Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Mijn jaar van rust en kalmte by Ottessa Moshfegh

342 reviews

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

anh_read's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

The main character is unhinged and at times very problematic and insufferable. But as a reader, one could sympathize with her. Some characters were, in my opinion, a bit too exaggerated and too stereotypical, that they lacked any depth or to be even believable. I am aware that Ottessa Moshfegh intended them to be that way since they are merely described form the POV of the protagonist.

The novel gives great insight into the mind of a troubled and depressed person. It also alluded to the overreliance on prescipted drugs and its abuse. One thing I need point out though is that this novel tends to glamorize mental illnesses (as if being depressed was considered to be edgy). Although depression is a very serious topic, the author portrayed a glamorized lifestyle through the protagonist - instead of pointing out the danger of it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book. I recommend it to everyone who likes unhinged characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Cancer

houseofjules's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.25

Had high hopes for this one, but it extremely average and not a lot happened. Hoping to have a better experience with her other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Cancer, Sexual content, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abortion, Death, Confinement, and Alcohol

iulia619's review against another edition

dark fast-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

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Death, Alcohol, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Grief, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Mental illness, Abortion, and Eating disorder

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

1.5

I dont understand the hype for this book. I feel like I remember people raving about this a few years ago but I truly found this whole book horribly depressing and meaningless. It gave Holden Caulfield vibes in the worst way. 

I guess you could say its a feminist book representing women in the worst way, women can be horrible too, women contain multitudes. I'm also pretty positive it doesn't pass the reverse Bechdel test (men are rarely mentioned and only in reference to sex). Which I guess is interesting... idk overall I thought it was terribly boring and depressing.

The main character is in her 20s, both her parents have passed away which she says she has come to terms with but clearly still deeply affects her. She has decided she wants to sleep her life away. She goes to a bad therapist complaining of sleep problems so she can get prescribed increasingly wild drugs. She then takes a cocktail of drugs in efforts to fully sleep through the rest of life to varying success. Her therapist is an extremely hippie unhinged bad therapist, her best friend is extremely vain and fake, her deceased mother was an alcoholic and uncaring. Overall every single character was unbearable and annoying and I don't feel like I particularly learned or gained anything from reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Eating disorder, Abortion, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Dysphoria, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

sp3llb00k's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

3.0

the last chapter makes up for the rest which i don't even really remember. i don't think it was funny like it's marketed as and it isn't really absurd in an interesting way, kinda just odd & not very good at being odd. anyway i still enjoyed. it was a fun & easy read for me but not as deep or comedic as i thought it would be. i did enjoy some concepts related to the human experience that were somewhat explored. i also enjoyed the writing style & moshfeghs ability to portray the main character so well & show her inner monologue / thought process. additionally, i didn't really get bored at any point during this book which i think is impressive when you're writing about sleeping for a whole year which can be seen as a repetitive & boring concept. 3 stars from me ! ౨ৎ

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Vomit, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Classism, Suicide, Alcohol, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Ableism

cherries_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

mentions of 9/11 and terrorism

sorcha's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Terminal illness, Abortion, Cancer, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Infidelity, Grief, Excrement, and Suicide

erikalv97's review against another edition

fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Drug use, Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Infidelity, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Vomit, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion and Violence

_sofiia_'s review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Vomit, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts