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caitlins_bookshelf's Reviews (434)
sooo this fantastic book follows Nora Seed, a 35 year old lady, deeply unhappy with her life. she is lonely and depressed, regretting a number of things she did or didn't do, and takes her own life at the start of the book. and then she finds herself in the midst of an infinite library, filled with books containing the multitudes of different lives she could have lived had any of the decisions she made in her life been different. it was interesting to think about all these potential lives, as though I have often dwelled on how certain choices have led me to where I am now, I rarely stop to think of the alternate lives I could be living - how different they might be. this book made me think of those other lives, and made me grateful for the one I have.
I found the start left me feeling sorta funny, as I massively worry about not achieving much with my life, and this was essentially the reality Nora was living with. but it became a joyous story filled with some rather profound sentiments that I hope will stick with me. it talked of not dwelling too much on past regrets, looking towards the future and what you can make of it. it talked of the huge potential every life has, and how it's never too late to make something of it.
I found this book to be a glorious story of love and kindness and hope. not only is it a fascinating concept but it was, in my opinion, extremely well executed. it had fantastic character development and was also beautifully written. I'm definitely a little tempted to go back through and annotate it as there were sooo many fantastic quotes!
okay gush over I think, can you tell I loved this book?! I've seen some mixed reviews but I absolutely could not recommend this more!
I found the start left me feeling sorta funny, as I massively worry about not achieving much with my life, and this was essentially the reality Nora was living with. but it became a joyous story filled with some rather profound sentiments that I hope will stick with me. it talked of not dwelling too much on past regrets, looking towards the future and what you can make of it. it talked of the huge potential every life has, and how it's never too late to make something of it.
I found this book to be a glorious story of love and kindness and hope. not only is it a fascinating concept but it was, in my opinion, extremely well executed. it had fantastic character development and was also beautifully written. I'm definitely a little tempted to go back through and annotate it as there were sooo many fantastic quotes!
okay gush over I think, can you tell I loved this book?! I've seen some mixed reviews but I absolutely could not recommend this more!
so I was aware before I started the book that it was written in interview format so that wasn't a shock, but what did surprise me was just how well it worked! I think maybe half way through I kinda thought that I couldn't imagine the story being told in the traditional way. it felt special and very personal to be getting all of the characters thoughts and opinions in such an honest fashion. I liked the contradictions that arose when multiple people discussed the same event. it was funny and realistic and made me smile. the format certainly wouldn't have worked for any old story, but in this case I felt it just helped bring all the characters to life. they felt so real and tangible that it was hard to remember that I was reading fiction. I found myself longing for the band to be real, if only I could listen to the songs I had learnt so much about. I longed to experience the 70s and the intoxicating atmospheres Taylor Jenkins Reid described so magically.
there was so much depth in there, all the smaller problems the individual band members faced, interwoven with the fate of the band as a whole, and it was wonderful. I won't lie, the ending did break my heart a little, even if I knew from the start how the story would end. my heart ached for everyone in different ways, especially after I'd got to know them all so well. it was beautiful and entrancing, yet also very real and I might need a little while just to get over and take in what I read.
there was so much depth in there, all the smaller problems the individual band members faced, interwoven with the fate of the band as a whole, and it was wonderful. I won't lie, the ending did break my heart a little, even if I knew from the start how the story would end. my heart ached for everyone in different ways, especially after I'd got to know them all so well. it was beautiful and entrancing, yet also very real and I might need a little while just to get over and take in what I read.
