Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

237 reviews

biblionam's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

This was a super interesting concept, but I just did not connect with Nora or any of the other characters... On that note, the other characters weren't the most three-dimensional, though partially due to the fact that they did not know about their other selves in the way that Nora did, but I thought this made it really difficult to feel anything when things happened to them... I wish some of the messages were less in-your-face too. I found myself being skeptical that Nora, who studied philosophy (!), had not thought all that deeply about some of the things the librarian had to spell out for her... It seemed strange at times that she didn't understand certain things... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

strawberrytheauthor's review

dark hopeful reflective tense 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

4.0

I hate when the ending of a book is so good it bumps its star rating up one. The ending was so good but the rest of the book was kind of bland and slow. 

I put every possible content warning I saw the minor ones were pretty much just mentioned by the word and same with a few of the moderate ones but they repeated a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Mental illness, and Animal death

Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Cancer

kat1105's review

adventurous 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: Death, Alcohol, Cancer, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Vomit, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Abandonment

maddyredfield_'s review

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Addiction, and Alcohol

blackheart's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

3.0

I thought this book was fine. A bit predictable and a touch preachy. Otherwise, it was a fun perspective on live and the constant wonder of "what if". 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Stalking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

hanamany's review

inspiring reflective fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Alcohol, Vomit, and Alcoholism

mcnjh93's review

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

4.0

"Life begins", Sartre once wrote, "on the other side of despair"

I started reading looking for something new after a long while of reading out of obligation, and I didn't expect this experience, to be honest. 
At first, when I started reading, I was immersed in a sadness similar to Nora's. I have also struggled with similar feelings and it made me genuinely sad to the point in which I did not want to go to sleep until I read some sort of happy-ish thought that would allow me to stop reading. 
Nevertheless, if you are able to push through these feelings, I assure you that things get better. 

Spoiler

As Nora starts dealing with her regrets, I felt like I was sort of dealing with mine too. I don't know, I felt so close to her mind that this made a sort of self-help book for me. The reader gets to see how she is evolving step by step, recovering her will to live, and realizing that in life, we choose choices, not outcomes. And to be honest, at the end of the day this is a pretty calming idea

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

hlureh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is a true inspiration to be grateful for what one has. A delicate versatile story about dreams and life itself. I listened to the German audiobook read by Annette Frier last year and found it even more intriguing than reading the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Stalking, and Alcoholism

justovereherereading's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

3.75

This book was interesting, I found the beginning really sad, but I loved how it set the scene for the rest of the book. The idea of the Midnight Library is kind fun and scary at the same time…left me wondering what other lives I could be living! 😆 
An enjoyable read overall. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, and Medical trauma

Minor: Vomit and Terminal illness

meg_elyse's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Chronic illness, Vomit, Infidelity, Sexism, and Stalking