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ada_elisabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Hmm...
This book was really gosh darn good. It was such an interesting examination of love, friendship, and femininity with great commentary on mental health, art, and privilege. There were a lot of hot takes in this book, and I was here for all of them.
It felt like a mashup between The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar, which might make it one of the best pieces of fiction ever written. It follows a wealthy and privileged but depressed young woman as she attempts to sleep for a year. It was brilliant, witty, and incredibly funny at times. Anyone looking for well-written, engaging prose would find this book satisfactory.
That being said, it was veering on annoying. If I didn't like it, I would've hated it. It's like that one friend everyone has who is effortlessly pretty, kind, and good at everything, but doesn't seem to recognize how lucky they are. The main character is bratty and self-centered, which was a very purposeful decision, but it can become exhausting nonetheless.
I found a few things to be particularly interesting:
- The narrator's name is never revealed. I found this to be similar to books that don't mention a specific time period or location-- it makes the book more readable and it allows readers to connect more. I don't think anything would have been taken away from the story had the main character had a name, but I do think the lack of a moniker really added something to it.
- Interesting how her [narrator's] mother died from combining alcohol and sleep medications and all she wants is more sedatives.
- I wasn't expecting this book to be so sad-- girlie is seriously traumatized and needs a better therapist to help her process her very tragic life.
- Books always have such extreme takes on mental health. This book is interesting compared to others I've read recently: it is undeniably focused on mental health, but it doesn't have a direct approach to it, like Girl in Pieces does and it while it's the central part of the story, it's not explored in great depth. The narrator's reaction to her past experiences is almost the opposite of that in A Little Life. This book was especially interesting to read in the context of A Little Life.
- I could see that ending coming from a mile away. That was my only complaint with the book and the reason why it's getting 4.5/5 stars. The ending felt rushed and unnecessary. And it was so predictable.
All I can say is that I will definitely be reading more of Moshfegh's writing in the future.
Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
crazytourists_books'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
It deals with depression in a very shallow way if you ask me. The protagonist, obviously depresed and traumatised (I'll go as far as to say abused), decides to spend a year asleep (by using all kinds of prescription pills) in order to restart her mind and get over her mental issues. And behold, what a miracle! The end was completely bonkers, as everything else and don't get me started on the psychiatrist...
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
ashley_turch'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
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, and Confinement
Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, and Abortion
Content warnings: Heavy drug abuse and depression (this is the entire plot) eating disorders parental death (multiple cases) 9/11 Domestic abuse animal cruelty (somewhat graphic discussion in the first chapter, but easy to skip over since it’s only about a paragraph. The narrator does not partake in it and instead is just describing something someone else did. Short mentions of the same situation about two more times through the book. Also easy to skip over. As someone who can’t handle really any mention of animal cruelty, I was able over easily and ignore.)angietheace'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
3.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Racism, and Abortion
spooderman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Miscarriage, Racism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Classism
sorenzs'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
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
notjillsanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Addiction
taylorbrooke's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Vomit
marns20_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The weird candid way she describes her parents and her relationship with them throws you off balance because she says really deep and personal things but in a detached, emotionless way that keeps you at arms length almost like when someone is crying but they don’t want you to hug or comfort them and you just stand there awkwardly staring at them. As unrelatable as the main character is (white, rich, privileged) her experience of the lethargy and apathy towards life was very relatable. Her crazy experiment is probably something we have all wished we could do at some point. I know I have. At parts, I found myself desperately rooting for her experiment to work, for her to be able to pull herself out of her despair and then other times you really couldn’t ignore what a truly terrible person she was, terrible friend she was. This struck a chord thinking about how mental health affects your relationships, your inability to show up or want to show up for people, it makes you irritable and mean, only willing to do the bare minimum despite how much you hate it or how much you love them. The complex nature of the human condition
Graphic: Drug abuse and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Abortion
archerisonline'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
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death and Body shaming
Minor: Infidelity, Abortion, and Alcohol