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emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death
Moderate: Animal death
I just couldn’t get into it. The beginning seemed like it was going to be really interesting until you find out that aliens are a huge part of the story. I would have had no problem with that being a huge part if there was depth to it. It was just a lot of explanation of inner monologues and then some animal cruelty started happening and I just had to stop.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Minor: Suicide
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Minor: Infidelity
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief
adventurous
hopeful
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:
Yes
It was quite hard to rate this book. I was very excited to hear that Matt Haig was coming out with another book. He is one of my favourite authors, and I knew that this book was very meaningful to him personally. It read a little bit like a self help book, with a lot of very obvious advice that seemed to be coming from Haig himself. It reminded me a bit of his book "Reasons to stay alive" which I tried to read years ago but sadly was a DNF for me.
The dislikes
The dislikes
- The magic in this book is veryyy out there. Definitely moreso than all his other fictions (which all have a fantastical theme to it.) But it was maybe a little too muc for me with the extra terrestrial life, portals to other dimensions, magical seawater. It wasn’t solid enough for me... and too heavy on the "we are all one, we are the Earth, the moment is us."
- The pacing varied a lot! It was quite slow going at the start, then really picked up, and then the end finished so quick, managing to pick up $80k and 20k in protestors in one night.
- The emotional lesson of this story didn't hit me like The Midnight library did. However, I think this would hit hard for another person, someone who has experienced more grief, self hatred, self sabotage, and guilt.
- I did like the formatting of his as some sort of letter / manipulating. But, I do think it was too straight forward when talking to "Maurice"/the reader. It really did feel like a direct self help and fiction mix, which I didn't enjoy.
- The premise is that one student, down on his luck: depressed, struggling financially, writes a letter to his former teacher- asking for help. Matt Haig being a advocate for therapu, I thought therapy would be such a major point. In an interview, he said when he wrote "reasons to stay alive," a non fiction about his story of overcoming one major period of depression, he treated it almost as a memoir and wanted to give advice and hope. But obviously, as all of us who struggle with mental health know, mental illness doesn't go away. After the midnight library, he "mentally retired from writing," but revisting Ibiza, realised he had a story to tell about coming back into the world, and places where we were at our lowest, and living with the bad we lived through/did. But... never once was therapy mentioned.
The loves
- Matt Haig has an amazing way of really making the character's voice real. It really did feel like a 70-year-old was telling a story, with all sorts of little side notes and thoughts getting away from the main message, which did add to the story
Alberto's death hit me hard at the end, and I did cry. It was really beautifully written.- There were quite a few lovely jokes that made me laugh out loud. I loved the scene where she turns on the radio, it's really loud and annoying, she wonders if this is the "21 savage" the little boy on the plane was talking about, and turns it off. It was very straight forward and dry and i loved it.
- There was a lot of themes of "Chiaroscuro" - your perspective of the light can depend on the dark. Matt Haig talked about how you can't pretend the bad didn't happen, it will always be a part of you, and it has put you where you are in life and has given you all the great things too. Maybe I am too young for this, but I do think sometimes shitty things happen, and they mean nothing more than that. But I do appreciate that you can take the bad and compare it to the good, to see how far you've come.
- I learnt a lot about Ibiza. I always thought it was just a party island, but it was very interesting to see all the different parts of it, and the importance of the habitat there.
Overall, I think it wasn’t the time for me to read it. It was a bit too hippie dippy for me. But I did enjoy reading it, and I am excited to see him at Manchesters book festival!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Animal death, Death
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
This enlightened eco-mystery is set in Ibiza and stars a retired math teacher on an inspiring adventure about healing, feeling, self-forgiveness, and a transformative love for the natural world. While this didn’t speak to me personally like The Midnight Library did, it won me over in the end. I really appreciate Matt Haig’s distinctive voice and his earnestness about mental health, so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity
Minor: Medical content, Death of parent