My year of rest and relaxation Paperback – May 1, 2019

One of my favorite authors. Such a good book it was hard to put down at times. For a book with no set plot, it was very intriguing to learn about our main character and her life.

Powerful in the middle, slightly boring in the beginning until we get to know her motive behind her behaviors, ending is gentle not too abrupt

This book was entertaining and well written. Dark humor and sarcastic are always fun...But I will say about halfway through, it felt like the story was dragging out. The ended didn't make me happy, nor did it make angry. It just was. I suppose that's the energy of the book as well. I don't regret reading it necessarily. But it's depressing. So I'd suggest trying to have an alternate book to switch with to keep your spirits up. I say this as a person who relates to feeling quiet, sluggish and misunderstood often.

Ottessa Moshfegh is such a great author. I love how she can be morbid, funny, and unpredictable all at once. This book is especially good; the characters and circumstances are so interesting and unlikable, but that does not make the book unlikable. This book has put me out of a two year long reading slump, and I have purchased many of Moshfegh's other books which I like just as much.Bought it used, but it is in good condition despite a couple marks.

I enjoyed this book but I wouldn’t give it the glowing reviews I’ve read. It is well written but there’s nothing ground breaking about it. It is very relatable for people who’ve experienced bouts of depression. You’ll find yourself smiling as you read because she does the exact things you do when in that state of mind.If you can’t relate to depression, you’ll most likely feel you’re reading page after page about a girl who makes pill cocktails, dwells on an emotionally unavailable man and tolerates a friend she wouldn’t otherwise hang out with if she were happier. You’ll just want to get off the loop.

So, I'm not an avid reader. Nor am I a big 'chick lit' fan. I rarely finish books, but I was looking for something to sink my teeth into after a long spell without anything decent to read (by 'decent' I mean nothing I cared about after 20 pages). Well, this book really hit the spot for me.Its a very easy read. Just crack it open and you'll be swept away. The book is written in first person perspective of the main character. I wouldn't say I liked her, nor did I especially dislike her. But I can empathize with her plight.The core concept that drives the plot is pretty provocative - go to sleep for a year and erase your trauma, wake up refreshed and ready to resume life as you were meant to live it, without baggage, without hangups, just living as yourself. Who wouldn't want that?But the way she goes about it, absolutely brilliant.If you can allow yourself to be led down on a journey without constantly pointing out, nitpicking and tearing apart each seemingly unrealistic proposition, you'll be rewarded with an experience that ultimately feels cathartic.I'll admit, there were times that I felt it droned on and on and ....But just speedread beyond that and keep going. The end comes before you know it, and it comes right when you're ready for it.Worth the read.

I began this book and admittedly was drawn in. I guess if the author’s intent was to elicit emotion, it worked.However, the emotion was anger with a little depression mixed in. The two main characters are so mentally unstable and miserable it begins to rub off o the reader. The setting is so miserable, dirty, dark and gray I felt myself getting tired and depressed. The most upsetting thing in this book, however, is the blatant abuse of prescription drugs. With the amounts and mixtures of drugs this author describes the character taking the main character should be dead. Dead by the end of the first chapter. Adivan, ambien, lunesta, lithium, xanax, Valium, trazadone. That’s just some of what she takes. She takes them in high does mixing them with one another and also with alcohol. I’m sure if I tried I could pull this book apart, look for theme and symbolism. I could discuss the integrity of the characters. It’s not worth doing any of those things because this author is not just incredibly ignorant as to these drugs uses, side effects and long term effects but she is horribly irresponsible. Now, in the midst of an prescription drug abuse crisis this author chooses to have a character casually taking 5 ambien with a couple Xanax washed down with a Valium just to go to sleep. The amount of Lithium alone would have left this character brain damaged. When the character abruptly stops putting herself into an unrealistic drug induced stupor she suffers no side effects or withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawing from antidepressants alone is as bad as heroine withdrawal in real life. The book shamelessly promotes drug abuse- long term prescription drug abuse- as a solution to life’s problems. She glorifies the drugs, the abuse, and gives the reader tips and tricks on how to be a drug seeking patient. If any reader that wasn’t aware or what these drugs actually do she could walk away from this thinking that Ambien is harmless. That it has no side effects and that taking several at once would just give you a good night sleep. She would think that mixing Xanax, Valium and Atavan with a chaser of cough syrup isn’t dangerous or downright lethal. This is an instruction manual for suicide or for accidental overdoses. She should be ashamed of herself.