sophhes's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-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

4.0


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wendys_lit's review against another edition

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

5.0

WOW kinda scared to have started Moshfegh on such an awesome, praise-worthy piece, but Jesus freaking Christ was this excellent.

THE sad girl novels of Sad Girl Novels ™️. A beautiful, thin, rich and Columbia graduate, who goes unnamed, is living the life every girl her age probably wants. Living in her own apartment in New York, buying luxury trends, eating what she likes, and not having to go to a job, really. Except that she doesn’t even want her own life. No, she isn’t suicidal—she’s just sick of her life and thinks that hibernation is the key. She’s happiest when she’s asleep, so that must be the antidote, right? A year of rest and relaxation will give her the chance to cocoon and be the butterfly she’s always wanted to be. But it’s going to take an insane amount of meds and a questionably dark routine to get this show on the road.

I’m not someone who likes to read White women dramas or character studies, just because there’s so much of them out there in the world, and I prefer to read women of color, because I am one. However, Moshfegh really writes this downright awful, unlikable narrator that keeps you entranced with their shitty behavior, their insane decisions, and crazy inner monologue. This narrator is aware of her privilege, aware she is a shitty person, and yet continues to pour gasoline on the dumpster fire that is her life. Every page has you asking why. Why is this character so upset with everything, herself, others, even despite her past, you’d think people are capable of change, and this book is the reality: some people aren’t. Some people, even after every lesson learned, are unable to change much of who they are. 

This book was great. With the exception of the weird Whoopi Goldberg obsession and the weird ending chapter, this was kind of what I look for in a female character study. A woman who is late twenties or older, going through it, and just thinking the entire time. Thinking, processing, realizing, with a tiniest bit of hope in the mix.

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lilmadmadz's review against another edition

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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

2.5

Beautifully written quibbling.

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saarahrust's review against another edition

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dark 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


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mjoybo's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-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


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pamnc's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.0

Unlikable characters while not being interesting or compelling. 

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knowriley's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Deceivingly funny at the outset, then a long 200 page spiral into a hypnotic and painfully accurate depiction of the physiological experience of depression at its most expressive. Read with caution, in my opinion.

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menagerie_of'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
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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effys's review against another edition

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This book has definitely left me in need of something a bit lighthearted after that. 

This was a strange experience of a book, it definitely wasn't an enjoyable experience of a book but I liked reading it. The main character is hateable as all hell, she has one friend who is too nice for putting up with the MCs shit. 

My only real issue with the book was
it was so blatantly obvious that Reva was going to die in 9/11 i figured from the get go that 9/11 was going to be involved somehow because it's New York and it starts in 2000 but I feel like if we hadn't been told WHERE Reva was going to be working it could've been more impactful

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bea_frankie's review against another edition

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mysterious 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

2.0

Honestly, this was one of those books people hype, and it is just simply not that girl. Nothing about this book lived up to my standards. I felt like I had been gaslit into thinking the premise was groundbreaking, and then the cold, harsh reality of the fact that a woman sleeping for a whole year straight is, in fact, boring. 

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