Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

859 reviews

lenacamci's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Addiction, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Cancer, Drug abuse, Suicide, Chronic illness, Confinement, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Abortion

whatsamanthadoes's review against another edition

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?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

carleesue's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Mental illness

Moderate: Eating disorder

zorra's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit

pushik's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer, Classism, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

katilh's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

anmolreads03's review against another edition

challenging 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

1.5

This was so boring. A torture to get through.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

knikchevich's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Vomit

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Sexual assault

thealbapoems's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

Hm, this was… a read. I bought this book after seeing it everywhere, and because I felt like after my back surgery it could maybe resonate with me a little more? Having to stay inside, lay down, sleep, etc. But it did not resonate with me at all. I don’t know I didn’t analyze it very much, but it all just felt very sensationalist, it’s a story I feel like I’ve read before, only the main character hibernates for a year. I found it unsettling how much focus there was on the main character’s appearance, how pretty she is, how thin and blonde and rich. Maybe it was done on purpose to showcase how much she had internalized what other people thought of her upon meeting her. Not sure. I didn’t find the relationships between the characters believable, and the plot left me somewhat indifferent. That being said, if there is something that surprised me about this book is the voice. How well constructed it is, how well it carries the readers through the life of this frankly unlikeable person. It felt like a personification of intrusive thoughts. Now that I think about it I couldn't name the main character if I wanted. Might have been a bit of a Rebecca moment. Anyway, read it if you would like to explore what it would be like to give in to your intrusive thoughts. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide, Drug abuse, Addiction, Abortion, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Death of parent, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol

mariavdl's review against another edition

dark sad

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion