A review by lovelymisanthrope
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

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. 
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