Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

내 휴식과 이완의 해 by Ottessa Moshfegh

827 reviews

zorra's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Some books exaggerate and reflect the worst parts of you. This one did just that. The book is a very hard to explain kind of confrontation if you haven’t had some sort of relationship with mental illness. It’s also hatefully reflective of the current reality of a lot of young adults where honestly a year of sleep sounds very enticing. 

The end was personally definitely a little underwhelming. The 9/11 montage overlaying a sense of forced self actualisation? It seemed to undercut the book as a whole and didn’t seem quite worth the payoff.

A part of me wants to read this again but stop just over a chapter from the end. Then again I may sit with it longer and change my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit

pushik's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Classism, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

katilh's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

did you know that pretty privileged people can be depressed too?
the ending felt unearned, superficial, cheap.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

anmolreads03's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

This was so boring. A torture to get through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

knikchevich's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Vomit

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Sexual assault

thealbapoems's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.75

Hm, this was… a read. I bought this book after seeing it everywhere, and because I felt like after my back surgery it could maybe resonate with me a little more? Having to stay inside, lay down, sleep, etc. But it did not resonate with me at all. I don’t know I didn’t analyze it very much, but it all just felt very sensationalist, it’s a story I feel like I’ve read before, only the main character hibernates for a year. I found it unsettling how much focus there was on the main character’s appearance, how pretty she is, how thin and blonde and rich. Maybe it was done on purpose to showcase how much she had internalized what other people thought of her upon meeting her. Not sure. I didn’t find the relationships between the characters believable, and the plot left me somewhat indifferent. That being said, if there is something that surprised me about this book is the voice. How well constructed it is, how well it carries the readers through the life of this frankly unlikeable person. It felt like a personification of intrusive thoughts. Now that I think about it I couldn't name the main character if I wanted. Might have been a bit of a Rebecca moment. Anyway, read it if you would like to explore what it would be like to give in to your intrusive thoughts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide, Drug abuse, Addiction, Abortion, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Death of parent, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol

mariavdl's review against another edition

dark sad

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

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

teresarosereads's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

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

4.0

Such a fascinating concept and perspective to read from! The main character is completely unrelatable considering she is very privileged and wealthy enough to spend an entire year sleeping and shutting herself away. She was often an insufferable character to read from and treated those around her poorly. Nonetheless, her experiences with depression were conveyed in such a way that glued me to the book to see what would happen next. This book was strange and dark and completely captivating. I definitely want to pick up more of Moshfegh's works!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Grief, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

djenkin96's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Eating disorder, and Mental illness