My Year of Rest and Relaxation

by

Otessa Moshfegh

. . .

Published : 2018

. . .

“I was finally doing something that really mattered. Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart—this was, perhaps, the only thing my heart knew back then—that when I’d slept enough, I’d be okay. I’d be renewed, reborn.”

The main character is an incredibly beautiful woman (this is stated so many times throughout the book I lost count) who wants to sleep for a whole year and wake up a completely different person.

She is very apathetic, and selfish.

She finds herself an awful psychiatrist who prescribes her ridiculous amounts of drugs so she can achieve her goal.

Her friend Reva, who the main character hates, is equally awful.

The main characters on-off boyfriend Trevor is terrible.

Everybody is horrendous, and the main character just wants to sleep it all away.

This book makes me about as apathetic as the main character. Though there were parts that made me laugh due to the morbid absurdity of it all.

It’s a ridiculous book, a ridiculous premise, though well crafted and beautifully executed.

This book, though entertaining and wonderfully satirical, is absolutely pointless, which makes it difficult to write about.

A lot of the book is drug use, recalled memories, trains of thought, and the woe, suffering and apathy of the main character.

The ending was predictable, disappointing, and the most lukewarm thing in the entire book.

Overall, My Year of Rest and Relaxation was interesting, but not something I’d recommend to my friends unless they really enjoy dark ramblings.

. . .

My Rating :

★★ ½ ☆☆☆

Thanks for reading!

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Have you read My Year of Rest and Relaxation? Did you find it utterly depressing? Let me know in the comments!