Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

1369 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a fantastic read. It’s a perfect life affirming dramedy that tiptoes in the fantastical. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Sexual content

There’s themes of generational suicide tendencies and alcoholism/drug abuse.

kamxix's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

emmmex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.5

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide attempt

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

loopenbumble's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident and Grief

bookstore_plantlover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

estherk809's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

What is a life for, if not to live? This book certainly shows a new perspective and embodies the notion of “a new lease on life”. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Animal cruelty

coleanne's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Stalking

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders

belava's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, and Death of parent

tessamariee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! I did feel like it could get repetitive, and sometimes fell flat, but I think the meaning behind it is very impactful. I finished the book in one day and left it feeling good and hopeful. There is an air of selfishness around the entire story, with Nora and her life choices. The philosophical basis was meaningful but not too overbearing. The beginning was rough, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I found myself identifying with Nora, in a sense, regarding regrets and “what if’s”. Along with the feeling of being stuck and guilty. Her self destructive behavior and “life fright.” However, reading the process it took for Nora to find herself was comforting in a way. We are nothing but endless potential. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Self harm