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

5.0

this book is so…. unsettling yet hilarious and i cannot explain how i feel about it literally at all. i enjoyed it a lot more than i thought i would. ottessa moshfegh’s writing is so blunt and filled with satire that you cannot help but laugh at every decision the narrator makes in her head. the very small cast of characters and how little you know about everyone, including the narrator puts you into her head and how out of touch with reality she becomes throughout this “year of rest and relaxation”. her undignified pining after a middle-aged man who uses her for sex, a sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, a relationship of resentment yet nostalgia towards her parents, and a weird postmodern artist who freezes dogs are all some of the things that made this read so confusing yet so enjoyable for me :-)