Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

113 reviews

mrsmonstargh's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

More than a 3 (it's a book and i read it) but less than a 4 (a book i would consider reading again and/ or definitely recommend others read)

At this point in my life, i appreciated the message

It was narrated very slowly - even at a higher speed, the narrator spoke at a natural speed. Whilst it matched the tone of the book, this may not suit everyone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Medical content, Death of parent, Mental illness, Vomit, Addiction, Self harm, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Drug abuse

gabriella_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

i like the fantasy/sci-fi world building and framework for this book, it has a lot of potential. but the actual prose and character writing left more to be desired. i was not engaged with the protagonist at all. the writing was very dry (but picks up later on).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Animal death, Medical content, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

calamitywithinsanity's review

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

I really wanted to like this book. I think it started off strong, but it goes downhill from there. Matt Haig uses deliberate structure to drive to the main plot of the story, however, once the story is actually in motion, it falls flat. I related a lot to the main character, Nora, in the beginning, but I found the repeating plot device of choosing different life paths to be annoying after the fourth or fifth time. Nora's character development felt a bit "on the nose" at times and I predicted the ending as soon as she stepped into the library. The supporting characters felt flat and two-dimensional, even across every parallel universe.

Haig earns an additional quarter-star for using the word "ceilidh", but overall, The Midnight Library earns a solid "meh" for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Medical content, Dementia, Homophobia, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Chronic illness

_james_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

3.75

Anyone who calls this book "fun" and "humorous" has never suffered depression in my opinion. Or I just didn't understand the humor in this. Nothing in this book screamed fun and humor to me. I liked the book tho. But it was painful, dark and a really really powerful punch to the face for the first half. Because this hit me hard. I barely made it to the part where the hopeful and uplifting theme begins to shine through and I haven't had a depressive phase in almost 8 years. I liked the ending even if it was very predictable. It also feels kinda preachy at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Death, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Vomit, Drug use, Self harm, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide attempt, and Medical content

Moderate: Cursing, Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Car accident and Homophobia

alliejm00's review

dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Vomit

Minor: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

gaillypoo's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

There was no warning about the self harm and that would have been an easy and helpful thing to add

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Mental illness, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Car accident, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit, Addiction, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, and Medical content

saliwali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

I made it 30 minutes into this book last spring and stopped because, trigger warning,

it starts with suicide because someone is losing everything and I was afraid it would push me over the edge.

But the last category on my 2023 reading challenge is "a book you started but didn't finish," So I gave it a another shot this week. I wish so much that I had made it to minute 36 last spring, which is oddly the whole point of this unbelievably beautiful and hopeful book. Spoiler alert: she thrives.

ash_bees's review

reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Where there are books, there is always a temptation to open them."

Reminiscent of the movie "It's A Wonderful Life," except instead of only experiencing one alternative, the protagonist experiences many.  It does get a bit preachy, but so did "It's A Wonderful Life."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

croquetadepapa's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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

4.75

the one by taylor swift if it was a book

i persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Cancer, Addiction, Animal death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Suicide