My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel Paperback – June 25, 2019

First, props to the Audible reader. Best I've ever heard. Second, just because a story's characters are negative doesn't mean the story is bad. (Shirley Jackson's THE LOTTERY is one of the best ever.) This story was very good and is salted throughout with wonderfully sardonic humor. The protagonist says things that most people probably think but don't admit, and does things I suspect many people would do if they thought they could get away with it. The pace is also great. I would have liked the book to be a little shorter; that would have been perfection. Respect for uber honesty, and for not trying to hide the level of suffering people can experience. I think the end, especially, is a sort of slow burn resolution. Think about it.

I was looking for a dark humor fiction book, and this one certainly didn't disappoint. I loved the story. Loved the humor. Loved the writing. Loved how the main character's parents were described. They seemed A LOT like mine: didn't know how to be parents, didn't even bother acting like they cared sometimes. If you like dark humor, you should like this book. I am sorry that I waited so long to order it. I will be looking into other books from this author.

This book was entertaining and well written. Dark humor and sarcastic are always fun...But I will say about halfway through, it felt like the story was dragging out. The ended didn't make me happy, nor did it make angry. It just was. I suppose that's the energy of the book as well. I don't regret reading it necessarily. But it's depressing. So I'd suggest trying to have an alternate book to switch with to keep your spirits up. I say this as a person who relates to feeling quiet, sluggish and misunderstood often.

One of the best books I've ever read. Made me feel all the emotions.

Powerful in the middle, slightly boring in the beginning until we get to know her motive behind her behaviors, ending is gentle not too abrupt

Oh, how I love Ottessa Moshfegh’s bold and subversive mind. In her latest novel, she explores the relatable modern themes of ennui, apathy, alienation and depression with dark humor and merciless commentary.In an attempt to become a better person and live a more meaningful life, our unnamed narrator embarks on a year of self-induced hibernation, convinced that she’ll come out on the other side transformed and better adjusted. With the help of a horrifically unethical psychiatrist, she begins her year of rest and relaxation, desperate for the perfect combination of pills to significantly limit her consciousness.It’s an outrageous premise that plays out in stream-of-consciousness prose, including flashbacks to the formative events in her life that may helped contribute to her current state. The narrator is highly unlikeable: misanthropic, shallow, vain, selfish. Like a caricature of a miserable young rich woman.Most stories like this would be a scathing indictment of medication and unhealthy coping methods, but Moshfegh suggests that sometimes transformation and healing can come from the unlikeliest places. On the other hand, this also feels very much like a satire of privileged self-care: the narrator is beautiful, independently wealthy and able to indulge in a full year of idleness—even potentially come out okay on the other end. The concept of being able to sleep away one’s misery and emerge transformed is covetous indeed, but so unrealistic for most that its straight up absurd.There’s a lot of redundancy in this book and not much of a plot. This may deter some readers. But Moshfegh’s voice is so brutal, uncompromising and compelling that none of that mattered to me.Moshfegh makes you cringe and shake your head all while having you root for this unlikable character’s twisted metamorphosis.

I read this in a few hours. Not because it's all-engrossing, but it's a fairly surface-level read. I was torn between giving this two stars or three stars. The beginning of this book is good. I had to drag myself through the middle of the book. The very ending was great, and I think speaks to Moshfegh's true prose and writing abilities. Which can be excellent at times! The majority of the book was just nothing to write home about, and I found myself skimming quite a bit. I go back and forth on whether this was purposeful or not.I'll be honest, I kind of like the characters. Yes, they are shallow and vapid. But our narrator is severely depressed and on a massive chemical cocktail. Of course, we are not going to get deep internal musings; that is, until the end, when she is sober. This book does depict mental illness and substance abuse fairly accurately. As someone who has been both chronically depressed and chronically ill, the shallowness of our narrator's thoughts and her less-than-stellar.... everything, are relatable. I, too, have wanted to sleep years away at a time. I, too, have often had long periods of time where it feels like an Olympic event to get semi-coherent thoughts through my brain because of my utter exhaustion and depression. I get it. I just wish Moshfegh would have given us a little... *more*. I love classic literature and literary fiction, so I am no stranger to off-the-wall stories, but this was a miss.