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A review by triple_m
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
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? It's complicated
2.0
Really unenjoyable.
This book is boring for like 200 pages. I was literally forcing myself to read it. It was very bleak and repetitive and I like dark topics but nothing really happens until the very end.
I’m okay with slow burns but I was never invested because I found the hook of this book uninteresting and weak. The whole thing we’re leading up to is why a 24yo “ran away” from home. ?? That’s just called moving out. And of course it alludes that “something” happens to make her suddenly leave but since she fantasized about leaving the entire novel I wasn’t surprised she left.
Eileen is wholly unlikable to me. I get that she had a rough life but I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her, and I definitely was never rooting for her.
This book is boring for like 200 pages. I was literally forcing myself to read it. It was very bleak and repetitive and I like dark topics but nothing really happens until the very end.
I’m okay with slow burns but I was never invested because I found the hook of this book uninteresting and weak. The whole thing we’re leading up to is why a 24yo “ran away” from home. ?? That’s just called moving out. And of course it alludes that “something” happens to make her suddenly leave but since she fantasized about leaving the entire novel I wasn’t surprised she left.
Eileen is wholly unlikable to me. I get that she had a rough life but I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her, and I definitely was never rooting for her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Rape, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Religious bigotry