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jnmoody's review against another edition
4.25
Minor: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
wyldereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Beware, multiple trigger warnings.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
chels984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Drug abuse
ryyzap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
pianokeys's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
jzpaul's review against another edition
4.5
So many good quotes but my favorites/ones I found the deepest:
"I was thinking of doing a half marathon but then I remembered I hate running"
"Nora had a familiar sense of grief, only the sertraline stopped her crying"
"So what are you feeling?" "Like I still want to die, I have wanted to die for quite a while. I have carefully calculated that the pain of me living...is greater than the pain anyone else will feel if I were to die"
"Want...is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack then the original want disappears entirely. Maybe you have a lack problem rather than a want problem"
"Sometimes regrets aren't based on facts at all, sometimes regrets are just a... Load of bullshit"
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
eejanke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Minor: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
haileyhardcover's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
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Oooh we’re gonna get honest and dark with this review, folks… buckle up or back out now!
I’ve been suicidal (always passively, and sometimes actively) since I was 6-years-old. That’s not a typo. I can very clearly remember sitting in my childhood bedroom, legs dangling off of the edge of my red bunk bed, and thinking “I’m going to kill myself.” I’ve managed to trick myself into staying alive for the last 30 years, but I can’t say it’s been easy and I’ve made a lot of choices I wish I could take back - closed a lot of doors I wish I had walked through, run through others that I should have slammed shut. In the really dark moments the thing I regret most is not just ending things when I was 6 or 16 or 26. A whole book of regrets.
The concept of The Midnight Library really appealed to me. On the edge of death, Nora is given the opportunity to address her greatest regrets and sample the lives she could have had if she’d made different choices, in the hopes of find one where she could be happy - one where she would want to keep living. Spoiler Alert:
Maybe it’s wrong for me to hate the optimistic ending, but I do. If an anti-suicide message was the goal (and of course it was, because who is out here writing pro-suicide novels?) I truly would’ve preferred the gut punch ending of Nora realizing her root life was the best one for her and still dying anyway. A “learn from this character’s mistake” kind of approach. You made your death bed, now die in it.
Disappointing ending aside, it’s not a bad book, but it’s not great either. I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters, it’s difficult to stay grounded in a story that’s primarily spent jumping between different lives, and there were plot points that were just fully abandoned (like Hugo and the other “sliders”… why even bother with that?) but it’s an enjoyable enough concept, easy to binge, and most of the chapters are very short, which I love. I doubt I would pick this book up again, but it was a decent way to occupy my brain for a couple of days.
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Animal death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Car accident, Drug abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
ivyhelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
adventurebound7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse