Book Review
The Girls That Get It, Get It — But I Don’t Get It
Reviewing ‘Death in Her Hands’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
If you’re on BookTok (or have some other method of discovering popular books), then you know Ottessa Moshfegh.
Moshfegh’s name has been in my head for months, and not once have I come across a negative review of her work. Out of curiosity, I went to a locally owned bookstore and bought my first, official Moshfegh: “Death in Her Hands.”
I started reading it and immediately had so many questions.
In quick summation, the book is about a woman, Vesta, living with her dog in the woods. When she finds an ominous note declaring a dead body somewhere in her woods, Vesta goes to search for the body, the killer, and the one who left the note.
Murder mystery? Love!
Murder mystery in which there are no clues other than a note? … I’m not really sure.
The remainder of this article will include spoilers, be warned.
Vesta was wholly writing a fanfic — you cannot convince me otherwise. If Kat from Euphoria was in her 70s, she would be Vesta; alone with her dog remembering her husband who was kind of terrible.
That being said, I still don’t get it. Did Vesta write the note herself? Is she Magda, the supposed dead body left in the woods? Why did the dog turn into Kujo? (I don’t even like dogs (long story), but that was uncalled for.)
Thinking about it now, I think I would enjoy a prequel from the husband’s perspective. Their relationship intrigued me, and he played such a small role in the story in Vesta’s memories. If I am feeling inspired one Sunday, I might just write it myself.
Because here’s the kicker: I actually did not, objectively, like this book. The writing was beautiful and Moshfegh certainly is able to make readers feel a certain level of unsettlement, but what did it all mean? It was words that meant nothing and somehow filled over 200 pages.
And maybe that was the lesson to be learned. At a certain point in one’s life, words mean nothing and are there to fill the silence. Vesta was bored, fancied herself a detective, then died. Or maybe she didn’t die. I don’t really get what happened in the end.
According to my StoryGraph, I rated the book four stars and wrote: “I’m honestly not sure what to think. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and didn’t like the slow pace… I’m sure I’m missing a lot of underlying themes, but I wished there was more plot than just what was being made up.”
I stand by that. I remember now, in the bookstore, I hadn’t read the back of the book. Just saw Moshfegh’s name and knew I needed to try. I don’t not recommend it, but if you do read it (or have read it) and grasped more than I did, this is the time and place to share.
