Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

44 reviews

vaaaleriechen's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Hints of Carol, but with a dark undertone. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

knomia's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

carojust's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

1.0

This book is 90% tedious foreshadowing, with an unsurprising climax. I'm realizing that Ottessa Moshfegh's brand is bored psychotic girl inner monologue told through every trope of perversion and filth, copy paste. 

I'm okay with that premise, but a whole non-plot about incestuous rape and pedophilia and a weirdly dismissive and predatory lens on incarcerated boys? 

I wish I could erase this from my brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ariana3's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.0

I was not a fan of this at all. It was recommended by a friend and I can see why she liked it, but it was not my cup of tea. The book was slow and ambling, it just felt like it was stream-of-consciousness writing, like the author was supposed to be telling a story but then would get themselves down a different rabbit hole. It was just odd, the timeline, the story, everything. Only in the last half of the last chapter did it kind of get good. And even when it ended I was confused and was just left with a "that's it?" feeling. Like the entire book was a waste.
Plot summary:

The main character, Eileen, lives with her dad who used to be a renowned police officer. After her mom died, he became a terrible drunk and was emotionally abusive. Eileen herself is a slob, gross, frumpy, doesn't care about her appearances and yet is utterly obsessed. As a young adult, she thinks she's the only "higher being" in her small Massachusetts town. She's a secretary at a youth prison and has been for several years since she was pulled out of school to care for her sick mom. Her childhood sucked, her parents sucked, her life sucks. Then this mysterious woman starts at the prison. She's obsessed with her and wants to be her lover or friend? It's confusing what she wants, she just wants attention and admiration from this woman, Rebecca. Rebecca reads a case file from one of the boys at the prison that disturbs her (a father was raping his son, so the son killed him). The mom did nothing about it and would help facilitate it. So in the last half of the last chapter, you find out that Rebecca has tied up this mom to elicit the confession. Eileen gets it and Rebecca is pissed but doesn't know what else to do. Eileen comes up with a plan to frame her dad for the mom's murder, since he's a drunk, but they would kill her. She knows Rebecca won't join her, so she says "bye" to her dad, gets her money, drives north to a pretty part of the forest, and leaves her beat up old truck running with the mom inside (passed out from pain pills) to die from carbon monoxide poisoning while she hitches a ride back south to NYC to start a new life. That's it. Literally nothing else happens...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

annasorr's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Eileen is full of writing that is beautiful, tense, strange, and scary. I enjoyed getting to know Eileen and her world and deeply related to Eileen’s lack of self-assuredness. The novel’s narrator, Eileen’s older self, turns this narrative from a self-indulgent thriller to a well-paced, mysterious puzzle of the past. As this is Moshfegh’s first novel, it lacks some of the polish that her later writing has, but it’s still very much worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sicksadlit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Well, Ottessa, you are "quite a gal!"

No one manages to simultaneously repulse and intrigue me quite like Ottessa Moshfegh. When I read her work, I know I'm about to be thoroughly disturbed and I am here. for. IT.

Eileen did not disappoint. The story of Eileen Dunlop's miserable life spent living with her emotional (and at times, physically) abusive, alcoholic father and working at the local Boys Prison was exactly as uncomfortable as I've come to expect from Moshfegh's work.

Moshfegh somehow manages to get right under your skin and touch nerves you never thought existed. Reading Eileen move through life selfishly and disgustingly (intentionally ripping clothes in a store, wiping her dirty mouth on scarves for sale, touching herself and then shaking hands with someone before washing them... that sort of thing) somehow had me absolutely hooked and I could not put the book down before finding out whether or not Eileen managed to find happiness or not.

Ottessa's work is not for the faint of heart.

Often the reviews are scathing of the body horror and grotesque descriptions.

But that is part of the magic in my opinion.

I read Ottessa Moshfegh when I want to be disturbed. And she never ever fails to disappoint!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

um_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

This is me expanding my reading horizons! 🤩
Diving into Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' was a journey unlike any other, not my preferred genre but was not disappointed. 

At first glance, the narrative seemed deceptively mundane – everyday routines, mundane interactions, nothing out of the ordinary. The juxtaposition of the mundane and the disturbing was jarring, yet strangely mesmerizing, like watching a trainwreck unfold in slow motion.

‘Eileen' left me feeling deeply disturbed yet utterly captivated. It's a testament to Moshfegh's talent that she could take something as mundane as daily life and turn it into something so profoundly unsettling. Eileen is definitely worth a read.

Check your trigger warnings for this book ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

ricketycricket's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.75

Don’t read this unless you love an awful person character study.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment