Did not finish. I wanted to keep reading, but the vivid depiction of depression and suicide was approached in a very raw way that made continuing impossible for someone with a similar past. I'm sure this will be a valuable book for others, but it could not be for me.

Profoundly unhappy, Nora decides to swallow pills and commit suicide. Between life and death she finds herself in a library. Every book in the library allows her to live a life where she made a different decision. Trying to find her perfect scenario, Nora drifts from life to life, experiencing and learning as she goes.

This was a really interesting book. I enjoyed the plot and the different lives that the author decided to highlight. At first, I found Nora to be a bit unlikable, but as the book progressed I enjoyed her more and more. I would definitely read more from this author.

First and foremost, I love books about libraries. Professional pride, I suppose. I have found as I have gotten older that I also enjoy books about alternative life choices. I've lived now, I have regrets. Maybe not regrets as big or plentiful as our main character here, but regrets all the same. Matt Haig has created a quietly, delightful novel about lives lived, regrets healed and appreciating the life you live.

I know I should have learned by now that any book with a "repeated chances at life" scenario will have a hard time pleasing me. They usually end up feeling contrived and unconvincing. Yet I keep trying them again and again. My own version of the "repeated chances" trope!

This book once more had an intriguing premise that did not fully deliver. The message was not fully embodied in well-realized characters with their own life, not just puppets of the author. While there were some good things to think about, I'm not sure this fictional form was the best way to communicate them, I believe I'll try Matt Haig's nonfiction books and see if I prefer him in that mode of writing.

This was a great and profound read. The author explored the idea of a multiverse in a very personal and introspective way. These are rather dark times and this book was a good reminder about how great life can. Although decisions can affect your life outcomes, regrets aren't worth your time. The main character was well drawn and it was interesting to see where the plot was going to go.

"Never underestimate the big importance of small things," Mrs. Elm said. "You must always remember that."

There are so many good quotes that I could pull from the book, but I think this one is a profound pinnacle of the storyline. Nora, a 35-year-old woman finds herself at a dead end in her life, and chooses to commit suicide. Instead of dying, though, she finds herself in the most magical, confusing library ever, each book representing a life she could have lived if one decision would have been made differently.

I thoroughly enjoyed the read, however it did get sluggish for me at parts. I will be looking forward to more of Haig's works.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking/Penguin Random House for early access to this title!

To talk about The Midnight Library, I have to talk about The Bell Jar. When I read The Bell Jar in a high school English class, I thought it was an enjoyable book. When I was diagnosed with clinical depression in college, The Bell Jar became my lifeline. The quote about the fig tree branching out with dying options—the refrain “I am, I am, I am.”—the book spoke to me in a deep and profound way.

The Midnight Library speaks to me in a very similar sort of way, but with more whimsy and a fabulist tilt., and I enjoyed every page of it.

The protagonist of The Midnight Library, Nora, wants to die. Her life has fallen to pieces around her. She’s lost her job, her friends, her parents, her fiancé, and even her cat. All she can see are the opportunities she missed and the regrets that she collected along the way. When she overdoses on wine and antidepressants, she gets her wish. She passes from her life of regrets into the Midnight Library.

In the Midnight Library, Nora has a chance to visit any of the other infinite lives that she wishes she had lived. She could be an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, a rock star, a wife, a teacher, a mother, or so much more. If she likes one of these alternate lives enough, she’ll get to stay there forever. If she still feels the same sense of regret and disappoint, then she transports back to the Midnight Library, and she gets to choose again.

The concept of this book feels at once both deeply familiar and profoundly new. We’ve all played the mental game of, “Where would I be if I had just...?” Matt Haig takes that concept and follows it through dozens of permutations, letting us live vicariously through Nora’s chance to try, try again. But the futures she thought she wanted are never quite as perfect as she expected. Nora needs to find the life where she truly belongs before the Midnight Library comes tumbling down around her.

This book is delicate and hopeful and so, so poignant in its exploration of mental illness and failure and regret. It has enough whimsy and humor to balance out the macabre plot. Most of all, this book feels magical. It’s not just magical in the supernatural elements of the plot, but magical in the way that it can make you believe in the power of hope and second chances. I highly recommend this to fans of Fredrik Backman, Robin Sloan, and Gail Honeyman.

A bit of "It's a Wonderful Life," but fun to think that we could explore the infinite lives we COULD HAVE lived. I always find little nuggets of wisdom when reading a Mat Haig book!

This story is compelling and hard to put down. The search Nora goes on through the Midnight Library helps her discover what really is important in life to her, not to someone else. It is a cerebral story, a philosophical story, a story that makes you look at yourself. It is not a character-driven story, even though it is Nora's journey that is the vehicle that is used to look at the possibility of parallel universes. It certainly made me rethink Thoreau (I disliked him in my college English class about that time period.)
I do not know to whom I would recommend this book. Probably people who like Kate Atkinson.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Nora is on the brink of death and she finds herself in the Midnight Library where she can choose from a multitude of life stories that she can experience. If Nora finds herself disappointed in that life she is whisked back to the library for another choice. This is a book with a unique premise where you spin the wheel of “what if?” Would you be happier with the husband and child you always wanted? What about that degree or job or boyfriend.? Perhaps these are other people’s dreams and truly not your own. This story left me reflective on my own life. Love the life we are given, savor its flavor, and that to be alive is extraordinary!

Add this to the list of gentle stories about The Road Not Taken. Nora finds herself caught between life and death (self-inflicted) and has the chance to see what other lives would look like based on her decisions and regrets. The Library is where she is able to choose the different versions of her life, an inventive plot device. Though the story itself fell a bit flat, the message was nice. Nora herself isn't fully fleshed out and some of her "lives" are a bit cliche. Still, the writing is engaging and the ending is hopeful.

This is the best book I’ve read this year. It’s thoughtful and mysterious and made me reflect on my decisions and how they have shaped my life. I enjoyed traveling to Nora’s many lives with her.

The Midnight Library gave an evocative portrayal of the effect the emotions can have on the physical and exactly how the will to live can affect a body's ability to live. The ability to follow the what ifs and to explore lives that could have been--this book is hope within pages.

It is hard to find words to describe how much I love this book. I've read Matt Haig's nonfiction books, and I must admit that I was a bit hesitant about this one, as the main character is considering suicide. I am SO glad that I decided to give it a chance, because once I started reading, I couldn't stop. As the author has struggled with anxiety and depression himself, his descriptions of how both of these things FEEL is absolutely accurate. This book is currently in the number one spot on the Sunday Times bestseller list, and it deserves to be there!
Thanks so much to Penguin Random House and netgalley for this free advance copy. I will definitely be recommending this title to our library patrons!

As quoted in the book by Sylvia Plath "Between life and death there is a library...every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived...." Nora decides she doesn't want to live the life she has and "tries" to commit suicide. On the other side is the library she will visit with her old friend Mrs. Elm. There she will "live" the many lives she could've lived and she soon finds out everything isn't what she thought it was. This book was a delight to read.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Enjoyable, but it seemed to me that the author telegraphed the gist of what would happen, making it a bit too predictable. Comparisons to "It's a Wonderful Life" are to be expected.

'm so glad that I got to read an early copy of this book as I think it will be worth recommending at my bookshop, which will also require some trigger warnings.

This book definitely comes from someone who has been depressed but keeps doing the work to live outside depression. As someone who has depression and anxiety I've come to hang on to the phrase "Depression is a liar," because the lens through which it makes you see the world often isn't remotely true, even though it feels so real, and I loved that through Nora we get to see that the things we may regret may have never made us any happier, and that only through living can we find the things that enough.

There's a moment when Nora realizes it's not true that there's "only a thin path to a happy life" and that it's often the small things in life that mean the most and make life worth living. When you're in the thick of depression it's hard to take that in, but there's a metamorphosis in this novel that I think could bring a degree of solace, if not hope, to those who need to see someone explore the paths not taken.

The entire time I was reading this story, I was reminded of something I read years ago- I can't remember if it was an actual study or just an analogy, but it was that if everyone wrote their biggest worries down and put them in a room, that when you went in the room, ostensibly to pick a worry out lesser than your own, that most people would still pick their own worry- whether that be because by comparison it was easier to bear than they thought, or because it's the one they know how to best navigate. This was sort of a fleshed out exploration of that.
Lovely writing, lovely scenes, but probably best for readers who no longer experience frequent suicidal ideation.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. I did not want to put it down! This is one of those books that makes you take stock of your own life. It was fun reading about Nora trying on all the different versions of herself that she could have been if she made different choices along the way. Her lives were all radically different that it made me think about how completely different my own life could have been if I chose a different career, or didn't make a big move, etc. It's a fun thought exercise. I highly recommend this book for people who liked Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

Sometimes you read a book at just the right moment in your life and this book was that for me. I absolutely loved it.

Nora is depressed and one thing after another has gone wrong until she is at the end of her rope. Living on her own after calling off her wedding, friends and family all dispersed and mostly angry with her, she is late on her rent and her cat has just died. When she finds herself in the Midnight Library with her schoolgirl librarian Mrs. Elm, her life takes a series of unexpected turns and she is able to see what her life might have been had she made different choices.

Weaving together physics, parallel universes, depression, redemption, life choices and the way to live a happy life, this book is packed full. The story line zips in and out of possibilities but is easy to follow and the character development is authentic.

I found this book so good that I intend to reread it very soon. I know there are details I missed in this rich and wonderful tale. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have read and enjoyed another book by Matt Haig and was excited for the opportunity to read his newest novel, The Midnight Library. I am also a sucker for anything about a library- its one of my happy places. I really liked this book. It was one that I didn't want to put down once I started reading, but then was sad to have it over when I reached the end. Great concept of this in-between place between life and death, the opportunity to try out other versions of your life in the hopes I finding the one you are most happy with. It was my second book in a row using the theory of Schrodinger's cat (just finished Picoult's The Book of Two Ways) and I loved the different approach in this one. I loved that her school librarian (my job right now) was her safe person to counsel and guide her on her journey. When she was given the opportunity to try different paths of her life, I found myself shouting in my mind which choice I wanted her to make next. "Go on the date", "Join the band!". It was so fun to experience each life version with her and to see what she learned and how she grew from each experience. Great read that was so fun and entertaining for me!