Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Mit år med ro og hvile

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Mit år med ro og hvile by Harvey Macaulay, Louise Ardenfelt Ravnild, Juliane Wammen, Ottessa Moshfegh

148 reviews

ams5x9's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.5

This was hard to get through…The main character is pretty miserable. The last 1% of the book had the smallest redemption/semblance of humanity. And holy depression (pills) and drug use, Batman! This book had more normal, everyday villains than any other book that comes to mind. An interesting look into the mind of a brain I’m very glad not to inhabit.

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hanamany's review against another edition

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dark inspiring reflective tense slow-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

3.25

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khartke's review against another edition

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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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catherinerowland's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

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takarakei's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

I truly wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. You have to be down to read about a truly awful person and really be in her thoughts with no escape while basically nothing else happens. So if that's not your vibe then this book isn't for you!

I loved the descriptions of the art world, art bros etc, they were spot on. I was absolutely screaming in laughter and had to read them to my friends!
It's funny because I too quit my corporate (somewhat art related) job a few years ago to really reassess my life, however for me personally I was depressed being in that job and quitting (and processing in therapy) is what helped me. I also recognize this book is set over 20 years ago and it was just a completely different world. I deeply felt for the character when she says:

There was no sadness or nostalgia, only disgust that I'd wasted so much time on unnecessary labor when I could have been sleeping and feeling nothing. I'd been stupid to believe that employment would add value to my life.

This is definitely a commentary about mental health/depression and also of course on our society's focus on pharmaceutical patches vs actual mental health care. Her psychiatrist was wild to read, just how absurd she was - really a caricature of a person. Actually come to think of it pretty much every single side character in this book is also kind of awful. Especially her ex-whatever-boyfriend is disgusting.

There's a point at which the lengthy descriptions about drug use and waking up not remembering what she's done got a bit repetitive. This was likely a choice by the author to really beat us over the head. I wasn't expecting the ending

to be so positive for our MC! I guess I just kinda thought she would continue to fuck up her life beyond repair? and I'm not saying I was unsatisfied with the ending, but it was unexpected to me.

This is a hard one to really form coherent thoughts on, but I'll definitely be thinking about this book for a while. And likely would reread it at some point!

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