Reviews tagging 'Grief'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

494 reviews

_drucifer_'s review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

2.5

I do love that the unhinged feminine trope is alive and well. I love that we keep getting “weird woman” books. Some of my favorite books ever are about women’s descent into madness (hellooooo The Bell Jar). The thing is….the stories need to be good, believable, nuanced. 

This was not that. This was just absolute absurdity. And not even interesting absurdity, but tired, tropey absurdity that disappointed and bored me. From the protagonist’s “model” appearance and convenient wealth to the ludicrous caricature of the ethically-bereft, new-age, negligent psychiatrist to the toxic hate-hate relationship with the “best friend”who only serves to contrast the narrator, to the crappy, bordering on abusive dead parents. Everything was hyperbole, which felt lazy. 

I love a good morally ambiguous character, ethical gray areas are my jam. But there was no ambiguity here, all these characters were just insufferable people. And worse, they weren’t even interesting insufferable people. I didn’t find anything clever or redeeming about this at all. 

I think readers of a certain age will understand pretty early on that the timeline of this novel bends its arc toward a

9/11 conclusion

, but even knowing that’s where it was headed I found the ending to be rushed and a bit of a cheap trick. However, the last 20 pages were probably some of the best writing of the entire book. 

TLDR; I got this, but I didn’t like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Toxic friendship

tashiface's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

swinevenus's review against another edition

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

bitsysbooks's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

ahendricks040's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

a favorite :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

bibibee111's review against another edition

reflective fast-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

2.75

I just think is not a book for me. the protagonist is unhigend but this make me like her (not in the points that i relate to her, this make me wanna be a better person lol).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Grief

justjessing's review against another edition

emotional reflective

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

khartke's review against another edition

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

mollyharrisxx's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion