Reviews

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Only show reviews with written explanations

blaroche's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

worldwidewebb's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark 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

3.0

I understand why this book gets five star reviews, and I also understand why it gets one star reviews. There's no plot, but I still needed to know what would happen next. I feel like I need to sleep for a year too, but also I'm pretty sure I'll never sleep again.

gka2's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective 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? N/A

3.25

plant_kitten's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

ptrmsschrs's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

2.5

kelsterrrae's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny 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

3.75

hoffmann's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective 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

TL; DR: 250 pages of insufferable white women boringness, and 39 pages of riveting commentary on art and being alive.

going into this book, I had heard many mixed reviews. On one hand, it seemed to be a best seller, but on the other, everyone I had personally heard talk about it said it was terrible. The reviews said it was a romanticization and glorification of drug abuse dissociation and a bitchy leisure lifestyle. So of course I had to read it! At first, I found all of those things to be true. For almost 250 pages, I found the main character in sufferable and her overall problems trite. She was a heinous bitch and her complete lack of awareness ior care for those around her was offputting. However, the book still had a sort of surrealist anti-hero vibe that made me intrigued to see if she would ever hit a point of reckoning.

By the time she actually hits her full blackout, she has become everything she claimed to hate about her previous job, the art world, her best friend, and her mother. You think “surely there must be an end to this madness. She can’t just complete this experiment and come out unfazed!” Instead, that’s exactly what happens. She has the luxury of wasting a year of her life and you’re so mad about it. How dare she? None of us regular people get to just stop living out of convenience. But at the same time, I’m a little bit jealous and happy for her. She gets to do it! She gets to lay down and forget about life for a while and then come out of it bright eyed and bushy tailed like she just completed her year-long auyuhausca trip where she found God. And even though she is still cold and distant to her best friend, she’s markedly less angry. Less hateful and bitchy and you think, “Maybe this is the answer. Maybe this is the point that if we all had the luxury to grieve and reset ourselves in a way where money and working and responsibility was no longer an issue - maybe we could all live our best lives“. And then the last page comes, and I am crying and I am angry. So fucking angry!!!! But that almost feels like the point?