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A review by aritacb
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was a lot of things - existentialist fiction, a dark humored satire with poignant realistic moments, a commentary on mental health and grief, a commmentary on the effects of privilege and how people abuse it. This book kind of reminded me of the Stranger by Albert Camus - an existentialist novel.
The premise of the book is something that seems like it would be hard to pull off and Moshfegh did. My Year of R&R was reminiscent of novels like the Bell Jar while still being innovative. She touched on multiples topics well and nothing in the plot felt like it droned on or was rushed.
This gets four stars since I hate how girls on booktok and bookstagram glamorize the protagonist. She was privileged, vain, conceited, selfish, a bad friend, and needed legitimate help instead of her quack of a psychiatrist. I hated how she treated her best friend and criticized her for being shallow and for the affair she was having with her boss when she was ten times more spoiled and couldn’t get over the also older crappy guy she was on and off with.
I also didn’t like the vulgar parts in the book, which I know that Moshfegh added along with other things in the book for the shock factor but it was a bit much at times.
The ending didn’t sit right with me because sleep “solved everything” and she got to live a normal life - something that wouldn’t get to happen without her privilege. I also feel like what happened at the end wasn’t fair to a specific character and that they deserved better than what happened to them.
This isn’t for anyone who wants character development or is expecting a fast paced plot but if you want something simultaneously funny, aggravating, and sad that will make you think a little bit - I recommend this.
The premise of the book is something that seems like it would be hard to pull off and Moshfegh did. My Year of R&R was reminiscent of novels like the Bell Jar while still being innovative. She touched on multiples topics well and nothing in the plot felt like it droned on or was rushed.
This gets four stars since I hate how girls on booktok and bookstagram glamorize the protagonist. She was privileged, vain, conceited, selfish, a bad friend, and needed legitimate help instead of her quack of a psychiatrist. I hated how she treated her best friend and criticized her for being shallow and for the affair she was having with her boss when she was ten times more spoiled and couldn’t get over the also older crappy guy she was on and off with.
I also didn’t like the vulgar parts in the book, which I know that Moshfegh added along with other things in the book for the shock factor but it was a bit much at times.
The ending didn’t sit right with me because sleep “solved everything” and she got to live a normal life - something that wouldn’t get to happen without her privilege. I also feel like what happened at the end wasn’t fair to a specific character and that they deserved better than what happened to them.
This isn’t for anyone who wants character development or is expecting a fast paced plot but if you want something simultaneously funny, aggravating, and sad that will make you think a little bit - I recommend this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Death