Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

45 reviews

ak97x's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Incest

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

meakey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

Not for the faint of heart but a classic for a reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

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

emmablue's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

i enjoy awful women very much but its less fun when they are so ashamed of their own awfulness

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Stalking

alaynafaith'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

2.0

idk I just didn’t really like it 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

There was one too many talks of bowel movements.
I'm sorry, but I just didn't vibe with the book. I see so many people praising it but to me it was a book where it took forever for something to start happening. The first half of the book was just so boring to me with burst of disgust whenever bowel movements were mentioned. Seriously I started to really detest the word bowels.
 I recognise that this book is just not for me and if I was not given it by my friend I would never have read it. But hey maybe a film adaptation with foxy Anne Hathaway will change my mind, who knows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Torture, Blood, and Medical content

bookishbrenbren's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

I really like Ottessa Moshfegh but this book was a miss for me. I've read two others of her work but this lacked the engrossing, drawing in of the other two. In fact this book was pretty repulsive not just in that it describes a lot of gross, pitiable things, which it does, but also in that it feels like she didn't want the reader to get into Eileen's shoes, she wanted to keep the reader at older-narrating-Eileen's head, which looks back on her former self with judgment, disgust, and pity. The propulsive conclusion felt forced, although I liked Rebecca's neurotic spiral, I didn't see the need for

the mother's version of the incest rape story, I think it cheapened the story and sensationalized the rape, which I can never respect.

. All said, I enjoyed the character Eileen and the grimy, gritty inner life she leads. Ottessa has such a talent for these kinds of stories but to me the ending felt like any old paperback thriller and I was left feeling disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent

dale1997's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

katieohara's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

I think that this book is one of the best examples of a character study that I have read this year. As a native New Englander if also has a certain sense of for lack of a better word, dark charm for me. However, the book is hurtling you to this big bad moment that it hints at, but it just didn’t feel as bad as I was expecting. But honestly I might just be a spoiled reader to used to the horrifying details of murder podcasts and criminal minds. Perhaps what happened is sick enough and the author is making a subtle point that if you are looking for perversion you are no better than the spoiled rich girl not realizing her idealism has consequences.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Classism

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.75

The story had huge potential, but made me feel uncomfortable, unfortunately for the wrong reasons most of the time.
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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent