During 2021 I read what felt like hundreds of great reviews for The Midnight Library but yet somehow I kept forgetting to pick it up. But once I did have it on my bookshelf I cheekily pushed it to the top of my TBR list because I couldn’t wait any longer. After reading great review after great review I went in with very high expectations and thankfully I wasn’t let down in the slightest.
The Midnight Library focuses around a woman named Nora who has decided her time on earth is over. However, at the stroke of midnight on her last night on earth she is transported to a library. This isn’t any ordinary library, each book contains a different version of Nora’s life. All the parallel life's she may have lived if only she made a different choice, went down a different path in life or simply didn’t do something she regretted. Nora is given the chance to undo her regrets and live the wonderful and happy life's she had always dreamed about, or at least that is what she believes. Is actually all rainbows and sunshine?
I took this book everywhere with me, from my work desk to the bath and everywhere in between, because I just couldn’t put it down! The chapters are short so it was far to easy to just continue reading as one more chapter felt like nothing, and this made me fall down the rabbit hole of never putting it down.
I loved Nora and felt strangely connected with her and could sympathies with her struggles. Life sucks sometimes and I’ve always wondered what my life would be life if I went down a different path or didn’t do a certain thing. But I think thats the beauty of life and this book, you will always be filled with the ‘what ifs’ but that should never take away from enjoying what you have now, in the present.
The Midnight Library raises a very good question, if we could undo any regret and live a different life would it really make us as happy as we think? Solving one problem just leads to creating more, and unfortunately life will forever continue in this circle no matter what we do.
Matt Haig has created a brilliant, thought provoking and surprisingly light-hearted book that will leave you questioning your own life choices. Simply a master piece that everyone should read, at least once!
This book was nothing short of life-changing for me. As someone who has had a truly challenging relationship with depression (and suicidal tendencies as well), it was monumental to read a book that took those elements of life and rewrote them into something meaningful and beautiful. I learned so much while I was reading and have continued to turn back to the book time and again for comfort. In fact, all of Matt Haig's books provide that sense of comfort for me. If you haven't had the opportunity to read anything else by him yet, I strongly suggest The Comfort Book, which really pairs well with The Midnight Library as far as encouragement goes! I'm glad you enjoyed reading this novel!
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