Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

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

80 reviews

taylorroseship's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

aliciamenday's review against another edition

dark funny reflective relaxing 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

3.75

if 2014 tumblr was a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism and Pregnancy

dparker1231's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Medical content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

josxphinchen's review against another edition

dark 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

tabear's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abortion

bleeding_gold's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

1.5

let the record show that I HATED this book.  And I generally like plotless books about sad, somewhat unlikeable women in their 20s...

This book was such a slog to get through, especially the middle.  It truly put me to sleep better than any of the myriad of sleeping pills featured in (and weirdly endorsed by) this book and put me in a reading slump.  

I got the sense that Ottessa Moshfegh was trying to make this book as provocative as possible (which it definitely was, I just don't really vibe with that approach).  The casual racism, ableism, sexism, and homophobia served no purpose except to solidify my intense dislike for both Moshfegh and our vile, unfeeling narrator.  I've never read a book before where I hated every single character with every fiber of my being.  Reva did deserve a better friend despite her personal flaws.

The reason I gave this 1.5 stars instead of 1 is because Dr. Tuttle is so ridiculous and unhinged she became funny to me - i.e. "I've heard from several esteemed colleagues in Brazil that regular Infermiterol use can activate a profound tectonic displacement.  Followed up with some filigree work using low doses of aspirin and astral projecting, it's proven to be quite effective in curing solipsistic terror...".  After slogging through the 70 page middle chapter (ugh), the last two real chapters (can't count that cheap last paragraph) were alright (in comparison).

This was so incredibly privileged and pretentious and filled with so many triggers for mental illness I have no idea why people liked this book.  I was even more disappointed in this book due to all the positive hype I'd seen about it, so I'd definitely recommend reading the trigger warnings and thinking about why you want to read this absurd, pointless book before you pick it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

burnyayhayley's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

 I have... a lot of feelings to process. 

A consistent piece of feedback I am seeing in reviews of this book is about how the middle of it dragged, and I totally agree. Though it is easily arguable— given the focus of this book— that a human attempting to hibernate would eventually become a bit of a repetitive and tedious narrative to recount. It was bound to drag a little; what do you say about someone sleeping all the time?

Another thing I have seen in reviews is a statement that the ending is too rushed, but I beg to differ. The ending is differently paced, yes, and faster than the middle, for sure, but this reminded me of the feeling of waking up from a nap and there is still a whole afternoon and evening ahead of you and you kind of feel like everything is moving too fast. That head-rush of the waking world I think was mirrored in this last bit of the book, and to great effect. It fits, for me, that after this long spent drugging herself and sleeping on a couch (or wherever she was), everything would seem fast and bright and weird. 

Also, given that this book is set in 2000/2001, I was definitely waiting for the 9/11 moment, and given that we were told two of the people in the unnamed protagonist's life were working in the towers, the ending was not a total surprise. But I do give large credit to the beauty and slight obscurity of the very last image. Absolutely stunning.

Ok but also how did I only just realize that the protagonist doesn't have a name? That is usually something I would notice—makes it all the more unsettling, as it easily pulls the reader into her position. 
Anyway, this book is darkly funny but also mildly upsetting, so please check the content warnings before venturing in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War

annamargharris's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit and Abortion

hreads03's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing and Panic attacks/disorders