Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Il mio anno di riposo e oblio by Ottessa Moshfegh, Gioia Guerzoni

109 reviews

lesbegays's review against another edition

dark funny reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is one of the most relatable and accurate depictions of depression that i’ve ever come across. depression is ugly and disgusting and makes you a shitty friend. the narrator is not a likable person, but i did find myself loving her because of how intimately i understand her and how much of the worst parts of myself i see in her. i found myself both jealous that she is rich enough to actually do what i’ve dreamt about since i was 12 and dedicate all of her time to sleeping, and so grateful that i’m no longer in a place where i want to sleep for a year. just maybe a month. i’ve had this on my shelf for years and i’m so glad i waited until now to read it. both the narrator and i are 26, and i think this would have made me spiral if i was 23.
the writing style of this book is so hypnotic. every time i emerged from a reading session i felt disoriented, like i was waking up from a too-long, sweaty afternoon nap. i felt a little bit how i imagine the narrator felt in her waking hours. a lot of people describe the pace of this book as slow, and i guess that’s fair, but i flew through this. the combination of short, clipped sentences and excessive run-on sentences just pulled me along for the ride. 
if you’ve ever felt like sleeping for a year would fix you but are currently in a better, more healed place, i highly recommend this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Classism, Excrement, Vomit, Cancer, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Infidelity

sadiaa's review against another edition

dark relaxing

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Grief, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Confinement, War, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, and Cancer

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

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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

leoni_plu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Abandonment, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

tangerinetwist's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abortion

chilicrispy's review against another edition

2.75

I would sincerely like a review with quotes from someone who loved this book. Maybe I have just had enough white nonsense in my life. But this book really did not deliver form me. I wish we dug more into the main characters' relationships so we could understand her decision for her year of rest and relaxation. The concept of sleeping for a year is interesting but the delivery was lacking. 

The character was antisemitism, fatphobic, and made SA, jokes. It was extremely off putting and didn't serve a purpose (aka lead to personal growth or comment on larger world issues). I understand Moshfeg is trying to write a complicated character that is the antithesis to what we think a woman should be, but it isn't necessarily a skill to make some one despicable. The character was pretty one note which seems like the opposite of the authors intentions. Perhaps I wasn't big brain enough, but I think there are better books about female introspection. Definitely check the content warnings. 

On the pro side it was a cool concept, the writing style was snappy and did a good job of putting you in her world (sometimes to the reader's discomfort). There were some clever funny moments that I appreciated. It is clear Moshfeg is a very talented writer! I don't think her genre of books is necessarily for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Drug use, and Eating disorder

elle_e_d_light's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

I think the author is good at writing, but I didn't care at all what happened to the main character. I'm still not sure if that was actually the author's intent though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, Racism, Classism, and Grief

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Body shaming, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Excrement, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer

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.

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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

bethtuba's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Fatphobia, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, and Abortion