My Year of Rest and Relaxation Book Review

Hello reader friends and welcome back to the blog! I’m very excited about today’s blog post. We’re going to be discussing the book My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. This is a book that has been sitting on my to be read list for quite some time, so I wanted to make it a priority to finally check it out this year.

I read this book pretty quickly. I purchased it on my Kindle on Monday morning before work and finished it by Tuesday evening! That’s pretty fast for me. But that’s because it’s a book that really sucks you in and makes you wonder what is going to happen next.

Keep reading for more information as well as my full review of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. And if you enjoy this post, check out the rest of my book reviews here.

What Is My Year of Rest and Relaxation About?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation tells the unusual story of an unnamed narrator. She’s a young and pretty blond in New York City. She’ s a graduate of Columbia University. She has a job at a hip art gallery and a nice apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, A doting best friend and no need to worry about money. It seems as if she has everything. It seems like she definitely has a life worth living.

But there’s this emptiness inside of her. She lost both her parents in early adulthood, but even before that she was depressed. Now in her mid twenties the world is weighing down on her. Her only relationship (with an on again/off again boyfriend) is unfulfilling and her best friend Reva gets on her last nerve.

She dislikes people in general and doesn’t want to be a part of the world. At least not now. If she could just get the sleep she desires, she may feel better in the future and be ready to face the world again. She may wake up a better person.

In order to accomplish her goals, she gets involved with a hack psychiatrist who prescribes her basically any sleeping medication she wants. But as her self proclaimed hibernation period begins, she learned that disconnecting from the world isn’t as easy as it might sound.

Who is Ottessa Moshfegh?

Ottessa Moshfegh is the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation as well as quite a few other works. Her first novel was Eileen, which was made into a film starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. My Year of Rest and Relaxation was a New York Times Bestseller. She has also published a short story collection called Homesick for Another World, as well as a novella.

Why Is This Story So Interesting?

I knew this story was going to be interesting based off the description I read on goodreads. But once I started reading and really got into the story, I found there were many things to find interesting about this book.

First, the setting and the time period. It’s not often that you read a book set in New York City in the year 2000/2001. Part of me wondered if this book was written back then and so it took place in current day, but no. Google tells me it was published in 2018.

Next, there’s the interesting cast of characters. There’s our unnamed narrator, who is pretty awful but is also clearly struggling with major depression, so I gave her a pass. And then there’s her always present best friend Reva, her awful ex boyfriend Trevor, Ping Xi (an artist from the gallery where she works) and of course Dr Tuttle, the world’s worst psychiatrist.

You have to wonder about a psychiatrist who is wearing a neck brace at your first appointment, and who takes copious notes but doesn’t seem to remember a lot of the stuff that you tell her. Right?

But all of these characters and personalities and situations are what makes the book so unique. I truly had so many questions and yet, I didn’t need to know all the answers.

Some things would be explained, while others would be left up to interpretation.

What is the Writing Style Like?

I thought this book was very well written. It’s not a book that’s for everyone because it’s really more about character study than it is about plot. If you like a good, plot driven story than this is not the book for you.

Moshfegh’s prose is very sharp and darkly funny. I know what you’re thinking. How can a story about a depressed character be funny? But despite her judginess and seeming hatred for most other people, she does have some funny thoughts here and there. I loved her obsession with watching the same movies over and over, especially ones starring Whoopi Goldberg.

And then there are the funny things she does when she’s under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs. But you’ll have to read the book to find out more about that. Haha!

But Does She Actually Sleep for an Entire Year?

Yes, and no. Obviously having the main character sleep for an entire year would be boring for us to read about. I mean, what would there be to write about? It’s not like she could do much in a coma-like hibernation state.

But instead the story is told through the main character reflecting on different parts of her life in between periods of sleeping.

I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to lose both of your parents so close together, especially when you had a difficult relationship with them to begin with. After the death of her parents, our narrator moves on with her life and journeys into adulthood.

But she reflects a lot on her life and her parents, depending on what is going on. A big part of the story is about how Reva’s mother is sick and she’s worried about her. That brings up a lot of numbness for the main character.

What is the Point of This Story?

I have some ideas, but I can’t be sure that they are correct. I’ve done some reading. I’ve read some reviews. I even read this discussion thread on Reddit (I know Reddit gets a bad name sometimes, but there is a lot of insightful discussion on there as well).

To me, I felt like the narrator did learn something by the end of the book. I think her project with Ping Xi was an interesting trade off and benefited both of them in the end, as bizarre of a set up as it was.

I really don’t want to spoil the story or ending in case you haven’t read it yet, so I’ll leave it at that. But I do believe there was a point to this story. And I think that like many great books, it’s up to reader interpretation.

What Kind of Dark Humor is in My Year of Rest and Relaxation?

Well, if someone committing to a year of sleep isn’t dark enough for you, then I don’t know what is.

It’s clear that our narrator is struggling with some sort of mental illness. To be completely honest, I think some of the things she says and does are relatable in a way. But in no way does Dr Tuttle, who is one of the worst psychiatrists, help her. Just some of the dialogue they have during their appointments is so funny. I guess that’s what happens when you start calling doctors at 11 o’clock at night and settle for the first one who answers. The conversations that she and Dr. Tuttle have are so interesting. Dr. Tuttle asks the most half assed questions and somehow forgets a lot of the information that our narrator tells her. She’s always giving out free samples of drugs as if they’re lollipops at the end of a pediatrician appointment. It’s dark, but so very funny.

Why Are There So Many Unlikeable Characters?

I don’t think these are the most unlikable characters I’ve ever read about. I think they are just flawed. It’s would be easy to say the narrator is unlikeable because she comes from privileged means and doesn’t seem to appreciate any of it. But at the same time, she clearly never properly grieved the loss of her dead parents. We have good reason not to like her, but it’s also important to remember what her character is dealing with.

Who is the Target Audience for this Book?

I think this book is an acquired taste. Moshfegh’s comprehensive darkness along with her witty writing style make for a great read that you will have to be patient with in order to enjoy. It’s an enjoyable story mixed with a cautionary tale. It’s entertaining but it also makes you squirm. It’s pacing is slow and yet you want to read it as fast as possible to find out what is coming next. The plot is slow for a lot of the book, but there is a lot of reflection and looking back on the past for the main character.

What are the Trigger Warnings for this Book?

This is a dark story and features some unsettling prose about:

• Depression
• Mention of Suicide (and suicidal ideation)
• Drug Abuse (She takes way too many drugs on a daily basis)
• Death of loved ones
• Abusive Relationships Of Sorts (Our narrator’s wall street boyfriend is not a nice guy. You could say they are not well suited for each other, but I think he is worse to her than she is to him).

In Conclusion

Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a book that is unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for so long and I’m glad I finally got the chance to check it out. I did read some reviews of this book before I picked it up, so I did have some idea of what to expect. But the end result just blew me away.

It’s such a dark story about what one young woman will do in order to sleep for a year. But it’s flled with so many funny moments, like when she’s dealing with her best friend Reva or interacting with the guys who work at the nearby bodega. It’s the story of a year of rest, and yet there’s actually a lot going on. If you like books that are different and a little weird, I definitely recommend checking this one out.

xo Marian

But wait, there’s more!

If you enjoyed this book, you may enjoy checking out my other book reviews here. And if you want to follow along on my annual reading challenge, you can find me on goodreads here.