Cover Image: The Night of Many Endings

The Night of Many Endings

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Member Reviews

Story on how addictions can affect more than just the user. Young librarian spends her life helping the less unfortunate with hopes wherever her drug addict brother is , someone is doning the same. Then a blizzard that strands 5 people in her library who have nothing in common and they leaen we are all connected in some way.
Loved the characters, they both warmed and broke my heart all at the same time. The plot was engaging and well-written, holding my intrest.
4 stars

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An intense read, however the detailing of characters and plot lines make it a must read book. There are some dark times in the book but nevertheless a book I couldn’t put down.

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In one sentence: When a winter storm hits the small town of Silver Ridge, a group of strangers take refuge in the library.

I love stories about books and libraries, and I was excited to read this one! I ended up having trouble with the subject matter - while the book is marketed as a feel good story, most of it is quite depressing. In one book, you have each of the following: an overdose, a diabetic coma, a graphic description of suicidal ideation, and an accident destroying part of the library. Everything just felt too over the top and emotional for me to really connect to the plot or the characters. The book did redeem itself a bit at the end, but it's not a story I'd recommend and I didn't find it heartwarming.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Oh, how I loved this.

Tender, thought-provoking, and heart-wrenching, yet filled with an immense amount of hope and love, THE NIGHT OF MANY ENDINGS is an incredibly emotionally-rich story about a collection of lonely hearts who take shelter together in a library during a winter storm. The time they spend together, and their individual ensuing discoveries about life, love, perspective, had me gripped from beginning to end. Five bright, shiny stars!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

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I read this in two settings and was intrigued throughout. Loved the detailing of characters and plotlines and would recommend this to everyone looking for an intense read!

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A story of unlikely friendships and self forgiveness. A Winter snowstorm strands Nora, Marlene, Lewis, Vlado, and Jasmine at the library overnight. Each person is hurting and lonely. A drug overdose, diabetic shock, and frigid temps make the reader wonder if they will al make it through the night. A cast of wonderful characters that the reader will hurt for and hope for happy endings.

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When a snowstorm strands five people in a library, each of them is struggling in different ways. Nora, the librarian has spent her life trying to help her brother. But what she wants might not be what he needs. She is the main character, but we also have chapters from Lewis and Marlene's perspectives, as well as hearing from Jasmine and Vlado. They wind up sharing their stories, and they are all carrying heavy loads.
When the power fails and they have nothing to hold onto but each other, they start to see themselves and each other in different ways. At times, there was just so much pain and sorrow in one small room, that I almost wished that one other person had been there, one with a more positive life. As time passed, the tone did become more hopeful, and perhaps something good will come out of their long and cold time together.

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The premise of this book is so good. Four people, acquaintances and strangers caught in a library during a major snowstorm. unfortunately the promise of the premise is not bourn out in the book. I had three main problems - the characters are two dimensional stereotypes, Nora is completely unlikable and Melissa Payne has no understanding of addiction or drug use. (Seriously, someone snorts heroin, outside during a storm. And you need a flat surface and pure heroin to do that. And most habitual users inject or smoke it.) What really bugged me was the idea that addiction is a lack of willpower. "Not even the threat of death seemed to be enough to make him change". THATS NOT HOW IT WORKS!
Nora gives up all her dreams for a brother who has vanished into addiction, and there is no reason for this. A mobile phone and / or an email address would cover it. She's a bad friend and a really boring character. .
It pains me to say so, but I DNFd this. I realised I didn't case if she got a happy ended or got hit by a car.
Oh well, onwards to other books.

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This book was exactly what I expected - a great example of relationships, both close-knit and distant. While much of the book revolved around Nora and her relationship with her brother, the highlights were the relationships she had with acquaintances and strangers, and how those evolved so quickly and deeply over the course of such a short amount of time. Much of the book was fairly predictable (the characters and their issues that created dysfunctional relationships with each other that they had to overcome), but what I didn't expect were the little flashes of "Did I just read that right?" moments that took me completely by surprise. Cranky Marlene was probably my favorite of the main characters, followed closely by Jasmine. There were a lot of heavy, depressing themes that ran throughout the story, but it still left me with a "feel good" perspective about the depth of good in people that you find when you take the time to really look for it.

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Loved it. Nora, Lewis, Jasmine, Vlado and Marlene were destined to be in the library together during the snow storm. They were exactly what each other needed. Marlene made it difficult to like her throughout most of the book. She was one tough lady with an unfiltered mouth. She would say whatever came into her head even if it was hurtful. By the end of the book, I loved Marlene, even with all her sass. Vlado was the sweetest guy, even if Marlene kept accusing him of trying to steal cars buried under a ton of snow. Lewis definitely changed Jasmine's life. If it wasn't for him, things would have been tragic. The night in the library helped them all out in a way, even Nora. I hated how Nora partly blamed herself for Mario's addiction. I was surprised how everything turned out with her brother. I thought it would be different.

Definitely recommend the book. I felt like I was there in the library (without being freezing) getting to know each of them. The library would be the perfect place to be stranded with so many books at my fingertips, as long as there was power to actually read the books. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Have you ever been trapped in a public place during a storm?

The Night of Many Endings
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Any book that involves being stuck in a library is basically my dream 😂, so when I saw I was accepted to review this new novel by Melissa Payne, I was excited!

Several lost souls find themselves stranded at the local library, and end up leaving with answers to living that they didn’t know they were searching for.

A homeless man struggling with addiction, a young girl mourning her mother, a relentless do-gooder librarian, persnickety old bitty and a quiet security guard are unlikely friends, but find themselves leaning on each other when times get tough.

On paper, this seems like it’d be a heartwarming novel in the spirit of Frederick Backman or Cecilia Ahern; but it was way too raw and depressing for me. The slow burn from ‘sad and depressing’ to ‘somewhat hopeful’ took too long. I nearly gave up from my disdain for some of the characters and then it finally picked up speed halfway.

Disclaimer: this is not my usual genre so I would still give this book a go if you are a fan of this writer’s other novels (or this type of story in general).

Happy Sunday, guys! What did y’all do today? We took our boys fishing for the first time! 🤗

Thank you to @netgalley & Lake Union Publishers for this #arc & early copy for honest review!

Pub Date: Oct. 19!

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This book is about five people caught in a library overnight due to a snowstorm. Each one has their own issues and seem to bond with each other throughout the night. The characters are likable and I found myself rooting for all of them. Not the kind of book that I usually read but I found it enjoyable.
Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this arc for my honest opinion.

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I feel like this is a strange one to review; there wasn't anything wrong with it as such, I just feel it wasn't for me. It was very slow and I felt by the end there wasn't much point, I ended up skimming about 100 pages in the middle as it just kept going on and on about nothing. I'm sure someone somewhere will like this book but it just wasn't for me.

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An incredibly beautiful, heartwarming story with lovable characters from many walks of life who have all experienced different life experiences and tragedies. Watching them together and learn from one another and help each other heal can teach us all about the human heart and soul as well as what we can be capable of as humans. Rarely do books bring tears to my eyes and at the end this one did. Happy tears. Loved it immensely. ❤️

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An incredibly beautiful, heartwarming story with lovable characters from many walks of life who have all experienced different life experiences and tragedies. Watching them together and learn from one another and help each other heal can teach us all about the human heart and soul as well as what we can be capable of as humans. Rarely do books bring tears to my eyes and at the end this one did. Happy tears. Loved it immensely. ❤️

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This was a book filled with a lot of big issues for a book around 300 pages. It was an enjoyable, slow read for me and I liked the character development which I thought was strong.
During a snowstorm one night in Colorado we meet 5 strangers - Nora the help everyone librarian, Marlene, a feisty widow, Vlado the book loving security guard, Lewis and elderly homeless man and Jasmine a secretive teenager.
As the night unfolds we learn more about them and their lives, resulting in a strong narrative and I felt my views of them changing throughout the book. I liked it being set in a library and the setting bringing these people together was very pleasing.
There is a lot covered in this book, homelessness, loneliness, death, depression and addiction but it made for an emotional read and one which I enjoyed.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a gifted copy in return for an honest review.

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If you had to be locked in a building during a snowstorm, where would you pick?

Obviously first choice is Target. It is always Target. I mean, I will never go to a Target without thinking of that movie Career Opportunities which highlighted how you can live in a Target for weeks. Months. But runner up for me would be a library so I would not get bored.

The Night of Many Endings is about a group of people holed up in a library in a small town during a snow storm. Each person has their own issues and the time together during the storm is a chance for reflection and redemption. Get ready for a book that will give all the feels. A bit similar to Last Chance Library with the pull of the library bringing together an unlikely cadre of friends, this book differs in that it deals with some incredibly heavy topics of grief, loss, addiction, homelessness and PTSD. But each issue is handled beautifully, in a raw and realistic way that evokes deep emotions and leads to personal growth. There is so much love and friendship and resilience and strength in this book that you can’t help but fall in love with these characters. My heart may not recover for awhile after reading this one.

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This was super thought provoking novel!
It didn’t quite hit it out of the park for me. I couldn’t connect with Nora and I honestly thought this would get me in the feels more than it did.
It is a well written novel, and I think many people will enjoy

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The Night of Many Endings
By Melissa Payne
Lake Union Publishing, 19 October 2021

Nora Martinez was obsessed with her brother. This was apparent right away and her obsession took up much of the first third of the book. While her brother battled drug addiction, Nora worked in a public library.

The book blurb describes Nora as openhearted when, in fact, she was quite the opposite. She had put her life and friendships on hold and spent most of her time worrying about her brother. This left her with little emotion to share with anyone else. She was kind and caring, but not open.

That changed with the blizzard. After becoming trapped in the library with a teenager, a handsome young man, and a couple of unpleasant characters, the book starts to get interesting. We lean why the more grizzled characters are so unpleasant and Nora finally begins to open up to other people and, eventually, a life that isn’t focused on her brother.

I had a difficult time getting interested in this book at first, but once the characters started opening up and connecting with each other, the story was much more interesting. The library became a shelter for Nora and the others and it was interesting to learn what motivated each of them to behave the way the did, how they treated themselves, and how they treated others.

This book isn’t perfect, but I did come to enjoy it and I liked watching the characters as they began to change and find hope for a second chance at life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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The night of many endings is a story of 5 very different persons who are trapped in a library during a very bad snowstorm. They end up exposing their true selves, their deeper feelings of loneliness, unworthiness, lack of capacity to fulfill their dreams, living their lives through others, misjudging people because of preconceived ideas. The whole story is a plot to make each individual find their way through life, fight their demons, and start living in full what their potential allows them to do. Most importantly, they learn that if they stick together they will be stronger, that friendship if nurtured, helps to spread good feelings and help cure the bad ones. There is plenty of material for thought.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

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