Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - مكتبة منتصف الليل

A fun and interesting concept of seeing your alternative lives, a read I'd recommend to everyone in their twenties!

In this story we follow Nora, who is approaching her 30s with a dead-end job, no money, no husband, no children, no friends. After a series of unfortunate events, she feels miserable and decides to take her own life. Just moment later, she finds herself in a magical library, between life and death. Only the books are not some random stories, but other versions of her life. Opening them reveals her what would happen if she kept swimming, if she stayed in that band, is she went out with that guy, if she moved to australia... Many lifes later she pretty much learns that the problem was in her attitude all along and now she feels full of potential insted of dread 🤷‍♀️
Even though i think Nora is an extremely relatable character to anyone feeling lost in life, and the story itself explored a very fun sci-fi concept, (and who doesn't enjoy a magical library!!) i don't think the ending resonated that much and i already don't remeber much of the story i finished 10 minutes ago. But that is just my personal opinion

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swalbert's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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cassiacow's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

This book has such an interesting premise - a Library where you can read all of your alternate lives.

I personally found the writing style a bit too 'simple' - much like Coelho's The Alchemist, it is clearly written as a self-help book under a superficial story. The philosophy that was discussed also didn't resonate with my particular brand of depression - but it was still interesting to read through the lens of someone with different struggles to me.

However, this was such an easy read and one that definitely could help someone reading it at the right time - if you are paralysed by regrets about your life, for example, this book is definitely worth a read. I read it at a time when I've been feeling very unsure about my future, at the recommendation of a friend - and I can see how it would help some people in that scenario, but I don't feel I got as much out of it as some people did.

Overall, really enjoyed this book! Definitely a quick easy one that anyone feeling a bit lost can try.

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marloesisalive's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

I loved this book, eventhough it is not my usual genre. It was a simple story, but it does make you think and reflect on your own life.

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francesca_scott's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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riverofhorton's review against another edition

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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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