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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: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Animal death
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: Toxic friendship, Vomit, Eating disorder, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
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: 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.)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: Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Animal death, Ableism, Abortion, and Death
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: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Death, Vomit, Animal death, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Mental illness, Abandonment, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: War, Racism, Cursing, Abortion, Miscarriage, Classism, Confinement, Medical trauma, Islamophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Medical content
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: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Vomit, Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Abortion, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Pregnancy
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: Eating disorder, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Animal death, Body shaming, Abortion, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
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: Animal death, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Infidelity, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Drug use
Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault
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: Mental illness and Drug abuse
Moderate: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Grief, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Suicide, Abortion, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
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: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Drug use
Moderate: Body shaming and Animal death
Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, and Abortion