Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

8 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.

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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

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!!

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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

sherri_berri's review against another edition

Disliked the writing style (too much tell, not enought show for me) and found the child sexual descriptions & abuse too disturbing. Im unsure if the plot would have developed, but these first 46 pages (i.e. where I DNFed) felt as if purely for shock value. I went into this book expecting it to be weird, but was disappointed with being served disgusting scene after disgusting scene without any plot or satisfactory characterisations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia and Abandonment

forloveandroses's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense medium-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

2.75

I love Ina. (Mostly) 

Also I hope Dibra did run away with her love??? There was no follow up to that.

Poor Ágata. She deserved better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Pedophilia, Rape, Xenophobia, and Murder

swamphag42069's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

This was on a "wtf did I just read" list and I mean, that really says it all. Wtf did I just read. Haven't felt this weird since seeing Midsommar for the first time, which I think is a cool thing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mraddd's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Incest, Rape, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Abortion

flowingleaves's review against another edition

A boring, horrifying for the sake of it, slog of a story. The writing's interesting enough, but the story feels pointless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism