Reviews with content warning for Dysphoria - My Year of Rest and Relaxation

I don't know that the author needed to add as much drug use and detail about it as they did. I think it fell flat at the end of the day because it became redundant.

of course we all saw the end coming but i didn't care as much because i didn't feel for the main character or value their friendship much at all.

also. This book seems like a self lobotomy, as if we didn't learn that sedating people with mental illness doesn't actually switch psychosis off. I don't like the message of this book, and i don't find it sardonic

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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

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1.5

I dont understand the hype for this book. I feel like I remember people raving about this a few years ago but I truly found this whole book horribly depressing and meaningless. It gave Holden Caulfield vibes in the worst way.

I guess you could say its a feminist book representing women in the worst way, women can be horrible too, women contain multitudes. I'm also pretty positive it doesn't pass the reverse Bechdel test (men are rarely mentioned and only in reference to sex). Which I guess is interesting... idk overall I thought it was terribly boring and depressing.

The main character is in her 20s, both her parents have passed away which she says she has come to terms with but clearly still deeply affects her. She has decided she wants to sleep her life away. She goes to a bad therapist complaining of sleep problems so she can get prescribed increasingly wild drugs. She then takes a cocktail of drugs in efforts to fully sleep through the rest of life to varying success. Her therapist is an extremely hippie unhinged bad therapist, her best friend is extremely vain and fake, her deceased mother was an alcoholic and uncaring. Overall every single character was unbearable and annoying and I don't feel like I particularly learned or gained anything from reading it.

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paperknotbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

Deeply flawed human but such a well crafted voice.

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aoifehasnogoodname's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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eerikaanni's review against another edition

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dark funny sad slow-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

I picked up this book expecting a somewhat lighthearted, character driven story with a mentally ill protagonist. What I got was a gorgeous satirical critique of white American capitalism that worked beautifully in showcasing the grotesque hypocrisy and blind privilege of rich white people in the U.S.

The main character is terrible. Her best friend is pathetic. Their dynamic is annoying at its best and completely destructive at its worst. There's little to no plot, and there's a 5-line long imagery collage of random things, names, places, activities, or thoughts like every other paragraph. That gets a bit exhausting to read at times.

But I think that's the point: materialism, the ownership and manifestation of things and more things is at the focal point of American capitalism. It is its driving force; the desire of more, until the Earth starts regurgitating everything we have consumed back up again.

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tadiwa_e's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

5.0

In “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” the MCs complex relationships, both with her best friend and toxic ex-boyfriend, create a captivating tapestry of human experience. As she seeks solace in sleep, the toxic dynamics with her ex-boyfriend expose the depths of her vulnerability and lack of self-esteem. Simultaneously, her friendship weaves through the narrative, providing moments of support and contrast to the darker aspects of her life. The author fearlessly explores the intricacies of human connections, making this a riveting journey through pleasure, pain, and self-discovery. 5 stars for its unflinching portrayal of relationships and the quest for healing.

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evelyns's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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