Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Midnight Library

The more i think absout it, the more I dislike this book. It's literally just "It's A Wonderful Life" but with all the nuance and anti-capitalism stripped away.

This book is obstensibly about finding a purpose and seeing the good things in life, but it's literally just "oh you see none of the bad things that happened were actually YOUR FAULT and you are unfair to blame yourself for them" I would have been fine if this was the result of one or two of the anecdotes but this was the message of LITERALLY ALL of them. There's no nuance here and our main character barely has a personality.

The writer of this book has clearly actually experienced depression, which makes this worse and proves that Own Voices isn't inherently superior. (I'm depressed too so don't come at me, I know what I'm talking about.) This writer has also definitely never experienced any actual money problems- the protagonist's vague thought at the end of the book, after being so desperately broke that they couldn't afford an uber, was "oh, I'll find some money somewhere tomorrow and buy that nice old man flowers." This line alone would have prompted a one star review. JUST FIND SOME MONEY??? JUST FIND SOME MONEY?????

Also yes turning your cat outdoors DOES actually make you a bad cat owner. hate this book, the more you think about it the more it falls apart.

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sarananas's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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sunberry's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book found me at the right place and the right time. The depression depicted is real and powerful and makes you reflect on life and what could be. Inspiring, well written, powerful. This book made me feel "I want to live, not just survive" at a time of change and uncertainty in my life, and I am so grateful for that. Loved it to pieces and will 100% be buying my own copy after borrowing from the library.

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ging090803's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Really good book. I read it in a sitting. It was so original. At some point, her near-sighted view of life got a little bit tiring but when she started to see what life is meant to be, it got interesting again.
I loved how she could experience so many lives and see all the possibilities. It was a great reminder for the reader and it was not only big choices, it was all the choices she could have made in her life. She saw how it could change, or not, her life as she know it. The Book of Regret was a great representation of us, all humans.

I love how she met someone like her too, trapped "in-between". However, I did hope to have more of him, why he was trapped, how he could help her, maybe a sort of a relationship? I don't know but the author could have exploited this character more.

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