Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

129 reviews

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

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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

zaraha's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

leafy_literature's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

1.5

What was the point of this book? What was the plot? The main character is a horrible person with no redeeming qualities. Her friend tried so hard, just to always get crapped on. Don't waste your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

morregano's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

nooodledooodle's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

acstar's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

itsmaren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

amyford's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent