Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Ett år av vila och avkoppling by Alva Dahl, Ottessa Moshfegh

141 reviews

aishareads1111's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-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

5.0

In reading this book, I got all the emotions. Some laughter, some confusion, and definitely sadness. I heavily related to the protagonist from her way of coping with life, to her lack of emotions and care throughout most of the book. It hit me hard at times. In spite of the emotional roller coaster, I really enjoyed it. Definitely going to re-read and annotate the heck out of it! 
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magicalghoul's review against another edition

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challenging emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thought I'd enjoy it more than I actually did.

It was a challenging read, despite me relating to many aspects of the protagonist's whole deal (Your early 20s are all about maladaptive daydreaming, seeing what cocktail of psychiatric meds best work for you and engaging in a Lot of depression naps, right?)

The last act did keep me engaged though, and I know that last line will haunt me. 
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mimidelrey's review against another edition

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

3.75

hated it while reading it, realised I loved it after due to It's deep accuracy
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littleseal's review against another edition

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- My dumbass thinking Infermiterol was really a medication (I am a therapist that knows some medications but clearly was "tricked" to think this was, lol)
- There is something so interesting about the writing that it was hard to put down sometimes
- I knew, <i>knew</i> what the ending was going to be;
The book was set in 2000, and knew it'd go into 2001 and it would relate back to 9/11
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ktc97's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad 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

I had previously read another Moshfegh and didn’t love it, but was so pleasantly surprised by this one. I feel like Moshfegh’s strengths shine through when her dark writing is accompanied by some relief. This one had a ton of hilarious satire and a compassionate message at the end. 
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ruthdiaz's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

finished it on december 31st, 2024. funny. absurd. raw. tough. i genuinely enjoyed it, and it was the perfect book for me to read at the end of the year.
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bellsdixon's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-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

4.25

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calicoes's review against another edition

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

3.5

i won't lie, i enjoyed the hell out of reading it and found it extremely hard to put down for later (for the most part.) HOWEVER. 

for me, my year of rest and relaxation was a rollercoaster that, more often than not, kept slinking downwards, and then her transformation at the end felt almost magic. it was nearly comical! i wanted it for her, and yet almost couldn't believe it? her ironic criticism of people's shallowness when she didn't seek any deeper meaning herself and held onto nothing but a dream... ultimately worked out for her—in other words, it reads to me as the "good ending" to all her decisions that would otherwise to lead to her (worse) demise.

the whole ordeal with ping xi came up a bit suddenly to me, didn't make as much sense as it was supposed to and happened very quickly—but i took it all as a satire and remark of the topics handled throughout the novel; image, ego, class & desperate relationships; all reflected in the bitter, privileged protagonist, her psyche, loveless past and her motives (or lack thereof?); her relative privilege seeming to just fuel her apathy & delusion only because it's all she can occupy herself with (childhood neglect aside.) i did note a bunch of ideas getting repetitive, but at other times i found much profoundness in those fleeting thoughts. 
plus 9/11 mentioned. saw it a mile away (reva's promotion lol)
 

maybe i'll be up to annotate the book by the time i re-read, and get my thoughts in better order... unfortunately i ate this one up
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kc_sears's review against another edition

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dark sad tense 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

1.5

While I would like to say this book is interesting, it’s incredibly dark and sinister in the sense that people could potentially act like this main character. I did not find it enjoyable. I think people could have adversely influenced to act this way if they are looking to be self destructive. I can’t imagine ever recommending this book.
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floderrida's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Jeg troede ikke det var muligt at støde på mere frygtelige karakterer end persongalleriet i Stormfulde højder… men så læste jeg Mit år med ro og hvile. 
 
Jeg var bekymret for, om bogen bare ville være endnu et forsøg på relatable millenial fiktion, men jeg blev positivt overrasket! 
 
Bogen følger en unnavngiven kvindelig hovedperson, der, trods hun vælter sig i designertøj, har en fed uddannelse fra Columbia, og ud ad til ligner alt, hvad man vil forbinde med status og succes, er tom, helt tom inden i. Nogle år forinden har hun mistet sine forældre, og selvom det ikke ligefrem var et varmt og velfungerende forhold, tærer det (af gode grunde) på hende - også selvom hun måske ikke vil være ved det. 
 
Hendes væren-i-verden er karakteriseret af en stærk antipati og ligegyldighed, hvilket kun forværres, da hun beslutter sig for at ville sove i et år - underforstået sove sig til et nyt liv, et liv på den anden side af sorg og smerte. Den eneste omgang hun har med andre mennesker er hendes skrækkelige “veninde” Reva, der vil gøre alt for at få verdens anerkendelse, og den gakkede psykiater, Dr. Tuttle, der, klar til at udskrive alskens receptpligtig medicin, udstråler den mest perfekte ignorance og inkompetence. 
 
Alt imens hovedpersonen isolerer sig mere og mere, bliver hendes verden gradvist mere surrealistisk. Den ene bizarre black-out episode følger den anden - ofte som følge af de mange stærke medikamenter, som hun er på. Selvom hendes liv nærmer sig en komplet opløsning, sker der noget uventet, der river hende ud af dvalen. 9/11 indtræffer, en kvinde kaster sig ud fra et af tårnene og med ét er verden forandret for altid. En dag vil foråret atter bryde frem. Livet vil knopskyde, og hun vil være lysvågen. 
 
Mit år med ro og hvile balancerer på elegant vis mellem mørke og humor. Det er i sidste ende en kritik af samtidens værdier og en påmindelse om, hvor svært det kan være at finde mening i en verden, der konstant kræver, at vi performer vores lykke og succes. 
 
Måske er det netop i bruddene - de uventede katastrofer og opblomstringer - at vi finder os selv på ny.
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