At first, I was hesitant to spend any money on Ottessa Moshfegh’s latest release Lapvona, as I had been previously disappointed by her other novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. However, I saw that they used the painting Agnus Dei on the cover and heard religious themes, immoral characters, and an unusual farm boy, and I just had to give her another chance.
Firstly, on Lapvona’s structure, I felt that the pacing let the novel down. It begins very slowly and therefore, felt like everything happened all at once in the last third. I had a similar problem with her other novel, which was slow to the point that I struggled to stay immersed. Furthermore, the book is around 300 or so pages, and I feel like the plot would not have suffered if around 50 pages of content were cut.
The reviews on the back of the novel highlight the comedic element; however, I feel this is misleading. The novel is littered with uncomfortable and eyebrow-raising moments but I’m not sure I would go as far as to call them funny. Perhaps some moments were supposed to convey the ridiculous nature of the happenings in the novel, but funny? No.
My next qualm with the novel is the characters. This is upsetting to me as I was so excited for Marek, the main character; however, I found it hard to surmise any attachment or care about him by the halfway point, as he gets overwhelmed and lost in the group of other characters. I had the same issue with the other characters, where I found it hard to be invested in them, with the exception of Igor and Ina, whose storylines I thoroughly enjoyed.
I hope to approach the ending while keeping the article spoiler-free. The ending is supposed to be dramatic and leave us on a cliffhanger; however, I found it underwhelming. There were a flurry of deaths leading up to it, some of which seemed unnecessary, which I felt overshadowed the impact that the ending should have had.
The final death in the novel also failed to make an impact on me, probably because it was a character that the reader has little time to connect with at all. Like I mentioned previously, it seemed like everything happened all at once in about 30 pages, which I found disorientating and completely knocked me off the end. I finished it disappointed because I entered it with such high hopes
To conclude, I want to note that there were aspects I did like. I always love a religious theme, especially a dark, intense one like the one that was explored in the novel, and I also liked the setting. Additionally, whilst this isn’t the book for me, I can understand why other people love it so much. If you enjoy Ottessa Mosfegh’s other novels and like the way she paces them, then you won’t have the same problems that I did with the novel.
Overall, I rate this book a 2.5/5 stars.