Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

29 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

esv_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lizbeththesimp's review against another edition

reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

daisymoffit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

An intriguing and well executed novel, The Midnight Library solidifies itself as a book I know I'll often think back to. A lovely combo of captivating fiction and inspiring, motivational fuel. I love a book that leaves me wanting to get up and do something after I finish it. Would recommend to anyone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chelle22's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This book was completely unexpected for me. Going into it, I knew nothing but what the blurb says and that it is/was quite popular on BookTok. What I definitely did not expect was to read this in one sitting. It does have a couple of slight issues that had me wondering what the editor was doing, but those instances thankfully don't impact on the story itself. Apart from those minor issues, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read and will be returning to it again in the future. It has an intriguing premise at its heart which I haven't personally encountered before, and provided a fascinating way to gain perspective on life. Indeed, at several points, I found myself wondering if the library is actually real, in the context of some of my own experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

pianokeys's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

Boring, awful take on mental health

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

emsavors's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

alixsbooktherapy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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? No

5.0

Would you have done anything different if you had The chance to undo your regrets?
I'm sobbing now I finished this book it was another good book by Matt haig and definitely  one I'll be talking about for a very long time.
Huge flirting with nora was so cute

"The sex turned out to be disappointing"
"You are just a Mechanism"
This book is sooo good
This book made me fall in love with the charcters and felt the stories I would recommend  this to everyone  I know  especially  if you don't believe  you should be here, you are loved and I'm glad you are alive.
I'm so glad joe got sober and he became the person he needed to be😭

This book was so inspiring and hit me hard unfortunately  I know how nora felt throughout This book, and some of the topics hit home for me, the best advice I can give any reader is please take care of yourself  after reading this there is plenty of heavy topics

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment