Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Ett år av vila och avkoppling by Ottessa Moshfegh, Alva Dahl

853 reviews

mayhemreading's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The more I reflect on this book the more in love with it I am (and I think about it a lot).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

alonnamari3's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I personally loved this book. It’s a new favorite 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Animal death, Xenophobia, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Ableism

lilmadmadz's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Eating disorder, Cancer, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Vomit, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

Don't read if you're in a "low" head space, or questioning your existence. Not the kind of catharsis you'd need.

knowriley's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, Grief, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

livwestland's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I find it difficult to even translate my feelings about this book into words. I think I hated it, but I couldn’t stop reading it either? The blurb on the back cover isn’t really an accurate reflection in my opinion. Funny? Maybe, although the only thing I found particularly amusing was the narrator’s obsession with Whoopi Goldberg and the true nonsense offered by Dr. Tuttle. Tender, compassionate? No, I wouldn’t say so. The protagonist is truly unlikeable, which I don’t hate, but doesn’t lend itself to a “tender” or “compassionate” read. She doesn’t provoke any level of sympathy for me. 

The narrator is vapid, gross, entirely self-absorbed. Her best friend is actually quite sweet. It’s interesting to read from the unpleasant character’s perspective. There’s just no plot, only a premise. The ending was lacking anything spectacular, which I guess is fitting since nothing spectacular happens throughout. 

I enjoyed the author’s style of writing and prose. I just can’t really say how much I enjoyed the book overall? I’m really torn on this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Toxic friendship

marymayne's review against another edition

4.0

A very strange book. I enjoyed it, could relate to some parts, found others funny and some absurd.

I have settled on interpreting it as a parody of how your brain works when you're mentally ill. If only you had a year to catch up on sleep and change everything about yourself, then you could come back better and beautiful and rich and be fixed and have no problems or shortcomings again ever.... then you read the main character doing it and see how it doesn't actually solve anything -

then the absurd ending where she sleeps for 4 months straight as an art piece then has an epiphany on her last sleep and is fixed! And she can go out in the world and forget about the whole thing. Yes that is how it would have to happen ~ if you don't put in the work to get better you'll just stay the same unless there is some medically induced divine intervention.

The 9/11 part was weird. I don't really understand why that was included, and it was so obvious from the moment it's set in NYC in the year 2000 that 9/11 will be a plot point. Then Reva gets a job in the Twin Towers..... I didn't think that added anything

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Abortion

jneverland's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Suicide

Minor: Abandonment and Abortion

ashleyyyyreads7's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I was certainly enthralled, disturbed, captivated, worried, weirded out, but also very impressed. I get why it’s popular and I would recommend

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

lenucciagrecos's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

imds's review against another edition

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Abortion, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Mental illness