Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

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

97 reviews

sarahjroos14's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad

0.25

Awful book especially if your mental health isn't good 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pxloeni's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

aliciae08's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

When I first started reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation I struggled to follow a selfish and unlikable unnamed character who we are not supposed to find immediately relatable. She’s frequently described and describes herself as being gorgeous and blonde, and even as she begins to waste away she still looks unattainable. Her only friend tells her she looks like a litany of famous women who are renowned for their own beauty. On top of this, she has wealth enough that she can decide to do this experiment of sleeping for a year without having to worry about the financial repercussions of doing so. 

On the face of it, this novel seems to be telling us that if only we had money and beauty, then we, too could just check out for a year. We, too, could just sleep. 

However, as we find out more about our protagonist, it’s clear that this book is more about how we experience grief and abandonment and how we must figure out a way to cope in those issues even if we don’t care about our friend’s mundane problems.  

I really loved where the book went, even if staying in the protagonists’ head was sometimes annoying. I especially liked the last line even if it offered a bleak sense of living. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

astridrv's review against another edition

Go to review page

What a fever dream of a book. The concept worked, although I get reservations about the ending. The writing is enthralling, the narrator has a really strong voice and is clearly defined in all her layers and murkiness. It is a cold book (and do check the content warnings because it’s a lot), but also a little bit tender. It made me think, all along, may I never be or feel like that. But the narrator is aware of her world, of the game of rich and pretty she’s both winning and losing at. Finishing this book feels like walking out of a movie into daylight. I’m left engulfed, squinting, having spent a few hours in a life so distant from mine it can only have grown my empathy.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pam_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jgrhcklzccv's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

2.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gin_and_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

medini_l's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cynbee's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark 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

2.75

I'm not sure, but I think this might be the first "no plot, just vibes" book and...I didn't love it. I didn't hate it either, it was just kind of "meh". 

I'm glad I read it because I've been interested for a while and I got to experience it...but...I don't understand how it got so famous lol

Thoughts that I can't express without spoilers:
When she came out of her last period of hibernation, the way she spoke about life...I felt that there was hope, that she had actually had a "rebirth" or something and, I don't know, maybe she did, because it does take some of us A WHILE to get back on track. But then, almost immediately after...the end. I think that was something that didn't improve my feelings toward this book.


I respect (and even like seeing) depictions of depression that don't have a clear conclusion because that's what it's like living with a chronic illness, but it didn't feel like it was intentional to show this or make this statement (just a happy accident 😌), I'm thinking it could've been because of the pacing, but I'm not 100% sure. I just feel a bit meh.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kellykc's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny sad medium-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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings