Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Mój rok relaksu i odpoczynku by Ottessa Moshfegh

815 reviews

acstar's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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liz_rath's review against another edition

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reflective 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

Could have been an e-mail.
If this had just been the last chapter I'd have given it a much higher rating, but the way it is I feel like it's just very deeply mid. Don't read this if you don't like unlikeable protagonists though or it will feel like torture.

Honestly the book seemed deeply confused about it's themes becauee unless the intended take away was "If you're unhappy with your life and suffer from depression Jus continue being a shitty person refusing to cope with your issues abouse a bunch of drugs and your attitude and life will magically fix themselves eventually" then it was lost. If that was supposed to be the take away then "Uh weird message bro, but sure". I liked the whole disaffected Millenial stick but it did not carry a whole book. At times it felt more like I was reading a character bible instead of a story. And with how it ends, her plan just working no real twists or curveballs, I was just left wondering what the point was.
Like I'm not one to demand a classic american story structure. You just had a cool quick idea and protagonist doesn't change substatially or learn anything by the end - fine by me. But we did not need so many words to tell this story (and I am using the term very liberally here) and the thing doesn't have that many words to begin with.

But whatever the prose was competent and it was a very quick read.

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skoltoaletter's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

3.5


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itsmaren's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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lenacamci's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.5

First and foremost, this character is very unlikable - clearly on purpose. 
She also deals with depression and grief and pain that a life of privilege could not shield her from.

This book is so driven by its character and the way she perceives the world and copes with it and yet, she does not learn. She changes but she doesn't grow. 
It's very well written but it's not a pleasant read. It makes you reflect on how you can relate to her and yet leaves you frustrated by her decisions and just general unpleasantness. Which is fine, it's good to have bad, well written morally bad, insufferable but nuanced female characters. 

The ending was the bitter note for me, as Reva is yet another somewhat unlikable character but who at least somehow tries and loves as superficial as she could be. Struggling with mental health, I didn't expect this book who is already a dark take having such a bitter, "life is unfair", painfully real ending. 

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whatsamanthadoes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

I have lots of conflicting thoughts about this book. It somehow had me comparing my feelings after watching the movie Saltburn - I just saw an amazing spectacle, but I feel desolate and bereft and I want to continue to stay here and feel that.

But oh my, this girl perfected the act of girl rot. It as almost to the point where she didn't need to learn any lessons, she just transformed. This made cheering for someone when they refused to be an underdog in their own rock bottom difficult. 

This book shows a very real depiction of depression and how it affects those around you. There was also her opposite, Reva - whom she hated to love or loved to hate (hard to say). Reva seemed to deal with grief differently, but maybe just as problematically.
I wish I understood the historic event in the end. Why did the story lead Reva there?

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carleesue's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-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

2.75


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zorra's review against another edition

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

4.25

Some books exaggerate and reflect the worst parts of you. This one did just that. The book is a very hard to explain kind of confrontation if you haven’t had some sort of relationship with mental illness. It’s also hatefully reflective of the current reality of a lot of young adults where honestly a year of sleep sounds very enticing. 

The end was personally definitely a little underwhelming. The 9/11 montage overlaying a sense of forced self actualisation? It seemed to undercut the book as a whole and didn’t seem quite worth the payoff.
A part of me wants to read this again but stop just over a chapter from the end. Then again I may sit with it longer and change my mind. 

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pushik's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

2.75


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katilh's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

did you know that pretty privileged people can be depressed too?
the ending felt unearned, superficial, cheap.

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