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alixsbooktherapy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I'm sobbing now I finished this book it was another good book by Matt haig and definitely one I'll be talking about for a very long time.
Huge flirting with nora was so cute
"The sex turned out to be disappointing"
"You are just a Mechanism"
This book is sooo good
This book made me fall in love with the charcters and felt the stories I would recommend this to everyone I know especially if you don't believe you should be here, you are loved and I'm glad you are alive.
I'm so glad joe got sober and he became the person he needed to be😭
This book was so inspiring and hit me hard unfortunately I know how nora felt throughout This book, and some of the topics hit home for me, the best advice I can give any reader is please take care of yourself after reading this there is plenty of heavy topics
Graphic: Terminal illness, Vomit, Car accident, Dementia, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Cancer, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness
keenanmaree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Infidelity, Animal death, Cancer, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse
gabriella_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Animal death, Medical content, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism
kenzibir's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
alliejm00's review against another edition
- 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
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
acidicgoddess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
At the end of the day, concerning lower reviews on this book, I think the target audience is for “those who get it, get it”. I’ve had people come up to me and say “your life cannot be that bad” — it really was. It felt like every new day inspired a new problem, and that’s why I found the beginning of the book so relatable. Especially when the mc compares herself to a black hole.
If you’re debating on reading this just because someone says it’s deep and that’s all, feel free to give the book a read but I highly doubt it’ll have the same impact on you than those of us who have lived the mc’s life.
And yes, while the ending is unrealistic, it’s still fiction. Books are supposed to make us feel better, not remind us of the hell we’re still living. Not even the mechanics of the library are realistic, so don’t read into it. :p
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Self harm
milesss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
if you think the premise of explorng alternate realities sounds interesting i'd recommend my real children by jo walton
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide, Self harm, Abandonment, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Cancer
gaillypoo's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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,sparrowhearted's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Would recommend it if I know the person I'm recommending it to would already be interested in that sort of story, but I'm not sure I'd claim it's a must-read in general.
- Protagonist Nora's experiences do shape her in relatively believable ways for most of the part since they work with what's already present in her, rather than provoke a complete 180. Her development sometimes feels a little heavy-handed, but never downright forced. This might be a personal problem but I'm still not sure, however, if by the end of the story I had a proper sense for who Nora is?
A lot of her personality traits felt relatable but in a way she read a bit like a horoscope, hitting a lot of points that felt like she was developed in a way that was supposed to make her relatable to the widest audience possible. The fact that we never witness much of the alternate Noras' personalities only made that more glaring to me.
- The book is fairly fast-paced once you get into the eponymous Midnight Library and my short attention span appreciated that, but it also meant that a lot of things were shown on a surface level.
-The more I think about it, the more I think my biggest gripe is how the fast pace takes some of the impact of its story? In many cases I didn't feel like I stayed long enough with the events to feel much more than what the book was telling me to, and I'm not sure I liked that.
- The cast is, from what I can tell, largely white but there is some diversity in regards to social backgrounds and sexuality. That being said, none of these marginalized identities are examined much and as such, it feels like all of these factors are more passing matters rather than important aspects of the characters and story.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Will not comment on original's writing style, since I read a translation and don't have anything to compare it to. The translation had a good flow, felt natural and wasn't complicated to read.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism and Emotional abuse