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ameliabellward's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
4.75
Brilliantly written, just wish the last two chapters hadn’t been so rushed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
bleaksalad's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I picked up My Year Of Rest and Relaxation after finishing Eileen. I'm becoming quite a fan of Otessa, but this one didn't stick with me as much as Eileen did. I love a disgusting, troubled woman coming to terms with herself, however this unnnamed narrator fell a little flat for me. With Eileen, I felt her desperation for change from who she was, and with this narrator the feeling wasn't as intense.
I did think that the commentary on grief and the handling of it was artful. Experiencing Reva's mom's funeral from the perspective of our orphaned narrator was truly the peak of this story. Reva herself was such a gripping character, and for the narrator to patronize her over and over again only to realize Reva was living the life she was after all along in those tragic final moments was incredibly thought provoking.
Overall, I do think the writing for MYORAR was stunning and the disecting of such a complex character was fun. I reccomend if your the type of person to scroll your day away on tik tok or if you squander your potential often. You'll find comfort in this book.
I did think that the commentary on grief and the handling of it was artful. Experiencing Reva's mom's funeral from the perspective of our orphaned narrator was truly the peak of this story. Reva herself was such a gripping character, and for the narrator to patronize her over and over again only to realize Reva was living the life she was after all along in those tragic final moments was incredibly thought provoking.
Overall, I do think the writing for MYORAR was stunning and the disecting of such a complex character was fun. I reccomend if your the type of person to scroll your day away on tik tok or if you squander your potential often. You'll find comfort in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy
melitorian's review against another edition
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.
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
juulstizya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
1.5
reva deserved better
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Classism
megmei's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I knew going into this book that it had divided a great deal of its readers. What I didn’t expect was for it to leave such a strong impression on me, and that I might consider myself a new fan of Moshfegh’s work.
Briefly, the plot of My Year of Rest and Relaxation (MYORAR, for short) can be most easily described as ‘Sleeping Beauty for the modern misanthrope’. I was immediately addicted to the stark contrast of New York at the turn of the millenium, full of potential, evoking the imagery of the Sex and the City, but against the backdrop of the narrator’s crumbling mental health. From the start, she knows she’s beautiful, white, blonde, and most importantly skinny, and yet she is not even remotely moved by it. On one hand you want to hate her, especially if you are nothing like her, but on the other hand, there is something reflected in her descent into absurd solipsism that just resonates with the experience of being a 20-something year old woman stuck in a life she hates, in a world that she feels is just vapid and meaningless.
I think where a lot of people get stuck with this is that they expect something weird and trippy when really this is just a very microscopic view into a voice that I think a lot of us have in our heads, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. We all have something mean, inexecusable and selfish in us. It’s natural, we are only human. What is interesting about this, is that the narrator allows herself almost reverently to succumb to all of her laziest instincts during a time of mental distress, to truly throw herself into this idea of sleeping through her own character development, hoping to fix these awful parts of herself. Perhaps this is exposing myself a little bit here for identifying so strongly with that, but if I could fix everything wrong with my brain by doing what the narrator does, I would. And then it is all written captivatingly by Mosfegh. I liken my experience a little bit to watching a car crash that I just couldn’t look away from: I was hooked, waiting to know how this would go wrong for her.
I was surprised at how this novel also deals quite deeply with the dissolution of a friendship that is steeped in the kind of toxicity that comes from two people who are just terrible for each other.
Reva and the narrator’s relationship feels like the kind of ‘frenemy’ trope that was just rampant in the early 2000s media (Serena and Blair?). Constantly competing, and yet neither really understanding why, or why they continue the friendship. Perhaps this resonated so deeply with me because as I enter my 30s, I’ve recently experienced a similar phenomenon in my own life. This probably isn’t rare. You enter your late 20s, and realise you are no longer the same people you were. Suddenly a friendship that spans decades leaves both parties sorely unsatisfied, and in some respects, deeply unhappy.
Reva is only ever portrayed through the eyes of the narrator, and she flickers between frank dislike, to moments where she is almost convincing herself that this friendship is worth it, in the moments where she seeks comfort in the banal, even if it she knows it doesn’t serve either of them. Reva is an important foil to the narrator, as she is living her life at almost a frenetic energy, going through the trials and tribulations of life head on, while the main character avoids it. She is constantly entering and leaving scenes going from one event to another, doing sit ups, etc. She is clearly competing with the narrator, consciously or not, and is similarly dismissive of the narrators struggles by constantly insisting that she’s beautiful, rich, lucky. Both are clearly dealing with their own struggles, one more outwardly than the other, and both are quite sad in their existences. I found it strangely cathartic to read these two battle each other through this friendship in a way that was so uncomfortable and sad, and yet deeply familiar and reassuring.
Mosfegh manages to find moments of levity in this tale, somehow, even if it’s tongue in cheek, or outright strange. The narrator’s obsession with Whoopi Goldberg, for example, was just such a specific character choice that despite it’s absurdity, it made sense. The interludes with the few men in this story also act as punctuation marks that create much more tension than I was expecting from a book about sleeping for year. The ending had me looking out of a window like Robert Pattinson in complete shock (iykyk). But the poignantly brief mention of it brought the rest of the year in MYORAR into sharp clarity and highlighted that the minutiae of our private suffering is so easily outshone in a moment of wild tragedy.
Maybe MYORAR just hits better and closer to home if you’ve experienced the deeply monotonous greyness of depression, and the desperately unempowered desire to change despite it all. I think you have to be a bit mentally unwell for this to really resonate with you. Take that as you will, but I personally was delighted by this book and I can’t wait to try more of Mosfegh’s writing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Sexism and Abortion
drwnnm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
nefarious_rat's review against another edition
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
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 warningxoxojordanisabella'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
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
thebigemmt505's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
“…so I traveled more peacefully through outer space, listening to the rhythm of my respiration, each breath an echo of the breath before, softer and softer, until I was far enough away that there was no sound, there was no movement. There was no need for reassurance or directionality because I was nowhere, doing nothing. I was nothing. I was gone.”
My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores what happens when privilege and vanity meet trauma and despair. It follows our main character as she embarks on a mission to fall asleep for a full year, and slowly descends into drug abuse and desperation.
I found this book strangely comforting. I feel I’ve rated it too highly, because the whole time I questioned “why am I enjoying this?” The characters are deeply vain and unlikable, especially the main character. The most likeable character is Reva, and it takes quite awhile for her to be so. Granted, the hateability of the main character is mitigated slightly as we learn more about her, but in the end it’s quite difficult to say if she’s actually grown. Perhaps my enjoyment comes mostly from the beautiful, highly descriptive writing. Admittedly, I found the constant, excessive reliance on pop culture references annoying, but at the very least the rest of the description was usually good enough to make up for what one might not catch in terms of references. The books pacing was alright, minus some parts that dragged a bit (such as the funeral part of the book.) I like the way this author tells a unique story with unique characters, sprinkling in dark humor to the many heavy themes.
I think this book caught me at the right time. My current reality is that I’m burnt out and jaded, a teeny bit too judgmental, eternally annoyed with most things, and more and more frustrated with the world around me and with myself every day. I’m perturbed by the development of this bitterness within me. As I read the book, much as I thought the main character was cruel and superficial, I related to her pain and her desires. I want to rot in my depression and sleep a year away. Obviously, I don’t have the endless money and ressources nor the true will to do that, but the appeal is there. And, if anything, I feel the ending shows us both how much and how little the character changed. She sees beauty in the world now,but selfishly finds artistic courage in the tragic death of her friend. Also, not gonna lie, I saw the 9/11 shit coming!!! There is no grief nor any accountability. She’s stripped of the superficial part of her superficiality, but inside there’s still vanity. Each part of her world revolves around her, even if now, she appreciates it a bit more. I want to grow, to rest and to process, to see beauty in the everyday and not get caught up in symbolic gestures or appearances or useless activities, but there are pitfalls along that journey. I relate to the endeavor but I’d like to swerve away from its end, this end. Perhaps this book hit me so hard because I was able to see bits of my current self in someone I did not like. The cycle of trauma likes to sneak up on us all in new forms, I suppose, et cetera.
Anyways, one thing I do find ironic is that this novel has become part of an aesthetic associated with modern “weird” readers, and the existence of such an aesthetic, in my opinion, really strips art of its uniqueness, all to fit into one’s personal style. In other words, it’s superficial and meaningless, vain, even. I find that pretty funny. I’m being pretentious. Welp, there’s my cynical bitterness. I think it does have a point sometimes, though. Aesthetics can be fun but… oh, the irony.
I’ll stop my rambly introspection. Give My Year of Rest and Relaxation a read; be aware though, to many audiences it’ll be quite boring and unappealing (and understandably so.) I (think) that I loved it though.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores what happens when privilege and vanity meet trauma and despair. It follows our main character as she embarks on a mission to fall asleep for a full year, and slowly descends into drug abuse and desperation.
I found this book strangely comforting. I feel I’ve rated it too highly, because the whole time I questioned “why am I enjoying this?” The characters are deeply vain and unlikable, especially the main character. The most likeable character is Reva, and it takes quite awhile for her to be so. Granted, the hateability of the main character is mitigated slightly as we learn more about her, but in the end it’s quite difficult to say if she’s actually grown. Perhaps my enjoyment comes mostly from the beautiful, highly descriptive writing. Admittedly, I found the constant, excessive reliance on pop culture references annoying, but at the very least the rest of the description was usually good enough to make up for what one might not catch in terms of references. The books pacing was alright, minus some parts that dragged a bit (such as the funeral part of the book.) I like the way this author tells a unique story with unique characters, sprinkling in dark humor to the many heavy themes.
I think this book caught me at the right time. My current reality is that I’m burnt out and jaded, a teeny bit too judgmental, eternally annoyed with most things, and more and more frustrated with the world around me and with myself every day. I’m perturbed by the development of this bitterness within me. As I read the book, much as I thought the main character was cruel and superficial, I related to her pain and her desires. I want to rot in my depression and sleep a year away. Obviously, I don’t have the endless money and ressources nor the true will to do that, but the appeal is there. And, if anything, I feel the ending shows us both how much and how little the character changed. She sees beauty in the world now,
Anyways, one thing I do find ironic is that this novel has become part of an aesthetic associated with modern “weird” readers, and the existence of such an aesthetic, in my opinion, really strips art of its uniqueness, all to fit into one’s personal style. In other words, it’s superficial and meaningless, vain, even. I find that pretty funny. I’m being pretentious. Welp, there’s my cynical bitterness. I think it does have a point sometimes, though. Aesthetics can be fun but… oh, the irony.
I’ll stop my rambly introspection. Give My Year of Rest and Relaxation a read; be aware though, to many audiences it’ll be quite boring and unappealing (and understandably so.) I (think) that I loved it though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Abortion
mjoybo's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia