Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

7 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The plot of The Midnight Library is best described as It’s a Wonderful Life meets Quantum Leap with a dash of Back to the Future, and Matt Haig expertly melds and melts the various tropes found within these three pieces of media into his own unique narrative. I have great familiarity with all three pieces of media, and I was pleased to find that Haig does not rely on prior knowledge in order to enjoy his work. In fact, I found the Easter eggs quite delightful!

I also found it refreshing to read a narrative from the perspective of a female main character written by a man that felt like a real human woman could do or say the things he was describing. I really resonated with Nora’s struggle to find her place and purpose in this crazy, mixed up world we find ourselves in, a world which seemingly gets more crazy and more mixed up as time goes on.

I felt both seen and supported as Nora—sometimes harshly, sometimes gently—learns what she values, what she needs, what she wants, what she has to offer, and, most  importantly, what she is worth, simply by being a human who exists and not what she can do or be for others.

In terms of technical writing aspects though, I feel that 95% of the book has clear, concise writing, which thankfully doesn’t sacrifice either sentimentality or periods of reflection that required for a narrative centered around depression and mental health recovery. The last few chapters seem a little bit shaky in terms of wrapping things up, but I also think this can be chalked up to Nora being on unsure footing as she enters a new phase of her life.

All in all, an excellent book that really hits close to home in the best possible ways. I definitely almost cried a few times. I can see why this book received so much good press when it first came out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit

kayabaj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

senseioftheinternet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

cle1862's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse

quirkyhelma's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

Ok… so this was an interesting book. It was definitely a rollercoaster. You had a really important message about mental health. There would be potential to not only use the midlife crisis kinda thing, but you kinda have to use one kind of story. 
The writing was amazing like actually so great. I literally tabed  so many pages. I am not sure if I am going to read it again.  I kinda had a problem relating to the characters. They didn’t speak to me. It was not really inclusive as well. I don’t know if it lives up to the hype but it’s still good

The quiet made her realise how much noise there was elsewhere in the world. Here, noise had a meaning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

5am's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Self harm, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, and Homophobia

ameliabedelia22's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

This book reminds me of The Five People You Meet in Heaven and It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s ok, but not really my kind of book. I knew how it was going to end from pretty much the second chapter, and I found the plot to be really predictable. I also feel like it in some ways downplays the impact of mental illness, suicide, and depression, in that

Nora decides after experimenting with a lot of different lives that she really does want to live after all, is able to wake herself up from her overdose, and suddenly just gets over her depression, and everyone reconciles with her, and she just decides to be happy. I don’t think real life is ever that simple, and I don’t think depression suddenly becomes manageable just because you choose to be happy. I don’t like when books use suicide as a plot device.

Overall, it just wasn’t the right book for me. It wasn’t what I was looking for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent