Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

249 reviews

saliwali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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,

it starts with suicide because someone is losing everything and I was afraid it would push me over the edge.

But the last category on my 2023 reading challenge is "a book you started but didn't finish," So I gave it a another shot this week. I wish so much that I had made it to minute 36 last spring, which is oddly the whole point of this unbelievably beautiful and hopeful book. Spoiler alert: she thrives.

ash_bees's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

"Where there are books, there is always a temptation to open them."

Reminiscent of the movie "It's A Wonderful Life," except instead of only experiencing one alternative, the protagonist experiences many.  It does get a bit preachy, but so did "It's A Wonderful Life."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

thimi_time's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This is such a poignant book! The themes explored are explored in such a way that is just…beautiful. And the underlying message is so inspiring. Though this isn’t exactly my style of book, I didn’t have the moment of “oh, I love this book”, it was an amazing read, and I will definitely be recommending it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Self harm, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, and Infidelity

anovelglimpse's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I am late to the party with The Midnight Library. I've seen reviews of it in a lot of places since it was released, but I had kind of forgotten about it until recently. I started listening to it without having read the blurb to remind me what it was about, so I basically went in blind. I don't think I would have been prepared for this book even if I had read the blurb because it's a much heavier book than I get from it.

The Midnight Library is the story of Nora Seed. Nora has been through several traumatic events and decides she doesn't want to live anymore. Her choice has her arriving at the Midnight Library to reflect upon her regrets and find out what might have happened had she made different choices. With each life she tries on, she learns new things about herself and the choices she made in her life.

The despair and depression Nora felt was all encompassing. I understood how she got to where she was in life, but I still hoped things would turn around for her. All of her different lives were really interesting. I loved the insights into her choices and the outcomes. I also loved how philosophy and quotes from philosophers were woven in. The progression of this story was really cool and special. The emotional impact was huge. Haig is a talented writer and storyteller. This may have been my first book by Haig, but it certainly won't be my last.

CW: Suicide

You can find this review and others like it at A Novel Glimpse . 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Addiction

jg34's review against another edition

hopeful 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

3.75

Mixed reviews of this left me with weird expectations but I think I liked this! Some of the first trips Nora took were kind of weird to me and it did get a bit boring at time but I really enjoyed the ending.

I thought it was odd that people had to die in her other lives, like if she went to Australia her friend would die?? I mean I guess not everything had to have a deep meaning. The whole message seems to be appreciate what you have and I can see that being a tired topic but it worked for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Alcohol

croquetadepapa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.75

the one by taylor swift if it was a book

i persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Cancer, Addiction, Animal death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Suicide

grace_cr1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

reginacattus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A lesson in finding hope within despair, and also embracing the many worlds theory in physics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Minor: Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Homophobia, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Cancer

lesliesorensen's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Mental illness, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Self harm, and Vomit

hannah_mariee's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Addiction, Grief, Animal death, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Car accident