The Midnight Library has a rather dark feel and offers an interesting twist on the way reality works. Finding herself lonely and her life devoid of bright prospects, Nora’s decision to end her life leads her to discover the midnight library, where the shelves are filled with the endless possible variations her life could have taken. Nora is given the option to explore these lives until she finds the one she thinks will make her happy. The books serves as inspiration to contemplate how big and small changes or decisions might totally alter the course of one’s life. The ending is somewhat predictable, but the journey is an interesting one.

I was really hyped to read this book. I was so intrigued when I read the description and just got really excited to read it, but I think that I may have set my hopes up too high because I did not enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would. I did think that it was a really good read, but I found the story to be really predictable from the very beginning. That being said, I did enjoy it and I would recommend it to everyone.

I loved this book!! I absolutely couldn't put it down. I was invested in Nora from the start and the way that she's written as a character is just so honest and real, especially around the depression aspects. It did have slight Eleanor Oliphant vibes, but the story is so unique it really can't be compared to anything else. If well-written cure-for-depression-lit is where I'm at right now, so be it. Let's call it aspirational. I have some quibbles with the book but not enough of them to significantly affect the review, so let's call this a solid 4 stars and forgive the schmaltzy ending because it did in fact make me cry.

The concept that people can look at different paths their lives can take and see how that changes things for them is a trope I've read before and have enjoyed, so I was looking forward to reading this one.

The last book I read with this concept was Maybe in Another Life which took 2 timelines and explored what ifs with both, with only the reader knowing how the different options panned out. This one, the main character gets to see multiple paths and is aware the entire time of what's going on, she's even actively choosing the choices she wants to see pan out and be her perfect life. On the one hand this leads to multiple messages that I really liked, including the idea that we see the ideals only of the alternative lives and not how they'd pan out, so that once we knew that they'd no longer be regrets. On the other hand, because we go through so many different options and so quickly, it's hard to get a feel for the characters and really feel anything. A lot of this book felt like I was being told everything rather than getting a sense for it myself. I did love how the book felt unexpected, I wasn't sure what the timelines would be like for Nora.

While I think I prefer these alternative realities stories to be a bit more limited and focused on paths, I do think this adds something nice to the genre and I glad I picked it up. This book did stay in my mind long after reading it.

Ever since reading Ken Grimwood's *Replay,* I've been mildly obsessed with the concept of "repeaters," characters who upon dying cycle back to an earlier time in their lives. Matt Haig's theme in *The Midnight Library* features a variation of repeaters called "sliders." Sliders are between life and death, and rather than time-traveling back and creating new realities as repeaters do, sliders jump from parallel-universe lives happening all in the same moment. Both novels allow their characters what are, in effect, do-overs. And I'm as keen on Haig's novel as I was in Grimwood's. But I relate even more closely to *The Midnight Library* because Nora Seed is a more rounded character -- a woman, and because the novel is set among infinite shelves of books, evoking another favorite story, Jorge Luis Borges's *The Library of Babel.* If, like me, you love the notion of a do-over and all that results from the inevitable and surprising change in perspective and growth, this novel is for you.

[I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.]

This novel takes on the question of the road not taken. When a single 30-something Nora believes life has hit rock bottom, she decides she can’t go on anymore. Only, between life and death she finds herself in The Midnight Library, where every book on the shelf is a “what if” - every infinite possibility of the directions her life could have gone in had resulting from every choice she ever made. And so Nora explores - what if she had stuck with competitive swimming? Not quit her rock band? Said yes to the guy who asked her if she’d like to have coffee? In a year where so many of us have lived in quarantine and living outwardly isn’t presently possible, I see why this book has so much appeal - I know I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months living inwardly and considering my choices. Talk about a timely book despite it being written before all THIS happened.

A sweet and uplifting tale about loss and regret, and what it takes to survive another day. This book perfectly encapsulates the notion “wherever you go, there you are”.

This book follows our main character, Nora, as she is going through a difficult time in her life. It seems that she has lost everything; her job, relationships, her cat. She feels that she is making life worse for everyone and that she is no longer needed in the world.

Upon trying to end her life, she wakes up in a library full of every possible life she could have lived. Guided by the librarian, Mrs. Elm, she must choose a new life where she will be happy.

This book covers so many topics! Regrets, relationships, what ifs, addiction, love. With every new life lived, Nora gets closer to figuring out what it really is she wants out of life. It wasn't always an easy process, but I loved seeing where each new book took her!

Highly recommend!

Thank you to Matt Haig, Viking, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I cannot talk enough about how good this book is. I loved it from the first page and was completely sucked into the story. There was much to think about as it talked about walking into a room and trying to remember why you're there - did you just hop from alternate life and that's why you've forgotten what you're doing? I loved all the ideas behind this book and loved thinking about choices, regrets, and how we form our lives from every single choice we make every single day.

A library sets the scene for Matt Haig’s thought-provoking novel, The Midnight Library, but it’s an odd sort of library, a purgatory in which the user can choose from an infinite number of books, each of which shows them what life would have been like had they chosen another path or made a different decision. The idea is for the protagonist, Nora Seed, to use the library to find the life that most fulfills her.

I loved this book- a very different and magical tale that evokes concepts similar to that showcased in movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and”Family Man”. What if you could choose from endless versions of your best life? Moving and thought-provoking, this book is unlike any other I’ve ever read.

The Midnight Library is unlike any book I've ever read. It's magical, hopeful, and realistic all at the same time. So many readers will be able to see themselves in the main character.

An interesting premise about a woman who gets to experience many of the alternative lives she could have lived, but a little heavy handed in its execution.

This is not the first book (or film) to take on the what-ifs of getting do-overs of a lifetime. Kate Atkinson, "Groundhog Day" and others come to mind. But if a reader is a fan of fantasy, this would probably be his or her cup of tea. If the book ended with a definitive resolution of "the" lifetime that would make it more gratifying.

This book will be a definite purchase for our high school library! Thank you so much for allowing me to have access to the digital arc!

This book was an unexpected delight. It worked on many levels, and I thought about it for many days after I turned the last page.

I thought at first it would be a depressing book since it started out with the countdown to when Nora Seed decides she wants to die. However, Nora discovers the Midnight Library, where books are versions of her lives that follow different paths based on her choices. She can try different versions of her life and decide to live it out. It was interesting to see how her life changed based on her different choices. It makes you reflect on your own choices and any regrets that you may have had in your own life.

If you love It's a Wonderful Life this is probably your jam. Haig is a talented writer, and I have to say that after some stilted language at the beginning of The Midnight Library, the story of Nora Seed is well-paced, with a well-developed protagonist. While the author took a couple of cheap shots with the deaths of other characters, what really kept The Midnight Library from leaping from "good" to "great" is that it was obvious how it would end from the first chapter. These obvious feel-good stories just aren't doing it for me right now.

The Midnight Library is an intriguing look at regrets, what-if's, and second chances. When Nora Seed decides to end her life, she is transported to a library of possibilities and encouraged to explore other possible lives. Given numerous second chances, Nora explores the lives she could have had if she had made different choices. But none o them seem to fit quite right and she returns to the Midnight Library over and again to choose another life and erase another regret. An ode to "the road not taken" and appreciating life.

This was my first book from Matt Haig, but it will not be my last! A great quarantine read, indeed, as we are all feeling depressed and anxious. I really love how Matt addresses mental health in his books. As someone who summers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, I find so much comfort in his work.