Reviews tagging 'War'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

5 reviews

sarahherm's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I hope you like trauma. Because you’re going to get some.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

littlemountainchicken's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

It's a mess of everything bad happening to those who deserve it and those who don't. The plot carries the characters along, influenced by their actions, but rarely in their favour. A few times the narrative became a bit too repetitive in it's violence and abuse of the characters.

I found it interesting how the point of view jumps from a character to another, accompanied by the narrators monotonous voice.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

torihbu's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

a quick read because it was entertaining, in about the same way as a train crash is entertaining. you want to stick around to see what unfortunate event might be next.

there seems to be a point to the story--questioning religion, capitalism, haves v have-nots, death, afterlife, pain, suffering, all the dark parts of the human experience. a medieval kingdom is a good place to explore those themes. however, the themes are overshadowed by disrespectfully odd scenes that have the same shock-value as a bad comedian trying to get a rise out of the audience.

sometimes the themes were delivered subtly, but most of the time, the themes were very blunt and overtly described. there was not much for the reader to think about or learn--it was just one shocking, depressing, or annoying scene after the other.

i would recommend if you're in the mood to indulge in the horrors of the human experience without having to get too depressed or think too hard about what you're reading. otherwise, maybe skip this one!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Excrement, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage

loustat__'s review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Classism

elle_in_amsterdam'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

absolute shit of a novel, wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy, no story at all, just pure gore
deranged teenage shepherd in fucked up town,

sucks on the nipples of a delusional very very old lady — who is over a century, was blind, grew up in a cave, learned to talk to birds, regained her sight, and let a teenage boy go down on her — ,kills his cousin — a bully and the son of the local lord but also not really his cousin in the end because his adoptive father is only the guy who kidnapped and raped the boy’s mother after she had tried to escape her family where she was also being raped by her own brother, hence the pregnancy, the old shepherd then tells the boy his mother died in childbirth when she had just escaped and went to a convent, that she tries to leave during a famine only for the old shepherd to find her again and rape her again—

and goes to live with the lord as a replacement child.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail