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louiza_read2live's review against another edition
3.0
This story starts strong as I really liked the countdown.
I am not a fan of the F-word at all, which is something I find unecessary and puts me off; however, we do not see a lot of that which was a very good thing, or I might had stopped reading— and that would have been sad.
The second half of the book is getting better and better. I really enjoyed most of the message, but I will let you read it and get the message for yourselves.
It is a fast, easy, and enjoyable read with some pretty sorrowful experiences that the character must go through to understand life. The story is clear, even predictable, without any hidden meanings; however, it is a good story with some wonderful passages that even though the story as a whole is predictable, the character's experiences are different, and you want to live them with her.
Those who have read Blake Crouch's Dark Matter might recognize the thematic similarities of parallel universes.
I find Blake Crouch's worlds and writing more complex and more advanced, which I like much better. This book, taking away the F-word and some clearly adult themes, to me, it read more like a middle grade book. That is not to say that I did not enjoy it or I would not recommend it. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who would like to enjoy a lovely, feel-good fantasy world of alternate realities with a lovely message of hope and gratitude.
~ And a thought from my Christian perspective: The best and only universe to live in is the one we live in— Where our regrets, failures, sorrows, and disappointments are in the hands and heart of our God and creator, where we can trust Him with our lives, experience His Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness and after this life is over, we can have a Home and Eternal life with Him.
I am not a fan of the F-word at all, which is something I find unecessary and puts me off; however, we do not see a lot of that which was a very good thing, or I might had stopped reading— and that would have been sad.
The second half of the book is getting better and better. I really enjoyed most of the message, but I will let you read it and get the message for yourselves.
It is a fast, easy, and enjoyable read with some pretty sorrowful experiences that the character must go through to understand life. The story is clear, even predictable, without any hidden meanings; however, it is a good story with some wonderful passages that even though the story as a whole is predictable, the character's experiences are different, and you want to live them with her.
Those who have read Blake Crouch's Dark Matter might recognize the thematic similarities of parallel universes.
I find Blake Crouch's worlds and writing more complex and more advanced, which I like much better. This book, taking away the F-word and some clearly adult themes, to me, it read more like a middle grade book. That is not to say that I did not enjoy it or I would not recommend it. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who would like to enjoy a lovely, feel-good fantasy world of alternate realities with a lovely message of hope and gratitude.
~ And a thought from my Christian perspective: The best and only universe to live in is the one we live in— Where our regrets, failures, sorrows, and disappointments are in the hands and heart of our God and creator, where we can trust Him with our lives, experience His Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness and after this life is over, we can have a Home and Eternal life with Him.
mvjenn's review against another edition
4.0
Un libro fácil, tierno y esperanzador. Ideal para verano.
deeianira's review against another edition
5.0
A late discovery but a pleasant one. This book is about changing perspectives. We sometimes (or too often) question our decisions and imagine how our life would be if we acted or chose differently. We need to come 'at peace' with the current 'imperfections' of our life and understand that we can always change our minds. A quote I liked very much is that "you don't need to do everything to be everything".
This book reminds us to live our life with all its 'imperfections', ups and downs, and never give up. Forever happiness is not something to chase, in fact, we don't need to chase anything but just do our best and let opportunities come when we are ready enough to embrace them.
Very well written and felt every emotion of the main character. A book that I'll for sure remember in the long term.
This book reminds us to live our life with all its 'imperfections', ups and downs, and never give up. Forever happiness is not something to chase, in fact, we don't need to chase anything but just do our best and let opportunities come when we are ready enough to embrace them.
Very well written and felt every emotion of the main character. A book that I'll for sure remember in the long term.
nhammy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, and Animal death
shindust's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
coley_w_porter's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
Quotes
This midnight library is not one of ghosts. It is not a library of corpses. It is a library of possibility and death is the opposite of possibility. understand
The only way to learn is to live
Never underestimate the big importance of small things
To be part of nature was to be part of the Will to live
Maybe even the most seemingly perfect intense or worthwhile lives ultimately felt the same acres of disappointment and monotony and hurt and rivalries, but with flashes of wonder and beauty maybe that was the only meaning that mattered to be the world witnessing itself maybe it wasn’t the lack of achievements that had made her and her brother‘s parents and happy maybe it was the expectation to achieve in The first place
Being aware that everything that could possibly happen happened to her somewhere in some life, kind of absolved her a little from decisions this was just the reality of the universal we function whatever was happening Could, she reasoned be put down to quantum physics. I think it is easy to imagine there are easier paths she said realizing something for the first time, but maybe there are no easy pass. There are just paths and one life I might be married in another. I might be working in a shop. I might’ve said yes to this cute guy who asked me out for coffee and another I might be researching glacier is in the arctic Circle, I might be an Olympic swimming champion who knows every second of every day we are entering a new universe. We spend so much time wishing our lives were different comparing ourselves to other people and other versions of ourselves when really most lives contain degrees of good and degrees of bad.
There are patterns to life… Rhythms it is so easy while trapped and just one life to imagine that times of sadness or tragedy, or failure or fear are result of that particular existence that it is a byproduct of living a certain way rather than simply living.
And that sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. You can’t have one without the other of course they come in different degrees and quantities, but there is no life where you can be in a state of sheer happiness forever, and imagining there is just breeds more unhappiness in the life your in
Compassion is the basis of morality
She learned that undoing her regrets was really away of making wishes come true she realize that she hadn’t tried to end her life because she was miserable, but because she had managed to convince herself that there was no way out of her misery that she supposed was the basis of depression as well as the difference between fear and despair. Fear was when you wandered into a seller and worried that the door would close shut the spare was when the door closed and locked behind you.
That means there are still as many possible lives out there for you as there ever were an infinite number in fact, you can never run out of possibilities, but you can run out of wanting them
You don’t have to understand life you just have to live it
We only know what we perceive everything we experience a is ultimately just our perception of it “it’s not what you look at that matters it’s what you see”
The terrifying power of caring deeply and being cared for deeply
There was a net of love to break her fall
They were all her she could’ve been all of those amazing things, and that wasn’t depressing as she had one thought not at all. It was inspiring because now she saw the kinds of things she could do when she put herself to work and that, actually, the life she had been living, had its own logic to it.
What sometimes feels like a trap is actually just a trick of the mind
She just needed potential and she was nothing if not potential she wondered why she had never seen it before
The one that could be a messy struggle, but it was her messy struggle, a beautiful, messy struggle
Life begins Sartre once wrote on the other side of Despair
But it is not the lives you regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself. It’s the regret that makes a shrivel, and whether and feel like our own and other peoples, worst enemy, we can’t tell if any of those other versions would’ve been better or worse. Those lives are happening. It is true, but you are happening as well and that is the happening we have to focus on.
That the prison wasn’t the place but the perspective
This biggest and most profound shift happen, not by becoming richer or more successful or more famous or by being a mid the glaciers and polar bears of Svalbard. It happened by waking up in the exact same bed in the same karate, damp apartment with its dilapidated sofa and yuca plant and tiny potted, cacti and bookshelves and untried yoga manuals…. and it was different because she no longer felt she was there simply to serve the dreams of other people. She no longer felt like she had to find self-fulfillment as some imaginary perfect daughter or sister or partner or wife or mother or employee or anything other than a human being, orbiting her her own purpose and answerable to her self.
The paradox of volcanoes that were symbols of destruction, but also life once the lava slows and cools it’s solidifies and then breaks down overtime to become soil, rich, fertile She wasn’t a black hole. She decided she was a volcano and like a volcano she couldn’t run her away from herself. She had to stay there and tend to the wasteland. She could plant a forest inside herself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
stormagedon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
happywedge's review against another edition
5.0
What a fantastic way to think about life & regrets. Loved this book!
adriii521's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
_eve24_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I listened to this as an audiobook and it was a good decision. I liked the lenght of the book, the pace and also the ending, how nicely it was done. The story jjst felt natural and it didn’t feel rushed, the change of Nora’s perspective was nicely fluent and not forced. I liked how the other lives were pictured and I really liked how all of Nora’s relationships just felt real and I understood her feeling quite well. Also the idea🤌