Review: The Midnight Library

 

I'm kind of planning to use a new template for the reviews again since this one is kind of getting old. Also, I reached my goal of reading a hundred books this year so yay to me!! I didn't think I could but I was reading a hell lot, but ADHD sometimes was a bitch that did prevent me from doing the stuff that I wanted and it was just simply irritating.

Nora Seed doesn't want to live anymore. She has no job, no friends, no life that she could lead properly. Her brother doesn't even want to talk to her anymore. The last straw for her is when her cat Voltaire passes away. But Nora doesn't die yet. Instead, she finds herself in this library with thousands and thousands of books, each with a different outcome of a life that she could have been in. She could choose to live in the life she wants to live in the most, only if she wants to, once again.

QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 3.8/5, THIS BOOK IS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD.

Possible Trigger Tags:

1. Mentions of suicide 

2. Mentions of drug abuse

3. Mentions of alcoholism

4. Self harm

5. Major character deaths

WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE  BOOK'S: 

1. Writing Quality: The writing quality isn't earth shattering, and neither is it so horrible I would chuck it against the wall. But it is quite hanging in between the spectrum because while the writing does get monotonous for a while, there are some places that really keeps you going. What I don't like is that how Nora continues to babble about multiple possibilities in every single life of hers. It gets boring, like seriously, move the fuck on. I do like the lives she lives in though, the insane amount of possibilities. And the writing does give you an unpredictable vibe, which is again, awesome.

2. Image/ Illustration Quality: The book is quite easy on the eyes in terms of illustrations and all because it describes the library like really well? And there are a few descriptions that are quite easy to imagine. Maybe because I've read like a hell lot of books so it might be easier for me to imagine? 

3. Character Development: The character development is a bit wonky to understand here, because Nora continues to live on in many different lives, where she is a different person entirely. So it's a bit difficult to understand her personality throughout the book. It is only through the root life and the scenes in the library that we do get any insight into Nora's character, even though it is not much. Though I would have liked to see more of it.

4. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 8/10. I would have finished this book sooner if I wasn't distracted by exams and all.

5. Intellectual Depth: I really quite enjoyed the lesson that was actually shown through this book. Not a lot of young adult books happen to do that unless they have like some really majorly angsty plot. Well, this book does begin on angst but it really doesn't continue on it. You could live a thousand different lives and it wouldn't be enough, or you wouldn't be happy with it. Infinite possibilities as to how you decided to choose a certain thing. One new life for one new possibility. And these lives are still connected so well that one change in a single could affect the other. And also it's not just understanding life, it's about living. Your life doesn't need to have all the elements in it to be perfect, there's always a chance to turn things around even when things seem at their worst. This made no sense whatsoever for the past few lines. Maybe the lesson is: you just need to live the life you're living, there's no use thinking about the possibilities that have already happened.

6. Plot: To say that there are multiple plots hidden in the same plot would be a very correct statement in this case. Because when Nora is actually living another life, it's like a new plot opens up and the book follows it. There are a lot of unfinished plot points though, but that doesn't matter because it's all part of the process in the book. And the unfolding of the final plot is really, very interesting and beautiful. There isn't much to go by in this point because the story is more character driven than plot driven, so yeah.

OVERALL, A NICE READ, it's a short book so you can finish it quick.