Book: The Midnight Library
Author: Matt Haig
Genre: Fantasy Fiction & Magical Realism
Pages: 288
Pace: Medium-Paced
Source: Amazon
Format: Paperback
Rating:
Review:
Hello readers!!
Plot:
TW: Suicide, Self-Harm
Nora is unhappy with her current state of life. A series of unfortunate events leads her to a point where she no longer wishes to live. Her attempt to end her life brings her to the midnight library. The midnight library is filled with books containing infinite possibilities and variations of how Nora’s life could have turned out. As she goes through these possibilities she learns more about the rewards and consequences of each decision she could have made. In search of a life of happiness, success, and satisfaction, will Nora find her best life?
BOOK THOUGHTS:
“Life is strange. How we live it all at once. In a straight line. But really that is not the whole picture. Because life isn’t simply made of the things we do, but the things we don’t do too. And every moment of our life is a … kind of a turning.”
The Main Character:
There were a lot of positive messages in this book along with some interesting insights about life and what it means to live a “good,” “meaningful,” or “fulfilling” life. Every decision we make, especially the small ones, leads us to the life we are living now, and if we wanted to change that course all we must do is make a different decision. However, there are consequences to these decisions as well. Nora doesn’t want to live because she is unhappy with her current state of life. Throughout the book, I felt like she was whining instead of working towards changing the course of her life. I had a difficult time relating to her and the circumstances she was in and I never once caught myself rooting for her happy ending.
Supporting Characters:
The supporting characters in this book were underdeveloped and there wasn’t much opportunity to understand the circumstances or complexities of the supporting characters. The character I was least annoyed with was Ash, but even with him, I felt as if the author did not provide enough dialogue or information for me to fall in love with this character or at least empathize with and like him a bit more.
Romance & Empathy:
The romance in this book felt non-existent. I know this isn’t romance fiction, but there was a love story in this book. I have always believed that most stories have a love story even if it might be playing in the background and is presented in a very subtle manner. The love story can act as a tool or strategy for the reader to fall in love with the characters or lead them to root for their happy ending. But in this book, love or emotional attachment seemed more like a statement than an emotion that is felt.
The Hype:
I went into this book with high expectations because the rating on Goodreads and Amazon were 4+ stars, however, I couldn’t quite understand how several readers were able to finish this book in the first place. Once I was halfway through this book I had a difficult time getting through this book. As I progressed through this book, I realized that it seems to be written for a certain event, a period where almost everyone was going through similar unfortunate events that lead them to question their life. “The Midnight Library,” by Matt Haig was published 2 years ago in August 2020, which was amid the pandemic. During the pandemic, many people were questioning their life choices and many came face to face with their mental health issues as well, therefore, this book would have been a great comfort during that period.
Is this book worth the read?
For me, it wasn’t worth the read. I enjoyed How to Stop Time by Matt Haig because he successfully depicted the journey through historic events of an immortal being and I had been able to empathize with the characters as well. The Midnight Library was too long and unnecessarily descriptive. I understood the intent of the story and there were some great life quotes as well, however, it wasn’t enough to keep me hooked throughout this book. Read this book if you want to explore the concept of how it would feel to live your various potential lives. But be ready for a lot of repetition. I think this book would have been a great healing read during the pandemic, but at this time I felt detached from the plot and the characters.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review!!!
Please let me know what your thoughts are on this book in the comment section below.
by Nav ♡
LunaLuminous 