Review: The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library
By Matt Haig

Published By: Canongate Books
Publication Date: February 4, 2021
Date Read: October 22, 2022
Genre: Adult – Contemporary / Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 295

From Goodreads:
Nora’s life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives whe might have lived.

Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?

The Midnight Library is a book that has been on my radar for quite a while. I follow Matt Haig on social media, and this he is all round amazing person, but I sadly have never read one of his books… until now. I picked this one up because it was quite short, and I love a good, quick read to help bump up my reading challenges, and while I have heard mixed things about this one, I was really intrigued by the premise and so I decided to give this one a go.

The Midnight Library follows the story of Nora. Nora is 35 years old, and her life has not worked out how she thought it would when she was younger. She is severely depressed and decides that she doesn’t want to live anymore. Upon attempting to end her own life she finds herself in a ‘Midnight Library’. A library filled with books of all of her other lives. Every decision you make in your life changes the course, so in the Midnight Library you can go and live one of the lives where you made a different decision.

Right from the start I was really intrigued by this storyline. It does start out very somber and sad, but the feel of the book does pick up later on. I really, really enjoyed the start of this book. Even though it is somber, you can really resonate with Nora and why she feels like she does. It was really hard hitting, emotionally, but I love a good emotional book. Although I knew some sadness was going to come, I was looking forward to seeing what would happen when she reached the Midnight Library. I absolutely loved the premise of every decision you making in your life, changing the course and that there are all these other lives you could have lived if you’d only changed that one little thing. It was such a fantastic premise.

I also really loved the ending of the book. It is so powerful, asking yourself whether any of these lives will make you happy… because what is happy? I just adored this whole thought that even if you have what you may consider the perfect, successful life… it doesn’t mean everything is perfect. And as a book exploring depression and mental health, I felt like that was such an important message. I decided to listen to the audiobook of this one, and I am so glad that I did. The narrator was fantastic, and she gave such raw realness to the character of Nora. She truly was fantastic.

Now for the bits I didn’t like. I felt like the middle of the book it kind of lost its momentum. This book is following such a powerful storyline, and in the middle I just kind of became bored. Nora gets to visit lots of her different ‘potential’ lives but after the first two, I was like… okay we get it, there’s lots of possibilities and I started to lose interest. Honestly, if I’d have been reading this book physically, I may have DNF’d it. There was quite a bit of the book that I just wasn’t vibing with and it actually makes me sad because this book, and the premise had such phenomenal potential.

I am glad I picked this book up, and I’m glad I finished it, because I really did enjoy the ending. Unfortunately I just felt like it lost some of its magic in the middle and it really needed better execution in these parts. Will I give Matt Haig’s other work a try? I probably will yet, because the premise of this book is extraordinary. Will I re-read The Midnight Library? No, I won’t. I’m glad I read it, but it really could have been so much better with a little more magic and heart in the middle.

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