Ya know, i absolutely adore Matt Haig and have read several of his books. This one just didn't hit me right. It felt so wildly predictable. I'm surprised this is the book to go bestseller. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty good, but not great to me.

I struggled with this one. I felt it was too predictable and did not finish it. I know many people enjoyed it. Sometimes I simply don't connect with a book.

Really unique story that would make a wonderful film or series. I liked the speculative/time travel elements.

This book changed my life. It made me think and was so inspiring! Loved Nora and these words. MUST READ

Overall

I’ve only ever read one other Matt Haig book, which was How to Stop Time, and I enjoyed it. Know what I enjoy even more, though? Following Matt Haig on Twitter. Seriously, do it. You’ll thank yourself later. Probably the best decision you’ll ever make on social media. Haig talks a lot about mental health and self-care on Twitter, as he does in many of his books, so I sort of had an idea of what to expect going in.

The Midnight Library is the story of a young woman who believes she wants to die when, really, she’s just looking for a reason to live. With gorgeous prose, it’s a sometimes heartbreaking, emotional read that has an uplifting, hopeful note.

As he does with his other book, Matt Haig takes the reader hostage, tortures their emotions, and then lets them walk away somehow feeling lighter, with a warm buzzing in their heart-space. I’m not sure how the heck he does it. I suspect blood sacrifices may be involved. If you can get through the dark content at the beginning, though, Haig’s novel is a raw portrayal of the struggle that goes along with mental health.

My Thoughts

- Nora’s plight will instantly be recognizable for anyone who has struggled with mental health. Her life isn’t terrible. Not on the surface, at least. Not that depression particularly cares about that, does it? For anyone who hasn’t suffered from depression, it may be hard to get through the early chapters without being annoyed at Nora, because nothing in particular is wrong with her life. Nothing is particularly right with it, either, and it’s a series of not particularly right events that really set this book in motion.

Nora is such an everyperson that it’s really easy for the reader to put themselves in her shoes, because she’s not particularly unique. And in this context, I mean that as a good thing. Just like Nora, most people have childhood dreams and aspirations that fall by the wayside. They carry around guilt over choices they’ve made or paths they’ve taken or maybe didn’t take. Even though Nora’s circumstances may be different to a reader’s, it’s really easy for a reader to see how Nora ends up where she is, especially someone who’s struggled with depression themselves.

I think that ability to relate is what makes this narrative so darn powerful, because hold on tight, dear readers. The roller coaster is just beginning. Arms and legs in the ride at all times, please.

- “Between life and death there is a library” — this is the line that stole my attention right away in the blurb of this book, and this is still the line that plays through my head every time I think about it. It’s such a powerful, evocative sentence, while still being so simple and unassuming, isn’t it? I mean, also, it’s kind of the bookwyrm’s dream, right? Heck yes to libraries! Can I just live in this weird purgatory forever? (The answer’s technically no, but you’ll have to read the book to find out why.)

The one constant in Nora’s story is her return to this library, which houses all her life stories. Every single one. Each time she made a decision in life, another book was added to the library to represent the infinite ways her life could have turned out. As you can imagine, there are a lot of them, and you get to experience some of them through the book, which is more fun than it might seem. Each life is very different, but Nora learns something new from all of them. I enjoyed seeing how one little altered choice lead to such a vastly different life for her. It really makes you wonder about your own choices and how things could be different … though not always different for the better.

- Through Nora’s journey, the reader is forced to reflect on their own life and assumptions. My favorite thing is that in the library there exists a book of regrets, things Nora assumes she would change and do differently, if only given the chance. Buuut … it’s not quite as it seems. Sometimes regrets aren’t actually changeable. There are certain inevitabilities in life, as Nora learns the hard way. Sometimes regrets are just a matter of perspective.

What I love most about the way Nora’s arc unfolds is that the reader gets to experience some of this healing with her. As her assumptions are challenged, so are the readers’. This is a book that doesn’t just tell a story but invites the reader to journey with the character, and I loved that about it. There were so many things to ponder and feel that I was just emotionally exhausted by the end, but in a good way.

- There isn’t a lot of action in this plot. It’s a very character-driven story, which can be good and bad. There were times when it was very slow, and then there were times, especially toward the last quarter or so, where it felt like too many things were skipped and it raced forward at breakneck speed after having meandered for so long. Still, even though I tend to be pulled toward more plot-driven books, I found the journey really enjoyable.

There are no major plot twists in this book. You can probably correctly predict most of the course of this novel, including the conclusion going in. The real art of this book, though, isn’t in shocking the reader with plot revelations, rather emotional revelations. Sometimes what a soul needs is a bit of quiet introspection with a solid, uplifting conclusion, and this book provides that.

While I was meh on How to Stop Time, this was unputdownable. Haig writes authentically and movingly of depression here, but ultimately this is a book about hope and potential and the importance of seemingly throwaway decisions. I was close to tears by the end of this.

This is an updated version of "It's a Wonderful Life" in my opinion, but changed a little to be more like a It's a wonderful multiverse. I can see the appeal for some in this book, but it fell a little flat for me compared to other books that I have read this year.

I read this book for a Book Club and thought the premise was interesting. I enjoyed the first part of the book and read it quickly, the second part bored me to tears and took me a painfully long time to finish. The ending was like reading an inspirational poster in your guidance counselor's office with a kitten hanging on a bar. Nora Seed is having a rough day. I felt like the author over did it with all the things that wrong in her life to justify the action she takes. Now she is existing between life and death and in the library where all her regrets and unlived lives are books waiting to be opened. The first few lives were interesting but when the author spent pages just listing them I found myself bored and skipping them. The ending was a let down. There were no new insights and it did not make me feel good.

Honestly, I dnf'd this book. It was extremely popular, our library used it for book club and various other events and displays but it just didn't catch me. I respect that others loved it and was happy to recommend to readers looking for something different but popular.

This book was fascinating. I knew what the ending was going to be almost immediately but still found it fascinating and wanted to get to the end. I did think there were maybe one too many lives explored to get there but they were all very interesting and I liked following her experiences. I would like to have seen an epilogue maybe 3 years after just to see how Nora faired. Great book!

Main character Nora finds herself at the midnight library where she's faced with endless books-each with a variation of how her life could play out. This book is about decisions, about finding what truly matters in life, and about finding love for oneself. A tearjerker.

Well written, interesting story. Trigger warnings for self harm in the beginning, but overall it's an interesting analysis of what we'd do if we had a second chance, and what really matters in life.

Nora Seed has lived a life full of regret. Due to crippling anxiety and family obligations, she has not done much of anything with her life. Nora has finally decided to end it all, just to discover the hanging in the balance between life and death is a library. A library filled with books containing the lives she could have lived had she made different decisions. Nora gets the chance to step into these parallel universes. She gets to undo all of her mistakes and try on live in which she traveled, become famous, stuck with swimming, but will she find a life worth living?
The Midnight Library is a creative piece of magical realism. Everyone's holds onto a list of regrets from their life. I do not think I am the only one that likes that ideas that I could escape into other worlds without those regrets. It is fun living vicariously through Nora's opportunity. I recommend it for most readers, except maybe those that are sensitive to mental health storylines.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheMidnightLibrary #NetGalley

I read the discription of this book as "literary" and I don't really think I've read too many books like that. That may be why I didn't care for this book as much as I thought I would. I felt like there was someting missing from my connection with the characters. It's such an interesting premise, other than the missing connection I think I may have enjoyed it more.

A little late to the party on this title. I read it a few months ago and just loved it.
At times I was not happy with the main character but I love flawed characters, especially when they find their way. I suppose this book is a bit of magical realism.
The story made me think about my life and my regrets and come away a bit changed which is a lovely goal for all good fiction.

So I liked The Midnight Library a lot, but I am not sure about all of the hype that it received. The ending was very obvious throughout the entire book but I still enjoyed Haig's writing.

I was a little anxious to pick up this book because of all the hype surrounding it, but it was really beautiful. I'm a fan of Matt Haig's, so I don't know why I had so little faith!

I don't understand the love for this book. It's fine but predictable. It took me a couple of weeks to finish because I just didn't care.

This was my first book by Matt Haig, but it won’t be the last. Such a fascinating concept that started off really sad, kind of got even sadder, and then came back to a beautiful and hopeful end. Love it.

When Nora Seed arrives at the midnight library there is the opportunity to investigate all of the paths her life could taken with small and large changes in decisions. An engaging take on the parallel lives premise.