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josiemeyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
lv_ct's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
TW: Suicide, Death
Nora Seed feels as though her life is collapsing around her, and she is just a black hole.
Enter The Midnight Library.
In this library are books containing alternate universes, all surrounding Nora's potential lives and the regrets she holds not pursuing certain decisions in her "root life." Led by her old school librarian, she explores these lives, with a promise that when she finds a life she wants to stay in, she can. However, the ultimate question stands - what is it that Nora Seed was missing from her root life? And will she find the life she wishes to live before time runs out?
- Furthermore, I feel as though this book is not supposed to fully be an anti-suicide PSA, but more so a "live your life how you dream it." It is an inspirational tale of how the ordinary can be important. If you're someone like me who does fight depression and has dreamed of more fantastical living (*cough* daydreaming you were a Marvel hero *cough*) and felt as though you were missing out on your life, then I highly recommend this book.
Pros:
- This book feels very hopeful and inspirational, filled with many lessons to learn.
- I enjoy the style of writing that Matt Haig uses (but this is a personal feeling, I know others have said they do not enjoy it.)
- I am glad that Matt Haig does not make the moral of the story "Well she just needs to be married and have a child to feel better." Nora discusses how her own parent's mental health affected her and her brother's lives.
- This book got me emotional a good few times! There are moments where Haig's writing helps to depict Nora's emotions and it helped me envision those feelings.
- The "main regrets" Nora held were explored well. All of them feel pretty naturally depicted in their flaws (except for:
Arctic Explorer life. ) - Lots of good philosophical quotes/lessons!
Cons:
- The lessons are not as subtle as they could be, unfortunately. Often they are spelled out for the reader.
- I do wish there was more time to explore some of the "side lives" Nora experiences towards the end of the book.
- The fact that what was "disappointing" in
her Arctic Scientist/Explorer life (and what subsequently brought her back to the library) was the unsatisfactory sex with Hugo felt kind of silly to me. - I wish the relationship with her brother was dived a bit more into in the earlier parts of the book than the mid/later sections. It would have made a lot more moments a bit more poignant.
- Furthermore, I wish we could have just had a bit more of how her brother's life was affected by their parents.
We get an explanation of how his gay identity made life a bit more difficult when trying to live up to their parent's expectations, but it was kinda just thrown in.
- Furthermore, I wish we could have just had a bit more of how her brother's life was affected by their parents.
- I believe this book could have benefited from being a bit longer just to flesh out some bigger details.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed this book! It actually interested me in looking into more of Matt Haig's writings (How To Stop Time is up next for me!) and I think there are some good inspirational messages within it. It left me with a feeling of appreciation, and there were many moments in which I had to take a second to self-reflect. It's ultimately a book that shows that we all create our own destiny - a message that I believe a lot of people need to hear.
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Self harm, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
melli_sophie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
vb_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
jamr3adsalot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol
This book heavily deals with depression. You'll notice that just from the first chapter.izzy_v's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide attempt
maddielle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
sal_the_cat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Stalking, and Car accident
jls6283's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It did bug me that
It has some similar messages as “Anxious People” (which I also read very recently) and I just much preferred that amusing/funny perspective.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, Vomit, and Alcohol
vlmm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Alcohol