Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

51 reviews

beatrizdizon_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

Ottessa Moshfegh has a hand in concretizing on pages the feeling of emptiness. That incomprehensible, unfathomable, undecipherable feeling. This book consumed me (like MC did with those pills). But honestly, though, the blurb says it all. Don’t expect butterflies and rainbows going into this book. Don’t expect rest and relaxation afterward. Don’t expect a cathartic moment. With every rotting woman is another rotting woman next to her (me). It can never be me though! The pathological people pleaser (Swift 2023) in me cannot handle losing that much control and man did she lose control.

There’s so much to say about MYORAR. The social commentary it touches but it’s not in your face, so it doesn’t sound pretentious. The way our narrator adhered to the very things she criticized. How telling her toxic relationships are, especially with men, about her experiences.

So, I took my time considering if I liked that we readers can predict what will happen to Reva, and I settled on the notion that I do. Maybe it became predictable the moment she had that change, but what matters more is how the narrator reacted in the last chapter which arguably is not predictable. Reva is a star though. Something about her demise juxtaposed with MC’s plan b is poetic in a way.

Moshfegh makes me want to go all “you just don’t get it” type of insufferable. Now my friends and I can be miserable and insufferable together. As if we’re not already doing that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Vomit, Grief, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, Racism, Body shaming, Cancer, Abortion, and Self harm

bravelass85's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

Quite a journey - reminds me of a Hunter S. Thompson novel in many ways. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Body shaming, Misogyny, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Grief

fromatreebranch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

3.0

hm.

it was easy to finish.

and difficult to read.

easy: i really like
the pacing, voice,
characterization.

difficult:
1. I... am studying my eye
for desire politics...

this book was useful
in this regard --

the narrator's discussion
of self, Whoopi
("magical negro trope"/fixation
with Whoopi and her body),

and/in relation with every other
person/subject in the book.

2. This person 
is really hurting.

p.s.
did not realize
until now that 

i wasn't forgetting
her name -- we do
not ever get it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Self harm, Drug use, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Abortion, Medical content, Misogyny, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Cancer

kry_yang's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

i was so thoroughly entertained by the main character's shenanigans that i read this book in a single day. the MC's absurd personality/outlook on life (which was, again, extremely entertaining) made it difficult for me to understand the "serious" discussions about art, performance, capitalism, etc. 

also screaming bc i found out moshfegh writes a lot about butt stuff. like, miss ottessa you are one hell of a white woman i must say

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Eating disorder

spooderman's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

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

lvwieland's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Eating disorder, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Confinement

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Xenophobia, Cancer, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

jjabbathehutt's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Self harm, Drug use, Mental illness, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Body shaming

cjmrand's review against another edition

2.0

Ok this one I took notes for while reading because I was having such a seesaw time, which I don't often do - but the scales ultimately landed on 'mediocre, and not worth keeping on my shelves'

I just want to put a little disclaimer here for the supporters of Let Women be Toxic in Books:
1. I agree that women should not be portrayed in the two dimensional, lack-luster ways they tend to be portrayed in literature under the patriarchal gaze, whether that's a submissive, meek, housewife or a sex object for men's enjoyment, ESPECIALLY when mentally ill (cough cough, The Queen's Gambit on Netflix - women don't tend to be sexy and put together in a way that is palatable for men when depressed). My review is not a criticism of the idea of letting women - especially those with mental illness - be a hot fucking mess. Ok, next.
2. I understand WHY every single one of these techniques, or motifs, etc were used in this text, I don't dislike this because I feel the author failed to connect these techniques to the character well enough - I dislike this because I don't like the techniques. They are not for me, they might be for you. Done.

Here is where I insert my notes, which sums everything up quite well:
"I'm thinking of giving this 2 stars right now. Not because it's bad, but because I'm not enjoying it - and I get that I'm supposed to not be enjoying it. I get that, I really do, but the main character is awful and I hate it. I know she is supposed to be awful and hated and that's why so many people give it 5 stars because it's wonderfully written but I just. Don't. Like it.
I don't like to explicit sexual descriptions, I don't like the 00s diet culture and slurs and misogyny.
I don't like the lack of empathy held by the main character, I don't like her selfishness, I don't like how she treats Reva.
I know that all of this is intentionally done, but I personally read to enjoy and to learn - this book just leaves me feeling a bit crap. So no, I'm not having fun."

There were points where I would doubt my judgement and think 'well maybe this is actually a good book, a book I can rate highly - look at this beautiful peace of writing, look at the emotions elicited in me when Moshfegh does x, look at this genius plotline - but that feeling always came crashing down quickly when it all became overwhelmingly unpleasant again.
I liked the end reasonably well, but the ending itself I would only rate at a 3 stars, the rest of the book drags it down to 2 though.

I was also worried that giving my copy to charity could lead to someone young picking it up, I can see this being really damaging for a secondary school aged kid, but I know that someone like me probably would've picked it up in secondary school. So, yeah. Look after your mental health. You don't need to read this book. If you did like it, I'm glad, but I hope you don't recommend it to anyone who can't cope well with the topics in these books. So yeah.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Death, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism

whimsofwands's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

I really enjoyed this portrayal of some of the impacts on constant objectification - it feels true and often unspoken. I felt like I knew the main character and she was deeply original. That said, the ending was a complete whiff for me - I don't understand what my take away should be. If it had ended with nothingness or no sense of movement, that would've been interesting to me, but instead it ended with a haphazard event and no explanation.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Misogyny, and Eating disorder

madyreadsig's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense fast-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Eating disorder