Scan barcode
A review by samanthagillan
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
3.0
3.5 stars. There is so much to unpack here that I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this book for days, week, maybe months. I might even come back and change this rating at some point because there are so many thoughts going through my head right now.
First, the strengths. Eileen may be the most well written character of all time. Not once did I feel as if Moshfegh was telling the reader who Eileen was, but instead letting the reader draw their own conclusions from Eileen's thoughts and actions throughout the story. She's a complicated little kook! Damaged, hypocritical, often revolting, and yet totally human in a messed up kind of way. The ending of this book was phenomenal. I had a hard time putting it down at around once I reached about 75%.
One thing that killed this book for me was the pacing. The first 75% was so slow and repetitive that I started to lose interest in where the story was taking me. For the most part it didn't seem like it had a story at all, which made the ending feel like whiplash. I wish there was some build up on the way to the events on Christmas Eve. Maybe there was and those hints just went right over my head, but the whole thing felt disjointed to me.
First, the strengths. Eileen may be the most well written character of all time. Not once did I feel as if Moshfegh was telling the reader who Eileen was, but instead letting the reader draw their own conclusions from Eileen's thoughts and actions throughout the story. She's a complicated little kook! Damaged, hypocritical, often revolting, and yet totally human in a messed up kind of way. The ending of this book was phenomenal. I had a hard time putting it down at around once I reached about 75%.
One thing that killed this book for me was the pacing. The first 75% was so slow and repetitive that I started to lose interest in where the story was taking me. For the most part it didn't seem like it had a story at all, which made the ending feel like whiplash. I wish there was some build up on the way to the events on Christmas Eve. Maybe there was and those hints just went right over my head, but the whole thing felt disjointed to me.