Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Byłam Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh

30 reviews

catfan84's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This is my favorite book of all time. It’s genuinely so well written and I love it so much I 100% reccomend it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Rape, Violence, Child abuse, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Medical content

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Eileen is probably in last place out of the other books by Moshfegh that I’ve read. This is not to say that is was terrible, but not my favorite (which is Death In Her Hands omg loved that). It’s just one of those books where very little happens and the back of the book is kind of misleading. The main problem is really that the twist happens much later in the story than you’d think, and you end up just watching Eileen mope forever. While I was expecting a slow book, I did not expect it to be this slow. It feels like they spend 20 pages talking about the snow and nothing else at some parts. I will say that the crime was interesting and morbid and all that, but it happens in like the last 40 pages of the book!!! I did enjoy reading about Eileen being starstruck by Rebecca (they should have kissed tbh)

Spoiler

and Rebecca’s character cracking at the end when Eileen sort of becomes the cool one. Guess the lesson is you can only be cool when threatening and killing someone??

Anyways, fine read, and I liked her shoplifting + the little fleabag moment at the end with the deer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Addiction, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Animal death, Gun violence, Blood, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Incest and Abortion

majortomwaits's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.25

It took me quite a bit to get through this one, but it was well worth it. This was brilliant, maybe too sluggish at some points, but altogether an excellent and tense read with unexpected turns.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit

Minor: Animal death

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

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

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

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

self_scare'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.

caitlinderocker's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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