Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

125 reviews

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

"Between life and death, there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices...Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"

I was hesitant to pick this up at first, and here's why: this author wrote a summer reading book that I read in 10th grade and loathed. LOATHED. However...color me surprised.

This book was beautiful and exactly what I needed right now; a story about letting go of your regrets to get to the bits of life that make it all worth it.It is beautifully written and reminds me a lot of a movie that I liked in my teenage years, "the butterfly effect." The concept isn't exact but it gave me the same vibes. This story hurts and heals all at once. Watching this main character reach a breaking point that she almost can't come back from and then seeing where it all ended up filled me with so much hope. I don't read a lot of sci fi, but this was so satisfying that I genuinely forgot that it technically falls under that genre. Something that made me sad was how much I could relate to Nora, and how she is probably the most relatable character I've read this year. Having admitted that on the internet makes me think that I should call my therapist. I think I will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

madmilliner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

This book is the hug and the cuppa that I desperately needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

marcostorin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• 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

5.0

I literally cried of happiness when I finished this book. It's exactly what I needed in my life right now, and at least for a couple of days I don't feel as lost as I did before I read it. If you feel like your life is filled with missed chances, read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

emreadz's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mashleys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a hard book for me to review, purely because while I enjoyed it, I don't feel any love or affection towards this book and I don't really anticipate reading it again, nor is it something that I will be recommending to others as it is an interesting story and fairly well written but I could have lived my life not reading it and I wouldn't be sad or disappointed for doing so.

With that being said, I think this is a very good exploration of mental health and suicidality without delving too far into philosophy or existentialism. I think the premise of multiple lives being lived as a riff on quantum physics is definitely an interesting one, but I have no idea how scientifically accurate it is so I don't know if Matt Haig is to credit for that.

I did enjoy how Haig included writing about the little things that you do but fail to realize that those actions can greatly impact the life of someone else. It's certainly an interesting story that's well-executed, I just don't know if it really is for me or that I will be reading it again. Do be forewarned that this book can be very triggering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Medical content, and Car accident

carolinasbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• 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

“There is no rejection, there is only redirection”

I think this concept would have worked equally well as a nonfiction self-help book as it did in fiction. The concept is exceptional but I didn’t *love* the execution. 

Mrs Elm’s character was super interesting despite the reader not really knowing anything about her. I don’t know, I just found her very comforting somehow.

I think people should specify that this book is fundamentally about suicide before recommending it to other people because it could actually be quite triggering.

Either way, great concept, strong message, I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

chicksstarr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

They say a reader lives a thousand lives and reading this book alone made me feel like I already have. I'd say this was a predictable ending in the best way possible but instead I'll use a quote from the book itself

"This wasn't, she realised, the predictable ending. This was the unpredictable beginning. An overture of unknowability."

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

creepypiespice's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

scarletthazeldine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

I think this is the first book to ever make me cry. it has given me a whole new feeling of hope and positive outlook on life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Dementia, Car accident, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

libbyb's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, and Car accident