Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

423 reviews

thebigemmt505's review

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

“…so I traveled more peacefully through outer space, listening to the rhythm of my respiration, each breath an echo of the breath before, softer and softer, until I was far enough away that there was no sound, there was no movement. There was no need for reassurance or directionality because I was nowhere, doing nothing. I was nothing. I was gone.”

My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores what happens when privilege and vanity meet trauma and despair. It follows our main character as she embarks on a mission to fall asleep for a full year, and slowly descends into drug abuse and desperation.

I found this book strangely comforting. I feel I’ve rated it too highly, because the whole time I questioned “why am I enjoying this?” The characters are deeply vain and unlikable, especially the main character. The most likeable character is Reva, and it takes quite awhile for her to be so. Granted, the hateability of the main character is mitigated slightly as we learn more about her, but in the end it’s quite difficult to say if she’s actually grown. Perhaps my enjoyment comes mostly from the beautiful, highly descriptive writing. Admittedly, I found the constant, excessive reliance on pop culture references annoying, but at the very least the rest of the description was usually good enough to make up for what one might not catch in terms of references. The books pacing was alright, minus some parts that dragged a bit (such as the funeral part of the book.) I like the way this author tells a unique story with unique characters, sprinkling in dark humor to the many heavy themes.

I think this book caught me at the right time. My current reality is that I’m burnt out and jaded, a teeny bit too judgmental, eternally annoyed with most things, and more and more frustrated with the world around me and with myself every day. I’m perturbed by the development of this bitterness within me. As I read the book, much as I thought the main character was cruel and superficial, I related to her pain and her desires. I want to rot in my depression and sleep a year away. Obviously, I don’t have the endless money and ressources nor the true will to do that, but the appeal is there. And, if anything, I feel the ending shows us both how much and how little the character changed. She sees beauty in the world now,

but selfishly finds artistic courage in the tragic death of her friend. Also, not gonna lie, I saw the 9/11 shit coming!!!

There is no grief nor any accountability. She’s stripped of the superficial part of her superficiality, but inside there’s still vanity. Each part of her world revolves around her, even if now, she appreciates it a bit more. I want to grow, to rest and to process, to see beauty in the everyday and not get caught up in symbolic gestures or appearances or useless activities, but there are pitfalls along that journey. I relate to the endeavor but I’d like to swerve away from its end, this end. Perhaps this book hit me so hard because I was able to see bits of my current self in someone I did not like. The cycle of trauma likes to sneak up on us all in new forms, I suppose, et cetera.

Anyways, one thing I do find ironic is that this novel has become part of an aesthetic associated with modern “weird” readers, and the existence of such an aesthetic, in my opinion, really strips art of its uniqueness, all to fit into one’s personal style. In other words, it’s  superficial and meaningless, vain, even. I find that pretty funny. I’m being pretentious. Welp, there’s my cynical bitterness. I think it does have a point sometimes, though. Aesthetics can be fun but… oh, the irony.

I’ll stop my rambly introspection. Give My Year of Rest and Relaxation a read; be aware though, to many audiences it’ll be quite boring and unappealing (and understandably so.) I (think) that I loved it though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abortion

sophhes's review

dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, Body shaming, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion

lilmadmadz's review

dark emotional 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

2.5

Beautifully written quibbling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Eating disorder, Cancer, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Vomit, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

Don't read if you're in a "low" head space, or questioning your existence. Not the kind of catharsis you'd need.

knowriley's review

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Deceivingly funny at the outset, then a long 200 page spiral into a hypnotic and painfully accurate depiction of the physiological experience of depression at its most expressive. Read with caution, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, Grief, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

effys's review

This book has definitely left me in need of something a bit lighthearted after that. 

This was a strange experience of a book, it definitely wasn't an enjoyable experience of a book but I liked reading it. The main character is hateable as all hell, she has one friend who is too nice for putting up with the MCs shit. 

My only real issue with the book was

it was so blatantly obvious that Reva was going to die in 9/11 i figured from the get go that 9/11 was going to be involved somehow because it's New York and it starts in 2000 but I feel like if we hadn't been told WHERE Reva was going to be working it could've been more impactful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Abortion

jneverland's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Suicide

Minor: Abandonment and Abortion

imds's review

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Abortion, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Mental illness

eachz's review

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

I need to reflect on this more to give a proper review, but I really enjoyed it. This is my second Moshfegh novel and I'm once again struck by how she crafts these characters who you love and hate and root for and want to slap all at the same time. They're simultaneously realistic and ridiculous. I guess that speaks to the satirical nature of this story. Idk there was something profoundly relatable about the core of this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Body shaming, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Cancer, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Death of parent, Suicide, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Antisemitism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

zaraha's review

dark funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Self harm, Death, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Genocide, Abortion, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Rape, and Violence

jessiphillips's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.0

This book could have been really good if the protagonist had actually dealt with her trauma and if there had been real consequences for her substance abuse. Instead, this books gives the dangerous idea that substance abuse can solve your problems. There are no consequences for any of her actions or incredibly selfish and cruel behavior. 

Despite that, she is incredibly relatable (a year is sleep sounds so nice) it was almost a comfort to read someone’s thoughts who had no filter. All the bad thoughts that would cause me to pause and retract, she would carry on with. Unashamedly. She makes no effort at being kind. Her depression was overwhelming and her grief all consuming and if we saw her at a different point in life, maybe she would be different. 

Had there been real consequences for her behavior and actions and had her drug abuse been addressed in any manner at the end, this would probably have been a five star read. 

Also, Reva deserved better

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Addiction

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Body shaming, Cancer, Suicide, and Vomit