A review by stwriter92
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense
  • 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

This book was lent to me by a student at the school I teach at and it was definitely a surprising read. I don't think I've read such a raw depiction of grief and depression before. At first I strongly disliked the main character, who remained unnamed throughout, which I think was a good thing because it removed a barrier between her as a narrator and myself as a reader. Watching her spiral more and more, becoming more and more dependent on sleep medication (an echo of the sort of thing that killed her mother) to keep all feelings, relationships, and truths away. 

I know that we were supposed to see her friend Reva as a pathetic person, but I think she was a better character than the narrator. Was she pushy and overbearing? Yes. However, she seemed to also be going through a similar thing to our narrator. Instead of burying herself, she reaches out. Her story, I think, was the real tragedy of the book.
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