A tricky book to rate, but before I get into that I just want to ask: The people and reviewers who thought this was "funny", what the fuck? This was one of the bleakest and least funny stories I've ever read.

Anyway my thoughts:
So where I will give credit to Ottessa on Lapvona is her use of the "Hemmingway" style, which is making the reader feel complex or strong emotions while using the most simple words possible. Am i a fan of the Hemmingway style? No, not really, but i can see why others are.
Also, The pure weirdness of this novel is something to be praised, I mean it really just went for it, and the fact that I could never really figure out what bizarre event would happen next made for an enjoyable read.

Another thing that strikes you off the bat is the uniqueness of the characters and setting. Marek, Jude, Villiam and especially Ina are all so strange and memorable. But this is also a great jumping off point to start getting into my complaints about the book. 

The characters are all very one note, they're caricatures. This irked me quite a bit, I was expecting more complexity and subtlety in the way Ottessa might develop and evolve these characters over the course of the story buy unfortunately there wasn't much of that.
Ottessa fell victim to a writing flaw that I personally don't like, which is essentially: if a character evolves or changes at all, its almost a complete 180 flip rather than a gradual evolution. 

Another complaint I have Is the incredibly aimless feel of the story, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ottessa was just writing this with no particular plan in mind, it all felt like it was being made up on the spot. The ending feels very sudden and characters change on the fly to suit the stories whims.

Overall though it was a good story, the commentary on suffering, religion and hierarchy was interesting and definitely the most well thought out aspect of the book. Just wish the story itself and the characters felt more intentional and less aimless.