Reviews tagging Excrement

Byłam Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh

45 reviews

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

Incredibly “Moshfegh”- a unlikeable, grotesque, unhinged woman. Great writing. The story was a bit slow but nonetheless carried me. 

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Content Warnings

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 parent

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

Spoiler

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

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

nataliesbee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Excrement

Minor: Fatphobia

lauramparis'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Excrement, and Body shaming

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Rape, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Vomit, and Kidnapping

devilconcrete's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

Eileen is a truly abhorrent human being. Throughout the book she is almost nothing but perverted, hating, homophobic, and misguided. That behind said, I loved this book. The writing style is smooth and vivid, and both pulls you into the moment of the story yet feels like someone sitting down and recalling it for you. There are so many individual dark but beautiful lines in this. The writing really kept me going, if it was written with even a sliver less quality I would have taken this deplorable book and burned it. It has the gritty details and thoughts worth hiding that make it seem terribly terribly real. All the most prominent characters are just as terrible. But they all feel like people. 
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. 

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Content Warnings

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

celbl8o's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Body shaming, Incest, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Animal death

pumpkinbread02's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Vomit and Gun violence

Minor: Excrement and Death of parent

eib_21's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Body shaming

edamamebean's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

5.0

i legit felt reborn as the novel ended

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Content Warnings

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.