about this since I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail