Reviews

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

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tiny_letter's review

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inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

mirakas's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

2.5

stacemiddleton's review against another edition

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1.0

I really don't know what to make of this book. It's brittle and messed up. The minute you realise the date it's set in you know what's going to happen, you're just waiting for it. That much was predictable. I didn't like what our author did there though. It felt wrong using the tragic death of a real person in recent history and then linking it to a character she created in her fictional ramblings.

You go on a journey with a narcissistic socialite who wants to spend her days sleeping in order to reinvent herself. This was the concept that I've seen on many reviews and was really drawn to. I thought it was really creative and relatable which is why I picked the book up. I understand her depression and obsession with sleep, but it's taken to the extreme in this book and turns into a dangerous experiment. There's no real plot or action in it, just words upon words. It's unlike anything I've read before.

Our narrator goes on lots of mindless ravings and she's absolutely horrible to the one constant in her life, her only friend, Reva. Their relationship and conversations are toxic and mind numbing, but you feel compelled to keep reading anyway to see if there's a point to it all or some kind of intellectual deeper meaning or message. If there is then all I can say is that I must have missed it.

I don't get the hype of this book at all and feel like I wasted my time reading it