Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

43 reviews

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

"the world is full of stories but the stories are all one"—The straightforward way of narrating the story to introduce a lesson on why we live and what we live for, as if tracing the dots, you realize it all happened for a reason when you look back. The different angles; sacrifice, forgiveness, then unveiling it to find a purpose; that your life wasn't a waste, you made a difference. It was striking to put it with the backward format of the novel, which began from the ending. It makes you think about life in general, because all of your suppression, hatred, denial, and emotions reveal how you have been living your life.

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

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reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Five People You Meet in Heaven was not for me. 

Found it hard to sympathize with Eddie. I normally like characters that can be hard to root for, but Eddie didn’t fit the bill. The more people he met in heaven to explain his life, the more irritated I got with Eddie. His life goes against many of my own morals and maybe that’s why. I tried to keep an open mind and meet the books end to understand the character better but it didn’t happen.

The way this book makes you see the “good side” of abusive and shitty people is absolutely gross. What was especially out of touch was Ruby telling Eddie to forgive his father when she is a total stranger to him and his situation . His father was abusive and self righteous. This is one of the morals that contradict mine. Forgiveness isn’t necessary to move on.
Also Eddie’s mom was in the middle of being sexually assaulted and somehow his father ended up being the victim but also a good guy because he forgave the person who was doing it??
Like yeah I get message. People are complicated. However. there is absolutely a better way of showing that than what the author went with. 

The writing was simple. Nothing spectacular about it. It is interesting to read a piece of fiction by someone who primarily works in non-fiction. It really reads in the writing style. I do think this story could’ve been shorter and I’m glad it wasn’t longer.

Ending
was predictable and exactly what I thought it’d be. Does that make it bad? No. But it’s adds to the lack of memorability of this book.


I really wanted to like this book and I had expectations going into it. Maybe that contributed to my disappointment in it. 

Side note: I also did not appreciate how the little child was described at the end of the book and it turned my mood sour for it.

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challenging emotional 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: Complicated

cried throughout the whole book. a must read. (even if ur not into sad books me neither but this is like good-sad) 

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dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. I was quickly drawn into the story and easily could have read it in one sitting. It’s such and emotive story with just the right amount joy, sadness and longing. Highly recommended!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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