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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Beautiful book. Lots of great quotes. The ending got a big long .. but it was beautiful.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
i went into this blindly, only vaguely understanding the concept of this book, and with only the vague opinions i've heard along the grapevine on both spectra of loving it and loathing it. i don't love it. i don't think i even like this, but i suppose i didn't hate it, and i can appreciate the quality of the writing that went into this. unfortunately, the characterization and storytelling fell unbelievably flat.
i love the concept of parallel universes, and the concept that you can step into another version of yourself where you made different choices. it's something that i know many of us obsess over in our daily lives, how we ruminate on our regrets, how our actions or inaction led us to where we are now in our lives. i have countless regrets, the lives of my family and myself having fallen into a place where i never would have been able to imagine them being 10 years ago. i regret not being more studious in college, i regret the time i spent slacking and wasting away when i should have been studying or going to class. i regret so many of the people i've met, most especially the abuser i dated for years who sucked the life out of me in college. so many regrets, things i can never take back or redo, but things i have to learn to live with.
this book teaches a powerful lesson in regret and how you can only work with the one life you've got. on one hand, there is something to be noted in how a change in outlook on life can affect the quality of your life. it's like having a new door opened that you didn't realize was there. i've suffered with clinical depression for over half my life. i've struggled with depression, bipolar disorder, adhd, and bpd for years. for many, many, many years i struggled with the seemingly endless abyssal void that which i couldn't seem to drag myself out of. i look back on the versions of myself from even two years ago and i'm unrecognizable. i still have bad days, sometimes, and it took a lot of work to get to where i am now.
now with that being said, i think it is insulting for the book to imply that just a change in your outlook on life can be the cure to crippling, debilitating depression so bad that you make an attempt on your life. on the other hand, i think it's not an in-depth critical analysis of the book or its contents and message if you simplify it to that alone. there is certainly more to this that i don't care to deep-dive into that other reviewers most likely have, so i won't. i think the issue is more so the vessel in which the messages are delivered and the method of storytelling.
like i said, the writing style is genuinely nice. there are many, many lines that are profound and beautifully written. the premise of the story and the story being told of depression, anxiety, isolation, feeling like you have no worth to this world and are only harming those in your near vicinity, is all so relatable. especially as someone with bpd, i could relate immensely to what nora was feeling. at the same time, it was baffling because nora was a wet blanket of a MC, and i tried to give her grace because when you're depressed so severely, you are a shell of yourself, with no love for life, little love for your interests. you're a pale version of yourself, hollowed out and absolutely no fun to be around. something of a mood-vampire, if you will. i understand that, because i've been that person. it's hard to be a happier version of yourself or find positivity in anything, or <i>be</i> someone who is fun to be around or enjoy as a person when you're so far down in a ditch without escape. i understand that, i really, really, do. so it made me wonder if the way nora was written was intentional.
but in that same vein, we're not given much of nora for the first quarter to first half of the book, except for being told how much her life really, really, really sucks and how badly she wants to die. it just didn't feel immersive for it being a story about nora and trying to empathize with her and her plight. i want to empathize with her so badly, especially with her existence being so painfully relatable that it made me sit there and reconsider the million regrets in my life. for a book that's as much about life and its regrets and the infinite possibilities of how life could turn out based on infinitesimal decisions and choices, this book starts out feeling so lifeless and disconnected from its core, like a soulless self-help book.
it gets better eventually, but the first half was a slog that made me drowsy whereas after about the 50% mark, i breezed through the rest of the book in less than two hours.
this book had a potential that i think was painfully missed. while we do see into nora's feelings, it just felt disconnected from her, like they weren't part of her. there was just no personality to the writing itself, i think. it wasn't gripping. it just felt like it was words filtering in my mind, and it made it hard to connect to nora. even in the later stages of the book, it still felt a little disconnected from the character. again, like a self-help book, and that nora was just the unwitting vessel dragging the message of the story along. when a writer lacks a distinct voice, the characterization and voice of the character suffers. the writing was genuinely nice to read for the most part, but something was just missing. it felt so soulless.
i was expecting to read something life-changing with how some people spoke about this book. i think this book leaned too far into the philosophical in trying to reach a level of profoundness that it just wasn't clicking. i don't know. it's not an awful book, but it's just not right.
i love the concept of parallel universes, and the concept that you can step into another version of yourself where you made different choices. it's something that i know many of us obsess over in our daily lives, how we ruminate on our regrets, how our actions or inaction led us to where we are now in our lives. i have countless regrets, the lives of my family and myself having fallen into a place where i never would have been able to imagine them being 10 years ago. i regret not being more studious in college, i regret the time i spent slacking and wasting away when i should have been studying or going to class. i regret so many of the people i've met, most especially the abuser i dated for years who sucked the life out of me in college. so many regrets, things i can never take back or redo, but things i have to learn to live with.
this book teaches a powerful lesson in regret and how you can only work with the one life you've got. on one hand, there is something to be noted in how a change in outlook on life can affect the quality of your life. it's like having a new door opened that you didn't realize was there. i've suffered with clinical depression for over half my life. i've struggled with depression, bipolar disorder, adhd, and bpd for years. for many, many, many years i struggled with the seemingly endless abyssal void that which i couldn't seem to drag myself out of. i look back on the versions of myself from even two years ago and i'm unrecognizable. i still have bad days, sometimes, and it took a lot of work to get to where i am now.
now with that being said, i think it is insulting for the book to imply that just a change in your outlook on life can be the cure to crippling, debilitating depression so bad that you make an attempt on your life. on the other hand, i think it's not an in-depth critical analysis of the book or its contents and message if you simplify it to that alone. there is certainly more to this that i don't care to deep-dive into that other reviewers most likely have, so i won't. i think the issue is more so the vessel in which the messages are delivered and the method of storytelling.
like i said, the writing style is genuinely nice. there are many, many lines that are profound and beautifully written. the premise of the story and the story being told of depression, anxiety, isolation, feeling like you have no worth to this world and are only harming those in your near vicinity, is all so relatable. especially as someone with bpd, i could relate immensely to what nora was feeling. at the same time, it was baffling because nora was a wet blanket of a MC, and i tried to give her grace because when you're depressed so severely, you are a shell of yourself, with no love for life, little love for your interests. you're a pale version of yourself, hollowed out and absolutely no fun to be around. something of a mood-vampire, if you will. i understand that, because i've been that person. it's hard to be a happier version of yourself or find positivity in anything, or <i>be</i> someone who is fun to be around or enjoy as a person when you're so far down in a ditch without escape. i understand that, i really, really, do. so it made me wonder if the way nora was written was intentional.
but in that same vein, we're not given much of nora for the first quarter to first half of the book, except for being told how much her life really, really, really sucks and how badly she wants to die. it just didn't feel immersive for it being a story about nora and trying to empathize with her and her plight. i want to empathize with her so badly, especially with her existence being so painfully relatable that it made me sit there and reconsider the million regrets in my life. for a book that's as much about life and its regrets and the infinite possibilities of how life could turn out based on infinitesimal decisions and choices, this book starts out feeling so lifeless and disconnected from its core, like a soulless self-help book.
it gets better eventually, but the first half was a slog that made me drowsy whereas after about the 50% mark, i breezed through the rest of the book in less than two hours.
this book had a potential that i think was painfully missed. while we do see into nora's feelings, it just felt disconnected from her, like they weren't part of her. there was just no personality to the writing itself, i think. it wasn't gripping. it just felt like it was words filtering in my mind, and it made it hard to connect to nora. even in the later stages of the book, it still felt a little disconnected from the character. again, like a self-help book, and that nora was just the unwitting vessel dragging the message of the story along. when a writer lacks a distinct voice, the characterization and voice of the character suffers. the writing was genuinely nice to read for the most part, but something was just missing. it felt so soulless.
i was expecting to read something life-changing with how some people spoke about this book. i think this book leaned too far into the philosophical in trying to reach a level of profoundness that it just wasn't clicking. i don't know. it's not an awful book, but it's just not right.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like this book was too overhyped for me and made it more disappointing to read because of it. It took me a while to complete as it was pleasant enough to read when actually reading but did not have a strong pull to pick back up when not. There's this vague feeling of detachment/apathy I got from this book and others (like Normal People) that I'm just not a fan of.