Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

126 reviews

todrick_the_tree's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, and Suicide

swinevenus's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

carmentxx's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

god, do not read this book if you’re depressed. this was a very interesting read that took a direction that i did not expect at all. i think the ending really makes this novel worth it, even though i felt myself becoming increasingly cynical of life the more i read! i can see why it has become a modern classic for how bold it is. however, though i am glad i read it, i am glad it’s over now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

khartke's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

This was a grueling read with a detestable main character and disgusting events. I could barely put it down. I found it well written, stuffed (over-stuffed?) with references and connections to other works so the themes were always exploding outwards in many directions. Honestly not sure how sincerely I should take

the inner peace at the end as a sign of redemption

but I found it to be pretty satisfactory. I feel like this demands a reread but I'll have to muster up some major fortitude before I can attempt it. I read the back 2/3 in quarantine which definitely contributed to the atmosphere, Would recommend if you have COVID. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape and Abortion

afields92's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

melusinedln's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While this wasn’t a masterpiece of a book, it was still very nice to read (even though a bit boring sometimes). The ending made it all worth it, even though you can guess it very easily in the first pages of the book.
I appreciated the narrator’s evolution, from her initial unreliability and selfishness to her acceptance of her parent’s death allowing her to improve as a person, only to have to deal with yet another grief at the end of the book.
I also appreciated the writing style. It kept the « boring » parts nice to read.
It was pretty relaxing and nice to, for once, read a book where essentially nothing happens diegetically. This book reminds us that the story isn’t the only element that makes a book good in the sense that you do not need a complex plotline and such things to make your readers feel intense emotions, convey a message etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Misogyny, and Violence

melitorian's review

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Just finished the book, and the word that comes to mind is catharsis. I kept wondering where this was all going — did I need to go through reading all of this to get to "the point?" Maybe not. But, am I glad at where we arrived after getting there? Definitely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit

nefarious_rat's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Abortion

features 9/11. towards the end. no terrorism tag but thought that would be relevant as a warning

holasisoymaca's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

"Reva parecía no sentir necesidad de ocultarme su envidia. Desde el comienzo de nuestra amistad, si le contaba que había pasado algo bueno, se quejaba diciendo «no es justo» tantas veces que se convirtió en una especie de muletilla que soltaba como si nada, con voz apagada. Era su reacción automática a mis buenas notas, a un color de barra de labios nuevo, al último polo, a mi corte de pelo caro. «No es justo.» Yo formaba una cruz con los dedos y la alzaba entre las dos, como para protegerme de su envidia y de su ira. <i>Una vez le pregunté si sus celos tenían algo que ver con ser judía, si creía que las cosas eran más fáciles para mí por ser blanca, anglosajona y protestante."

Mi año de descanso y relajación trata sobre una mujer, la narradora, que está tan deprimida que tiene como objetivo hibernar un año entero con pastillas, con la esperanza de "despertar" de aquel mal sueño siendo otra persona, una que pueda entender el sentido de la vida y apreciarlo. 

La verdad es que odié este libro. Inevitablemente me recuerda mucho a Esther Greenwood de "La campana de cristal": una mujer blanca deprimida que es asquerosamente cruel con los demás y es consciente de ello. Sin embargo, creo que Esther Greenwood como personaje me parece mucho más interesante al estar basado en la propia historia de Sylvia Plath. 

En Mi año de descanso y relajación la cosa es completamente diferente: la narradora me parece un personaje problemático y plano, no sólo por hacer que su personalidad sea ser cruel, sino también porque realmente no sabemos mucho de ella y sus gustos. Habla de su historia personal con tanta frialdad y superficialidad que resulta muy difícil rescatar algún gesto de humanidad de su parte. Los personajes secundarios me parecieron más interesantes que ella: Reva, Trevor, o incluso la Doctora Tuttle tenían personalidades mucho más marcadas que ella. 
Incluso la historia es bastante plana también. Se repite una y otra vez la misma secuencia: la narradora es cruel, mientras suma pastillas a su "hibernación". Los momentos que me llamaron la atención son sus recuerdos, cuando habla sobre sus padres, sus estudios, su viejo trabajo o incluso de su relación con Reva. 

Tampoco puedo decir que todo haya sido malo. La autora logra mostrar una faceta de la depresión bastante cruel (y real también, vamos a decirlo) y la forma en que la vida de las personas puede cambiar. Al mismo tiempo, me gusta la construcción que hizo de la relación que tiene la narradora con sus padres, pues así podemos entender sus traumas y, un poco, el por qué de sus actitudes y decisiones. Si bien por momentos lo cuenta con mucha frialdad, por otros momentos parece ser que los sentimientos cargados en esos recuerdos son lo único que humaniza un poco a la protagonista. 
Por otro lado, leí el libro bastante rápido. La pluma es ligera, y te da una perspectiva de Nueva York en sí bastante estrafalaria e interesante, con sus personajes y la escena artística.

Pero quitando eso, no puedo rescatar más nada. 
Me molesta que se haya romantizado tanto este libro bajo la categoría de "sad girl book" (tampoco lo entiendo, sorry not sorry) donde la personalidad de la narradora (una mujer blanca, adinerada y privilegiada) se basa en compararse constantemente con los demás para resaltarse a sí misma y a su propia depresión; al tiempo que utiliza a las personas que están a su alrededor en su búsqueda del sentido de la vida, sobre todo a su mejor amiga, a quien constantemente le adjudica características del estereotipo de "chica judía" para resaltar su propia belleza, sus propias preocupaciones, sus propios problemas. 
Quizás todo lo que estoy criticando era la excepcionalidad del libro.
Supongo que no logré captarlo. De todas formas, la experiencia de leer algo de lo que habla todo el mundo es interesante para poder entender (y profundizar) los debates en torno a estos libros problemáticos.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

xoxojordanisabella's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Medical content, Abortion, and Pregnancy