Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Byłam Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

228 reviews

lagaialettrice's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Lesbophobia

guardachuva's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Child abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

ephe16's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

frances_frances's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I can very much understand why people either love or hate Moshfegh's work. Eileen, like her other novels, is an uncomfortable read that managed to pull me in right from the start.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Stalking

xkrille'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

3.0

Eileen was perfectly fine. Again, my enjoyment of the book was hampered by the fact that I started back at university, resulting in a longer break from reading. This meant that I did not end up being completely immersed in the book. The book is really slow-paced, which you have to be ready for. However, something really started to happen in the last 20% of the book. But all in all, the book was compelling and it was a good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Eating disorder, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, and Suicidal thoughts

torihbu's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.0

this book describes the inner world of a troubled young woman. it's a difficult line to walk, but the author focuses so much on the inner workings of the main character's mind that the book doesn't really have much of a plot until almost the very end. i suppose that's meant to be a representation of the character's own experience--nothing mattering outside of herself until something comes along to force her into reality--but it makes for a slow, boring read. while i understand the main character, she's not very likable (again, likely by the author's design), so the reader is left to spend time only with her for the majority of the book. an interesting concept in theory but falls a bit flat in practice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism

thisiscourt's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

daniellelikesbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Excrement

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

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