Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

304 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I picked this up after hearing about it in a vlog on BookTube. 

“Lapvona” follows Marek, the abused son of a Shepard who never knew his own mother. Marek has a particularly close bond with the village midwife, Ina, whom he has breastfed from for most of his life. After a rather traumatic incident, Marek finds himself brought in the middle of a violent power struggle being had in the lord’s home. 

This is one of those books that I finished and am kind of unsure how to describe what I just read. This book felt very strange and often went off on tangents I was not expecting. 

Marek’s story is quite heartbreaking, and it was easy to become enamored with him. He never knew his mother, which would be a great challenge for anyone, but to top it off, his father abuses him. This neglect has really contributed to why he is so close to Ina, and why he still seems so dependent on her. There were some scenes between them that made me uncomfortable, but I think that was the point. The circumstances that brought Marek to the lord’s home were very traumatic, not only for him, but for the reader as well. 

The medieval setting of this story is not one I typically read from, so that was a great change of pace. It felt authentic for the time but still relatable in ways to today’s world. 

I think this novel overall breaks away from the expected, even what is to be expected from this author. This novel is hard to get through, but I also did not want to put it down. I did not like what was happening, but I also needed to know what was going to happen next. This author is so skilled at crafting a novel that pushes so many envelopes while still hammering home a point to the reader. 

I do not think I necessarily recommend this novel to anyone, unless they already had an interest in it, but overall I am happy I read it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy

ambersoda's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy

02kloun's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

4.0

i love this book i will never read it again

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

starvation due to drought is a core plot device throughout one of the sections of the book

reads2cope's review against another edition

1.0

Was this published as a prank to see if people would actually read it?
It was so disgusting and pointless that I would have thrown it aside early on if I wasn’t reading it for a bookclub. This is especially strange because it had such potential - an interesting setting, ruined by a total lack of commitment to the alleged time period (people know disease was spread by ships, travelers, and rats [yet take no predations, just continue to die]; a character is asked if he had a “girlfriend”; a kid proclaims that he wants to be an “explorer” when he grows up, and so much more) and themes of religion, family, truth, sexuality, class, abuse, pandemics, isolation, and so much more are introduced, and then simply thrown aside.

In an especially jarring section at the end of the second to last chapter, the reader is suddenly addressed directly: “Everything seems reasonable in hindsight. 

Right or wrong, you will think what you need to think so that you can get by. So find some reason here.” Unfortunately, there was no reason to be found there or in any other part of the book.

The only partial redemption and what even allowed me to finish reading was the flow and some actually funny lines:
‘What about heaven, Ina? Don’t you want to go?’ 

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘I won’t know anyone.’
And even less often, a truly beautiful paragraph:
“his heart felt cold, like a sweat chilled by a sudden wind. It was a terrible feeling, the boy's first experience of nostalgia: the pain of his past.  Until now, time had had almost no meaning. The sun rose and set. The church bells donged, but he didn't bother to count them.”

“She had a wisdom that nobody could recognize; the deaths of her children hadn't torn the innocence from her heart, but had calloused her against her own rage.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

friedathurman's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.5

The writing was okay. Some of the graphic subject matter was just not at all my cup of tea.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jessiekind_'s review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Cannibalism

ceciltheceaselesswatcher's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

nasty and disgusting but very well written

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

yogomagpie's review against another edition

dark medium-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

5.0

I’m surprised I loved this as much as I did. It was not an easy read, as a lot of it was disgusting and vile (as expected). I had to take a couple breaks after two super graphic scenes. But Moshfegh captures the flaws of humanity in a strange, fever dream-like way that I can't get enough of. There are so many themes to think about (religion, sin, family, class, life, death, etc etc). I hated pretty much every character, which seems to be a recurring trait of Moshfegh’s writing. I would say, though, that Ina is my favorite character. Her backstory and her connections and involvement across Lapvona and the manor was the most interesting.

I only give 5 stars to books that I would read multiple times, and I’d definitely read again (after reading something light and fluffy as a palate cleanser).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism and Body shaming

jessica_flower's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

CW/TW: incest, on-page rape, cannibalism, death, violence, misogyny, incredibly masochistic views of religion, abuse and trauma, a disturbing amount of bodily fluids, graphic descriptions of anything and everything

What in the absolute fuckery was this

A mess of fucked up characters to talk about God and theology in the most masochistic way possible?

The only reason this isn't 1 star is because Otessa's writing is good

But

This shit is fucked up and I will never read this again

Do not recommend unless you can handle reading terrible things happening over and over with no hope or peace in sight 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry

criscroscris's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment