I'm glad I got introduced to Ottessa first through My Year of Rest and Relaxation because if I had read this first, I doubt I would have read anything else by her. Eileen and Lapvona seem to show the true essence of her writing style and I do not care for it. In this book especially, the style and narrative choices were really what did me in.
I will always find the sexualisation of children (especially just for the hell of it) unnecessary and tasteless and this book–especially the beginning–was rife with it.
All the talk about labial folds and bowels and vomit and urine felt like narrative choices that were intended to shock and just like Lapvona, they landed poorly for me. 

The dullness of the actual story aside, Eileen was a deplorable protagonist but she also had a lot of potential. She was truly lonely and desperate for freedom, human connection, and kindness. Sadly, her desperation morphed into a form of self-loathing that sometimes made the book difficult to get through. She also had to deal with an abusive, undiagnosed/unmedicated but obviously alcoholic and possibly schizophrenic father and that would certainly take a toll on anyone. 

The “great” climax of the book was meh and if you want to read a great third-act calamity, read Josephine Hart instead. 

I did have a favourite quote though: “Idealism without consequences is the pathetic dream of every spoilt brat.”