karoline98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Slow but worth the read. The ending was okay.

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melusinedln's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While this wasn’t a masterpiece of a book, it was still very nice to read (even though a bit boring sometimes). The ending made it all worth it, even though you can guess it very easily in the first pages of the book.
I appreciated the narrator’s evolution, from her initial unreliability and selfishness to her acceptance of her parent’s death allowing her to improve as a person, only to have to deal with yet another grief at the end of the book.
I also appreciated the writing style. It kept the « boring » parts nice to read.
It was pretty relaxing and nice to, for once, read a book where essentially nothing happens diegetically. This book reminds us that the story isn’t the only element that makes a book good in the sense that you do not need a complex plotline and such things to make your readers feel intense emotions, convey a message etc.

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bleaksalad's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.5

I picked up My Year Of Rest and Relaxation after finishing Eileen. I'm becoming quite a fan of Otessa, but this one didn't stick with me as much as Eileen did. I love a disgusting, troubled woman coming to terms with herself, however this unnnamed narrator fell a little flat for me. With Eileen, I felt her desperation for change from who she was, and with this narrator the feeling wasn't as intense. 

I did think that the commentary on grief and the handling of it was artful. Experiencing Reva's mom's funeral from the perspective of our orphaned narrator was truly the peak of this story. Reva herself was such a gripping character, and for the narrator to patronize her over and over again only to realize Reva was living the life she was after all along in those tragic final moments was incredibly thought provoking. 

Overall, I do think the writing for MYORAR was stunning and the disecting of such a complex character was fun. I reccomend if your the type of person to scroll your day away on tik tok or if you squander your potential often. You'll find comfort in this book.

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nefarious_rat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.5


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zaraha's review against another edition

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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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leafy_literature's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

1.5

What was the point of this book? What was the plot? The main character is a horrible person with no redeeming qualities. Her friend tried so hard, just to always get crapped on. Don't waste your time.

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morregano's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

2.75

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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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.5

I see why some of my friends hate this book. Everyone is an asshole, and it's hard to read about an incredibly privileged woman in NYC living out her rebirth and actually getting it through... sleeping a lot. It's a goddamn tough sell.

I interpreted this as "American Psycho" for the new millennium, taking aim at the empty promises of everything being perfect through a character who's over it all. The parents' stories were cliche, but I know people who have lived very similar lives to these (sleeping notwithstanding), from the Long Island girl who wants to prove it to the ex-beauty mom who's fully aware of her vacuity. The ending is not a surprise; if anything, its inevitability is part of the subversion to the titular year of rest and relaxation.

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itsmaren's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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vertibravia's review against another edition

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challenging 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
a surprisingly thrilling read for a book with few characters, few settings, and few hours spent fully conscious 

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