? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation is anything but restful and relaxing:Depression, anxiety, and self-destruction are just a few of the subjects addressed in Ottessa Moshfegh's second novel. The story is set in New York in the year 2000, following an unnamed protagonist who appears to have it all: Money, a good job, good looks, and an impressive degree. Yet she decides to hibernate for a year by abusing a lethal cocktail of antidepressants, sleeping pills, anxiety pills — you name it. She lies to her therapist in order to secure her lethal supply of drugs, she loses her job after falling asleep during the day, and she tries to isolate herself from everyone around her. The story is a great dive into a mentally ill brain and the hold it can have on a person. It’s darkly funny at times, but mostly it’s a wake-up call that appearances can be deceiving when it comes to mental health.

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