Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

22 reviews

birdieex's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Suicide, Death of parent, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Medical content, Cancer, and Homophobia

Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

ank3's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Homophobia, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Vomit, Addiction, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty

blackorchids's review

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

This book was surprisingly triggering, but the ending made it worth it. A complicated read for anyone who has a complicated relationship with the “what-if”s of life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Self harm, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

The entire book takes place after the main character tries to take her own life, so it’s a prevalent theme throughout.

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).

---

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

avacronin's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

If you have any interest in Philosophy, you may be familiar with the question; "What happens after we die?". As someone who has often pondered that exact question, I thoroughly enjoyed the perspective The Midnight Library shined on the matter.

This book imagines that between life and death there is a library, as it appears for Nora, that allows you the opportunity to try a life that you could have lived, if you had made a different decision in the past. It allows you to undo your regrets of a missed choice, however good or bad it could have turned out. As somebody who has been interested in The String Theory and the theory of parallel universes, I thought this book provided a interesting view on how this could appear.

The Pros
- I found this book both interesting and easy to read. The chapters are fairly short, and none of the story line was dragged out unnecessarily. Because the story was changing often with the changing of lives, it never felt boring and the book had my full attention throughout its entirety.

- Matt Haig expertly deals with the topic of regret in a way that doesn't feel forced or fake. Through Nora, he shows that life can be full of regrets, which ultimately can lead to life becoming a task, rather than something to enjoy (possible trigger warning). However, through the library, he conveys the message that not all regrets should be lingered on, as you can never accurately predict how your life will turn out.
"But it is not lives we regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself."

The Cons
- The only con that springs to mind is that I wish some of the lives lasted longer. I understand that some had to be longer than others in order to avoid losing interest or becoming too repetitive, however, I would have liked for some of Nora's lives to have been able to develop more and have more of an impact.

This book is truly a pleasant read. It does feature some possibly sensitive topics, however I felt these are all dealt with in a proper way. Overall, The Midnight Library was insightful and had great impact, and has inspired many philosophical thoughts about the afterlife in my mind. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Suicide

nick13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book had a really good premise and the beginning was fantastic, but the rest of the book didn't really hook me in after the compilation bit. It just felt...I don't know I guess lost? And the resolution to the mystery of what was happening to the library was so obvious and boring. I don't know, this book had such a cool premise and I'm just left really disappointed. Overall, great prose, okay story, great characters. 3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy

toriffic's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Vomit

connie29's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Cursing

roouija's review

slow-paced

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

2.75

Incredibly mid tier and offers a bland take on mental health issues (that it insists is revolutionary). 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Pregnancy, Death, Car accident, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

celestialg's review against another edition

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

Listen - this book cured my depression. 
Okay so that’s a joke, but honestly, anyone who has dealt with depression, suicidal ideation, or even just complete failure and despair will resonate with this story. Despite the topic, the book made me feel quite hopeful and grateful for my life. I see it as a novel length thought experiment about the “what if’s” in our lives we may ruminate on. 
Ultimately I don’t often dole out 5 star reviews. Only the books that change my life get those. Please read this book, if you’re in a place to do so. Anyone and everyone could benefit from its themes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Self harm, Medical content, Animal death, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Body shaming, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Cancer, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Vomit

CW for self injury and self harm, as well as suicidal thoughts and ideation. These topics are central to the story, not a passing plot point, so those sensitive to these topics should use their discretion.