Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

295 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

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

braedenjed's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Violence

gabrielaclarke's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

kyleeb4by's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

definitely a unique book … but very slow paced.

the twist near the end did gag me, but it just took so long to happen!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

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

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

_mreilly_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.25

Although I love how poetic Moshfegh is, the book was incredibly slow and didn’t get into the meat of the story until more than halfway through the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

infinnable's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol