Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

122 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-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

3.0

‼️TW: Suicide/ SI
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Oooh we’re gonna get honest and dark with this review, folks… buckle up or back out now! 

I’ve been suicidal (always passively, and sometimes actively) since I was 6-years-old. That’s not a typo. I can very clearly remember sitting in my childhood bedroom, legs dangling off of the edge of my red bunk bed, and thinking “I’m going to kill myself.” I’ve managed to trick myself into staying alive for the last 30 years, but I can’t say it’s been easy and I’ve made a lot of choices I wish I could take back - closed a lot of doors I wish I had walked through, run through others that I should have slammed shut. In the really dark moments the thing I regret most is not just ending things when I was 6 or 16 or 26. A whole book of regrets.

The concept of The Midnight Library really appealed to me. On the edge of death, Nora is given the opportunity to address her greatest regrets and sample the lives she could have had if she’d made different choices, in the hopes of find one where she could be happy - one where she would want to keep living. Spoiler Alert:

She learns that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and that there is still time to save herself and make positive changes in her real (“root”) life.

Must be nice. 

Maybe it’s wrong for me to hate the optimistic ending, but I do. If an anti-suicide message was the goal (and of course it was, because who is out here writing pro-suicide novels?) I truly would’ve preferred the gut punch ending of Nora realizing her root life was the best one for her and still dying anyway. A “learn from this character’s mistake” kind of approach. You made your death bed, now die in it. 

Disappointing ending aside, it’s not a bad book, but it’s not great either. I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters, it’s difficult to stay grounded in a story that’s primarily spent jumping between different lives, and there were plot points that were just fully abandoned (like Hugo and the other “sliders”… why even bother with that?) but it’s an enjoyable enough concept, easy to binge, and most of the chapters are very short, which I love. I doubt I would pick this book up again, but it was a decent way to occupy my brain for a couple of days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Car accident, Drug abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

xaaamyy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcoholism

Taught a real life lesson which was really beautiful!

peasandpancakes's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

I love the idea of the midnight library, a library that contains your infinite possibilities at life. It is interesting to think who you would be as a person if you made a different choice earlier in life. 

But… there we have Nora. Someone I could sort of relate to or at least feel for in the beginning, feeling lost and lonely and sad. Unfortunately she is also as dense as they come and needs a thousand in your face, super clear, spelled out lessons about life to get it.

Finally when she gets the perfect life, she realises her actions had consequences (gasp) and influenced other people’s lives. So she leaves her new found happiness to go back to her root life where she immediately gets everything she wanted and is now super happy and cured from depression! Which is totally how that works and not at all hurtful for people who are going through depression, “just change your outlook on life people” (hope you can pick up the sarcasm).

Also, if you do not wish to read a self-help inspirational type book, don’t read this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident, Stalking, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Medical content

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

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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

campirebat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Stalking

b_easelbub's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Stalking

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

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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

junekay's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Very good.very predictable, but very good. Worth staying up way too late and finish in one sitting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident, Stalking, Death of parent, and Animal death

emsavors's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Death, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Grief, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Dementia, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Stalking, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

laurenmaria422's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.25

I can understand why the book is divisive. It is quite linear, moving smoothly along despite the complex nature of the setting, but for me, fiction is often an escape from some of the complexity of life that can be overwhelming. Others have criticized the book as a heavy-handed attempt at being a self-help book in disguise. I didn't quite see it as that. The book certainly doesn't have all the answers - mindfulness and gratitude are great and being proactive and trying to have a positive outlook are all good things to do, but they certainly don't solve clinical depression or being poor alone.

That said, the book still resonated with me. I don't think the point is "Suddenly Nora was cured of depression." I don't think that was meant to be the message, or at least that's not what I took away from it. As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD at 26, my life has been full of both excitement and paralysis at how many possibilities there are. Wanting to do everything and feeling I need to be as good as I possibly can to make up for the lost years. Feeling regret over dropping out of engineering in university, turning down the offer to go to one of the best math and science high schools and wondering if I'd maybe have gotten into MIT and become an engineer had I done that, even though my life would have turned out different. Regret at friendships I lost. It's easy to drown in self-pity. 

I appreciated the message of the book, however simplistic. It's a good reminder to slow down, be kind to others, and stop to really look at things, and to have hope, even when things really suck (and they do, often). I've been depressed before and I've had suicidal thoughts before, and sometimes these thoughts come up again, even years after I finally got out of the despair I was in. The only way to get out of that pit was to live. To engage with the world despite the fact that I felt like I didn't know how to live, and eventually I was able to feel something other than numbness. It's not some instant transformation over night and I still struggle with needing to do everything and be everything. We don't get to live a million lives instantly and change overnight like Nora, but I saw myself in Nora. Not really knowing what I wanted. Avoiding opportunities. Letting life happen to me instead of being decisive and present. It's not a perfect book, but it's one that will stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Vomit, Stalking, and Drug abuse