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

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

“‘If you knew what would make you happy, wouldn’t you do it?’ I asked her.”

TITLE—My Year of Rest and Relaxation
AUTHOR—Ottessa Moshfegh 
PUBLISHED—2018

GENRE—contemporary fiction
SETTING—New York City in 2000
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—rich white people in NYC; depression; psychotropic medication; different kinds of love/emotional support and what it means when you don’t have the most important kind in your life; the art world; grief & mourning, but almost in a subversive way

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—Honestly the fact that I found the MC’s experience *so* relatable in spite of our enormous socioeconomic differences and the realization that her privilege didn’t *really* help her, it was just really interesting for me to encounter that perspective.
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“…that when I’d slept enough, I’d be okay. I’d be renewed, reborn. I would be a whole new person, every one of my cells regenerated enough times that the old cells were just distant, foggy memories. My past life would be but a dream, and I could start over without regrets, bolstered by the bliss and serenity that I would have accumulated in my year of rest and relaxation.”

What an interesting, and thought provoking read! This book is about a privileged white 26yo woman living in NYC dealing with massive depression. It’s very literary contempo but with ordinary language not flowery language which makes it a fast read which is good because getting pulled along with good momentum is I think the best way to “get” this book. At least it was for me. And in fact, the more I think about it, the more 🤯 I feel about the book as I feel like I’m uncovering layers that weren’t entirely apparent to me at first.

This book was a solid 4.5 until the very last sentence, which bumped it up to a 5. 😂 I have a new autobuy author. And yeah she is the american Scarlett Thomas, I know we’re not supposed to say shit like that but, sorry. It’s true. 😆

“The notion of my future suddenly snapped into focus: it didn’t exist yet. I was making it.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW // drug addiction (pills), eating disorder, depression, grief, abandonment, toxic relationships, abusive relationships, sexual content, suicide, the World Trade Center attack (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—
  • more Ottessa Moshfegh—TBR
  • Oligarchy, and The Seed Collectors, by Scarlett Thomas
  • The Bird’s Nest, by Shirley Jackson
  • that movie Young Adult (2011) with Charlize Theron. I don’t even know why I’ve seen that movie but the MC in this book made me remember it lol 😆
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