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tmitsock's review against another edition
- 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
It was almost a hypnotic read. I loved it.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Abortion
Minor: Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit
sofiax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Abortion
anh_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Yet, it was such a “fun” read. The novel gives great insight into the mind of a troubled and depressed person. But I was sometimes worried that this novel glamorized mental illnesses (as if being depressed was equal to being edgy).
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Abortion, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
kcg_mx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Vomit, Drug use, Addiction, Cancer, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
genielong's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Eating disorder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Abortion, and Cancer
cherries_'s review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal death, Excrement, Classism, Abortion, and Pregnancy
paperknotbooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Grief, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Abortion, and Forced institutionalization
beatrizdizon_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There’s so much to say about MYORAR. The social commentary it touches but it’s not in your face, so it doesn’t sound pretentious. The way our narrator adhered to the very things she criticized. How telling her toxic relationships are, especially with men, about her experiences.
So, I took my time considering if I liked that we readers can predict what will happen to Reva, and I settled on the notion that I do. Maybe it became predictable the moment she had that change, but what matters more is how the narrator reacted in the last chapter which arguably is not predictable. Reva is a star though. Something about her demise juxtaposed with MC’s plan b is poetic in a way.
Moshfegh makes me want to go all “you just don’t get it” type of insufferable. Now my friends and I can be miserable and insufferable together. As if we’re not already doing that.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit, Grief, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, Racism, Body shaming, Cancer, Abortion, and Self harm
smacey's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I also swear a bit, just a heads up.
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I know a lot of those who have read this book and had a negative view of it tend to list the characters all being unlikeable as a main reason, but I personally loved focusing on unlikeable characters. I enjoy reading about the life of a truly selfish person who, if we're being honest about the main character, really doesn't contribute pretty much anything to society, especially with it coming from their own point of view. I like that even her one and only friend is an unlikeable person, obsessed with looks and status and reputation. I like that the one artist she meets and agrees to her plan is also an unlikeable person (because he agreed to her completely unhealthy, somewhat disturbing plan). It's kind of nice to read about awful people on occasion, but of course that's a personal preference.
That being said, I do think part of my positive reaction towards this book stems from the fact that I have a depression diagnosis, and at my absolute worst, my "depressive fantasy" (as I like to call it) was sleeping my life away. (*TW*) In my mind, it always felt like the perfect way to kill yourself without the commitment. Like, I could be dead for however long I was able to sleep. Like, the closest way I could get to a self-induced coma. It's like temporarily dying and bypassing the consequences of suicide for the people who know you... In that regard, I had this weird sort of connection to the main character. There have been times (way) in the past where I have cared so little about my life or just life in general that I don't think about other people and don't put any effort in towards living or being happy and just give up on everything, including feeling. I have this odd understanding of the way this character thought and behaved. If I hadn't gotten help when I did (GO SEE A THERAPIST AND/OR PSYCHIATRIST IF YOU NEED HELP AND HAVE THE RESOURCES, IT'S SO WORTH IT), I think I could have eventually spiraled to a point where I stooped to the main character's level: apathetic, bored, selfish, ignorant, numb, and reckless (granted, I was a teen and didn't have the privilege to sit in an apartment all day, have no job, and still afford rent (and also lived with my parents)) Thankfully, my life was able to move in the opposite direction and I am able to read something like this and feel grateful for my life now.
While I have a weird adoration for My Year of Rest, I do find that, in my opinion, it didn't add anything to hide the main character's name. I guess it didn't take away anything either - I don't think I would have benefitted from knowing her name if it had been included - but it didn't seem too significant for me. I get that it's kind of alluding to how anonymous and secluded she was, but it just didn't feel like it was necessary.
One other thing is that I wish the date of the book might have been more hidden or not so blatant? I don't remember if it's right away or not, but as soon as I knew the date and location (and especially once I found out Reva's work location), I knew what was going to happen. That being said, I enjoy how a major event like that was incorporated into a book rather than completely ignoring that it even happened. I just wish it had come as more of a surprise to me in the end, as I predicted it almost right away based on setting.
Along with the predictability of the ending, I don't like how quickly it felt like the main character got "better". While I am glad that Moshfegh ended the book on a note of hope and purpose, I wish there was more of a look into what happened between the end of her year and the moments that end the book. It feels like it gives off the impression that doing something like this could actually help someone??? When in reality the main character wasted an entire year of her life and doesn't seem to fully grasp how monumentally useless it was.
A couple last criticisms include the fact that it's fairly unrealistic to have a psychiatrist like Tuttle, at least to that degree of incompetence and negligence, which added to the character's privilege in getting exactly what she wanted. Also, I didn't like how often Moshfegh described the main character's and Reva's appearances, especially their body/weight. It felt very weird to keep bringing up the fact that the main character was beautiful no matter what she did and how obsessed Reva was with achieving the societal standard of beauty yet not achieving it and describing exactly what about her looks and body didn't meet that standard.
These criticisms are the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I really enjoyed Moshfegh's writing, and I am excited (albeit a little scared knowing the premises) to read some of her other works.
Sidenote: While I do not have a Tik Tok, I have been informed that there were many people on that platform praising this book as having "girl boss energy", as if the main character is a hero or someone to look up to? Which is just so beyond fucked up that this is something young girls aspire to do. What irritates me even more is that I didn't feel like it gave off the impression that this is something that anyone should ever do, but obviously that wasn't a universal feeling. PLEASE, please, please do not look up to the main character. Do not use her as inspiration to "girl boss" or whatever. This is an extremely bleak, depressing story with unlikeable, shitty characters; there is nothing in this book that should be replicated in real life.
Edit (1/12/2024): It's been 1.5 years since I read this book, and I literally still think about it all the time. My criticisms still stand, but this book means so much to me as an individual that I have to bump it up to 5 stars. It's not a perfect book, but what book is? I just have so many feelings about this story and hold it so close to me that I can't not rate it 5 stars. I love it, and it crosses my mind all the time, especially lately (I've been depressed lol).
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Body shaming, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Grief, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
Minor: Suicide
janineledet's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death