Posts tagged: contemporary books

Needless to say, this book has its trigger warnings with the main theme of it being suicide. And I know that opinions on this book’s themes become very diverse. I won’t comment on the suicide themes as I have been lucky enough to not be in a position where I face these thoughts and I have not yet been diagnosed with any mental disabilities. I cannot comment on how well this novel depicts suicide, or not, and I don’t intend to.

I’m just here to talk about the story and its message.

Nora finds herself in a place between space and time after she commits suicide. She walks into a library filled with books that represent alternate versions of her life, lives where she makes changes big and small and her entire way of living changes. Any one of these lives could be a new life for Nora to choose. But to pick between them all becomes a challenge as she discovers lives where she is still depressed, where more of her loved ones die or where she realises her childhood dreams have equal nightmares. Nora wonders why she can’t find the life right for her, or if one even exists for her out there.

The language sold me like nothing else. That was the highlight of this novel for me – the writing style and the way everything was described throughout. There was a lot of artistry in each chapter that made so many paintings in my mind out of prose. I could imagine each of Nora’s stories vividly with the words put before me, making each of them so enthralling to read. And wow, there was so much.

Nora’s character felt very everyman and was easy to relate to. It is very universal to wonder what you are going to do with your life at any age, and Nora’s was taken to an extreme. It was easy to relate to aspects of her for me with her many interests and the struggle throughout this story to find one to truly put your heart and soul into in the hopes that it will be fulfilling. I loved to explore these different facets and passions of Nora.

Above all else, this novel made me change my thinking. Novels that do this instantly gain an high reputation in my eyes. Since reading this book I have put the novel’s message forth into my own day to day actions and it has offered a grand perspective on my own life henceforth. For the right people, this novel can leave you feeling hopeful and can give you your agency for your life back in spite of the struggles to try and work out what we want out of it.

The Midnight Library gets a score of 5/5. A book that changes the way I think with such prose deserves this.

Guys. This a problem.

This book is so good but nobody can get it anymore. It is discontinued to the point where it’s existence as far as the internet is aware is a myth. It’s time to bust.

When Gemma returns home from school to see her sister packing her bags with a bruise on her face, she instantly knows she has to accompany Brianna. With stolen money from their mum’s boyfriend, the two of them fly across the Tasman to Australia in an attempt to find their father they haven’t seen in eight years. But he’s difficult to find. The two go across cities and the entire country in a bid to find him all whilst learning about the true dreams of each other, themselves and their families along the way.

I didn’t realise how mature this story would be. I literally forgot everything about this book and rereading it was a literal experience to fall in love with it again. For the record, I read this when I was 12. Before I knew what mental health was. Before I understood things like domestic violence and PTSD – which I should mention are triggers. I love it when authors understand the maturity that preteens hold and delve into like nothing. And in my unprofessional opinion it was well done.

The characters were absolutely beautiful. It wasn’t just our pre-teen protagonist Gemma that held the arcs and maturity that stole the show. No, this was a heist! A team of characters stealing my heart each with their roles and masteries. From the older sister with her heart in the wrong place but not quite her head to the hot goth she meets along the way and every big and little person in between. What a cast!

I loved how artistic the descriptions were. Very appropriate considering the art training of our main character Gemma, who turned everything into a landscape… even the landscapes (sorry, I just had to put it in there). Such interpretations wouldn’t make sense any other way, Brassi got the style of this book on lock. I wonder if they had artistic prowess themselves to be able to think and describe this way or if it just came out of a writer’s brain. Regardless, it charmed me.

The coming of age was amazing within the events of this book. I have yet to have read a book (that I can remember) that does this plotline with such finesse. It’s a typical trope for young adult fiction, but can you get tired of it when it turned so mature as Gemma both gained and let go of mature thinking? This can go up there with the classics.

But I’m upset. Because as much as I gush over this book, you’re gonna have to fight to find it. And I want you to. Just don’t steal my copy.

Paperchase gets a score of 5/5. Find this book somewhere. I dare you.