This review includes spoilers.
A fantastic exploration into wealthy indifference and mental health, portrayed in a female lead who can afford to indulge in her depression. The narrative is weird, and I didn't know where it was leading, which is what I loved about it. The protagonist and subject matter is uncomfortable, but poses the interesting question, what would happen if we through money at our mental health problems? What would it look like if we used money to indulge in anxiety, bulimia, or depression?
The protagonist, if we can even call her that, was completely unlikeable. However, with time, I came to understand her expensive numbing towards life. The ending was particularly haunting, disturbed and a perfect conclusion to a weird story. The narrator watches her best friend jump from the Twin Towers, and admires her leap into death and gives her perspective on the vibrancy of life.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a social experiment that you can get your fictional loving teeth into. If you don't want to read a privilege woman's decent into depression, this isn't for you. However, if you enjoyed The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, and Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, this is the book for you.
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