kelleykamanda's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Body shaming, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Self harm, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
Minor: Excrement
Rape of a minor by a parentdale1997's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Body shaming, Death of parent, Ableism, Confinement, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
bugcollector's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
Spoiler
Eileen starts off funny and cunning. A bit suicidal, but mainly stuck in her place craving an escape:▫️ "Icicles hung from the rafter over the front door, and I stood there imagining them cracking and darting through my breasts, slicing through the thick gristle of my shoulder like bullets or cleaving my brain into pieces." (p. 3)
▫️ "If my daydreams from back then cane true, one day I'd have found him splayed out at the bottom of the stairs, neck broken but still breathing. 'It's about time', I'd say with the most bored affect I could master, peering over his dying body." (p. 5)
▫️ "He was a cruel character. Imagining his parents beating him as a child is the only path to forgiveness that I have found so far. It isn't perfect but it does the trick." (p. 6)
▫️ "I could be very dramatic with my self assessments." (p. 8)
▫️ "I imagined what relief I might feel if I could lie on Dr. Frye's couch just once and confess like some sort of fallen hero that my life was simply intolerable. But, in fact it was tolerable. I'd been tolerating it after all." (p. 22)
As I read on (until about p. 50) Nothing made me want to pick this book again for a long while. I Ended up reading Moshfegh's newest book from this year, Lapnovka, and regretted it dearly, which put me off from this one even more. Determined to cut down my currently reading list before the new year, I found myself working hard to read through it this weekend.
My problem with Eileen is that she stays stuck in the place for most of the book. Near the very end something interesting happens, but by then you have fallen asleep.
Her routine isn't unique, and there's so much you can read about her hating everything, her repeating that she's a new girl now and those things happened in the past, her saying it's the last time she went to the prison, the last time she saw her father, the last time she saw an icicle drop, yada yada yada.
Eileen ends being relatable relatively fast. She is deeply disterbing, pretty vile, and endulged with some hard topics (Moshpeg loves bringing poop and masterbation to the conversation)
I think the plot sounds promising, centering a young girl seeking an escape.
But you won't get an escape with it, you'd end up wanting to escape from it.
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Blood, Sexual violence, Torture, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Violence
devilconcrete's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Horrendous cast of characters with wretched thoughts and wretched actions.
Reading this book and observing these characters was like pulling entertainment from footage of a trainwreck. But I couldn't bring myself out of it. Riveting.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Telling the story retrospectivly was a weird decision and made the book less suspenseful. It also could have been definitely shorter, which was mainly caused by the author underestimating the reader and over explaining every single characteristic or situation important for the story.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
sophsg88's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Spoiler
it is really dark throughout but for me, the graphic detail around the child abuse in the last 1/4 of the book really was too gratuitous which brought my rating downGraphic: Sexual assault, Vomit, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence
edamamebean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Incest, Blood, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body horror, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Rape, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Excrement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Drug use, Death of parent, Cursing, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Torture, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Stalking, and Blood
belleor's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Addiction, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Injury/injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Incest, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Confinement, Gore, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death and Blood
Extra content warning for the existential dread that’s portrayed for the most part of the novel (I’m thinking of others with existential OCD like me)—HOWEVER important to note that everything changes for Eileen at a certain point in the book and she undergoes a paradigm shift where one (seemingly insignificant thing) makes her realise that her life can have meaning. I found it SUPER cathartic in this way so I’m glad I kept going even though up until then her existential angst was hard to read. ~~~ Why there’s so many TWs - read to get a more accurate perspective on whether it’s the kind of book for you (spoiler free): This book is written from the perspective of Eileen writing about her young adulthood—as an elderly person. A lot of her dark thoughts & xenophobia come from the time when she grew up and the lack of love/care she received as a child. In this way I found it somewhat easier to suspend my reaction to some of the awful things she said. Additionally, Eileen, at the age she is writing the story, wants to portray what kind of person she was back then—warts and all—without trying to distract from what she feels are negative & toxic traits by inspiring sympathy. In this way it’s aggressively honest and Eileen doesn’t want to shield her past self from the judgement she feels she deserves.yeahtotally's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Rape, Incest, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Dysphoria
caitlinderocker's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, and Sexual assault