Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

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

816 reviews

ursolovelypjm's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

This book was such a beautiful surprise, and I am left wandering how it was always advertised to me (even if subconsciously) as a funny and weird story, of a woman trying to sleep for a full year.

Instead of a “year of rest and relaxation” the main character has to remember her hurtful past, her relationship with her parents (and her subsequent relationships with love and friendship), her past memories and present thoughts, herself as she was and the version she wants to become by the end of her hibernation period. However, this book reflects so deeply about avoidance, letting go of the past, embracing emotions regardless of them being good or bad. This woman, whose privilege felt like a curse, thinking sleeping forever and going numb would stop her from feeling anything about the irrelevant, out of our control, infinite world she lived in, being met with pure darkness, realized all she ever wanted to do was to live. 

To see things, to feel things, and to face the unpredictable yet constant challenges. Bravely. And wide awake.

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azu's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes
I didn't like this book. Almost DNF'ed it (and I should have) but I was curious of how worse it could get.  The characters are despicable. As someone who had to take meds to sleep or against my anxiety (sometimes with really, really bad after-effects), it made me sick to read all these descriptions of the mc eating pills after pills.

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mjtal's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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molarbear31's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.5


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blacksails03's review against another edition

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

4.5


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the_neeerd's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0

I was recommended this book in a list of "books where the main character is a very strange woman" or something to that effect, and that person was correct. I think that is how it should be described. The main character doesn't get named and I only just realized that, because I was so drawn in by the fact that everyone in this story is just horrible. None of them have any characterization, but at the same time, they're all so different. Listening to the audiobook was a good call I think, because it was a level of immersion that made the story connect on a deeper level. I'm not saying that if you wake up at 4am, you should play the audio book, but I am saying that doing that is going to minmax your experience of it. And it made me feel a whole lot better about bedrotting over winter break because I could say "at least I'm not doing that". 

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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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olgasalpe's review against another edition

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

4.0


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ajilemon's review against another edition

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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

4.0

I know I need therapy because I found hg to be relatable and quite funny at times.
The book ending with 9/11 was crazzzzzyyyyy.

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