Welcome to my September 2022 reads. Below, I give you my thoughts on these novels and how I rate them.

Please be aware, there are spoilers so if you haven’t read them yet, you might want to skip!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Yes, I know, I’m late to the trend. But for those of you who haven’t come across this piece of magic, I highly recommend reading it. I’ve personally struggled with severe depression and anxiety for many years and listening to the audiobook version of this it was like listening to my own thoughts and struggles and my brain’s interpretation of life events.

The novel focuses on Nora, who attempts to commit suicide after a series of events leave her jobless and losing contact with the only family member she still has, her brother. That night she takes a bottle of pills but instead of losing her life, she wakes up in The Mightnight Library.

This novel is beautifully written and encapsulates depression, self-reflection and finding peace in an unexpected way.

Verity by Colleen Hoover

It seems I’m becoming somewhat of a Colleen Hoover fanatic. As far as thrillers go, this isn’t what I would have associated with the thriller genre, it’s no ‘The Girl on the Train’ or ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.

But there are elements of that in this book so I understand why it’s been marketed that way.

I’ve heard other readers issues with this novel and some of the holes they’ve pointed out in the story and I completely understand those. However, I still found this to be a very strong novel and very interesting. Even those that have critiqued this have said it kept them engaged enough to read in one sitting. That, to me, is what shows me it’s a good novel.

I’m still not sure how I feel about Verity’s last letter. I don’t know whether I hate it or love it. Was it needed? I don’t know. I wish I could give more critique on this but I feel like every single person will have a different opinion on that ending.

Definitely worth a read.

The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

Whilst I adored this story, there was a huge part of it I just didn’t connect with and that was Zoe’s story until the very, very end. For most of the story I just hated when we left Josie’s world and came back to Zoe.

Of course, I understand why it was written this way and I don’t think it would have worked any other way, but I still can’t get over how much I just didn’t care about Zoe until I found out her ultimate truth right at the very end of the novel.

I did see the ending coming, the one that involved Josie, not Zoe, as it just felt like the story couldn’t have been left in any other way. Definitely worth a read though.

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

As a person who suffers with clinical depression, I knew going into this book there would be so many things I would relate to, and I did. However, depression is different for everybody, so of course, there were quite a few elements I didn’t personally connect with simply because that hadn’t been my experience.

The problem I found after I got half way through this was that it started to feel less like a story or personal retelling and felt like a chore to read at times, which surprised me considering the subject matter.

Maybe I had too many expectations, but after the first 50% of the book, it felt like the whole thing had been pieced together from various other mediums. It didn’t flow and there was a fundamental part the novel which felt problamtic.

I appreciate this book is Matt Haig’s personal experience and I think many of us can relate to the feelings he had, but for many of us still struggling, I can see why this would be triggering to some.

That problem is the unrecognised or unmentioned privilage Matt Haig was in at the time his severe depression struck. There are too many people in this world who don’t get to stay in bed all day or rely on others to keep a roof over their head because they have bills to pay and families to support. Many of us have no choice but to carry on amidst this mental torture. Matt Haig also explains how he never took any medication for his depression, he simply learned to live with it and eventually, grew to overcome the darkness.

That to me is very problamatic. The idea that you just need time and everything will be fine is not always true. So many of us need medical help to cope and reading a book like this can be triggering for those of us who feel powerless without some sort of aid like fluoxetine. For the most vulnerable of us, it can make us feel weak that we simply can’t “get over it”.

I also feel the title of the book never lives up to the message it brings. If you’re a person looking for answers about depression and life, don’t read this book. If you’re simply looking to read about somebody else’s personal experience, then yes, it’s interesting to hear somebody else’s experience.

Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander

This was an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking read. I don’t know what I was expecting based from the blurb, but I was just engrossed from the get go. The past and present storylines and how they coincided was magnificent and I felt truly connected to every character, even the seemingly more problamatic ones like Ruth’s dad.

I 100% recommend you read this novel. It gets the full 5 stars from me.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This one really did break my heart. It’s strange reading a love story that never even resulted in a single kiss but you feel it so deep in your soul.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is a fantastic writer and makes you care about so many characters in one book, understand everything from their own points of views and find it difficult to really condemn any one person.

The story is just life as real and impossible as it gets. When want, need and love don’t necessarily all mean the same thing. That to survive and be happy you may just have to walk away from the very thing you’ve wanted your entire life.

I’d highly recommend reading this novel as it works on so many levels and I think will resonate with many people.