Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Mon année de repos et de détente by Ottessa Moshfegh

102 reviews

lady_oracle's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

“Sodium”: salt, white, clouds, gauze, silt, sand, sky, lark, string, kitten, claws, wound, iron, omega.
“Lauryl”: Shakespeare, Ophelia, Millais, pain, stained glass, rectory, butt plug, feelings, pigpen, snake eyes, hot poker.
“Sulfate”: Satan, acid, Lyme, dunes, dwellings, hunchbacks, hybrids, samurais, suffragettes, mazes.

quite possibly one of the literally coolest books available on planet earth. who doesn't just want to take a year off? and not die, necessarily, but sleep? ottessa nails this. really fascinating take on the hero's journey, where really all the protagonist does is pop pills and pass out, effectively falling deeper down the rabbit hole of drug abuse. a thoughtful perspective of grief and trauma - and my favourite, an unlikable, relatable bitch of a narrator.

the memories of her parents were so spectacularly done. the passage in particular about the week leading up to the day of her father passing made me a bit queasy, because that was nearly exactly the experience i had with my own. prose was poetic and tactile. also love-hated the doctor.

some questionable moments, but nothing i think too shocking for anyone who's familiar with this author. so glad this is what i've kicked off 2024 with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Infidelity, Suicide, and Vomit

eerikaanni's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

I picked up this book expecting a somewhat lighthearted, character driven story with a mentally ill protagonist. What I got was a gorgeous satirical critique of white American capitalism that worked beautifully in showcasing the grotesque hypocrisy and blind privilege of rich white people in the U.S.

The main character is terrible. Her best friend is pathetic. Their dynamic is annoying at its best and completely destructive at its worst. There's little to no plot, and there's a 5-line long imagery collage of random things, names, places, activities, or thoughts like every other paragraph. That gets a bit exhausting to read at times.

But I think that's the point: materialism, the ownership and manifestation of things and more things is at the focal point of American capitalism. It is its driving force; the desire of more, until the Earth starts regurgitating everything we have consumed back up again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Eating disorder, and Cursing

Moderate: Vomit, Bullying, Body shaming, Cancer, Abortion, Dysphoria, Grief, Infidelity, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Child abuse

annarchy_'s review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Self harm, and Violence

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Medical content, Addiction, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, and Cursing

Minor: Confinement, Antisemitism, Vomit, Abortion, and Adult/minor relationship

mint7's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.5

I can't fix her but I could make her worse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Abortion, Addiction, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

smedgar's review against another edition

dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion, and Alcohol

laurafrances's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Death of parent, Self harm, Classism, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

sxndaze's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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

2.75

intriguing but ultimately not for me.

“I did crave attention, but I refused to humiliate myself by asking for it. I'd be punished if I showed signs of suffering, I knew. So I was good. I did all the right things. I rebelled in silent ways, with my thoughts.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

ashley_turch's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

Definitely a difficult read, kind of in a good way. Make sure you’re in a good mental state. Written from narrator’s POV, so there’s lots of internal reflection of what’s going on inside her head while in a extreme depressive state. I definitely see the benefit of this, but sometimes I just wanted to skip over it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicide, Mental illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Confinement, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body shaming

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.)

lesbegays's review against another edition

dark funny reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is one of the most relatable and accurate depictions of depression that i’ve ever come across. depression is ugly and disgusting and makes you a shitty friend. the narrator is not a likable person, but i did find myself loving her because of how intimately i understand her and how much of the worst parts of myself i see in her. i found myself both jealous that she is rich enough to actually do what i’ve dreamt about since i was 12 and dedicate all of her time to sleeping, and so grateful that i’m no longer in a place where i want to sleep for a year. just maybe a month. i’ve had this on my shelf for years and i’m so glad i waited until now to read it. both the narrator and i are 26, and i think this would have made me spiral if i was 23.
the writing style of this book is so hypnotic. every time i emerged from a reading session i felt disoriented, like i was waking up from a too-long, sweaty afternoon nap. i felt a little bit how i imagine the narrator felt in her waking hours. a lot of people describe the pace of this book as slow, and i guess that’s fair, but i flew through this. the combination of short, clipped sentences and excessive run-on sentences just pulled me along for the ride. 
if you’ve ever felt like sleeping for a year would fix you but are currently in a better, more healed place, i highly recommend this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Classism, Excrement, Vomit, Cancer, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Infidelity