Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

27 reviews

faerieevee's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.75

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mh_reads's review

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dark slow-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

2.0

Very interesting concept and fleshed-out psyche of the narrator. I did think it was a good depiction of grief and trauma. The theme of friendship that was explored was also touching to me.

However I felt that the right ideas and sentences were just flooded with randomness. I found it way too wordy, too long and because of this it lost important meaning. I really struggled through it because it was so slow. I understand that that might be the point but it just made me want to put the book down and I have read more meaningful depictions of depression using way less words. Then in contrast the ending felt rushed, unnecessary and hard to believe in the context of the rest of the book.

Another thing that bothered me was how much I felt like this was almost a guide of sorts. Like "How to go about dealing with trauma and coming back reset" There's a fine line there and to me it just felt dangerous to put this book out and act like in the end it just worked out for the main character.

But really a young woman that takes all kinds of pills with alcohol, blacks out for days on end, and puts her life in the hands of a strange man that wants to use her for art while she's passed out, is much more likely to not end up okay. While there is always special cases this wasn't openly reflected enough and that bothers and worries me.

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zaraha's review

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dark funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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morregano's review

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challenging dark sad slow-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

2.75

I don't know that the author needed to add as much drug use and detail about it as they did. I think it fell flat at the end of the day because it became redundant.

of course we all saw the end coming but i didn't care as much because i didn't feel for the main character or value their friendship much at all.

also. This book seems like a self lobotomy, as if we didn't learn that sedating people with mental illness doesn't actually switch psychosis off. I don't like the message of this book, and i don't find it sardonic

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acstar's review

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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thealbapoems's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

Hm, this was… a read. I bought this book after seeing it everywhere, and because I felt like after my back surgery it could maybe resonate with me a little more? Having to stay inside, lay down, sleep, etc. But it did not resonate with me at all. I don’t know I didn’t analyze it very much, but it all just felt very sensationalist, it’s a story I feel like I’ve read before, only the main character hibernates for a year. I found it unsettling how much focus there was on the main character’s appearance, how pretty she is, how thin and blonde and rich. Maybe it was done on purpose to showcase how much she had internalized what other people thought of her upon meeting her. Not sure. I didn’t find the relationships between the characters believable, and the plot left me somewhat indifferent. That being said, if there is something that surprised me about this book is the voice. How well constructed it is, how well it carries the readers through the life of this frankly unlikeable person. It felt like a personification of intrusive thoughts. Now that I think about it I couldn't name the main character if I wanted. Might have been a bit of a Rebecca moment. Anyway, read it if you would like to explore what it would be like to give in to your intrusive thoughts.

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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

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1.5

I dont understand the hype for this book. I feel like I remember people raving about this a few years ago but I truly found this whole book horribly depressing and meaningless. It gave Holden Caulfield vibes in the worst way.

I guess you could say its a feminist book representing women in the worst way, women can be horrible too, women contain multitudes. I'm also pretty positive it doesn't pass the reverse Bechdel test (men are rarely mentioned and only in reference to sex). Which I guess is interesting... idk overall I thought it was terribly boring and depressing.

The main character is in her 20s, both her parents have passed away which she says she has come to terms with but clearly still deeply affects her. She has decided she wants to sleep her life away. She goes to a bad therapist complaining of sleep problems so she can get prescribed increasingly wild drugs. She then takes a cocktail of drugs in efforts to fully sleep through the rest of life to varying success. Her therapist is an extremely hippie unhinged bad therapist, her best friend is extremely vain and fake, her deceased mother was an alcoholic and uncaring. Overall every single character was unbearable and annoying and I don't feel like I particularly learned or gained anything from reading it.

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