The Midnight Library

by Matt Haig

Paperback, 304 pages

English language

Published July 9, 2020 by Penguin Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-525-55947-4

(4 reviews)

"Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?" A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

1 edition

Nerywood@tomes.tchncs.de reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My review of The Midnight Library

3 stars

Wonder what your life would be like if you had done one thing differently? Unfortunately that currently isn't possible, but through this book you can through Nora, her life, and her different lives.

"Now, you have to decide how you want to live."

"Because, Nora, sometimes the only way to learn is to live"

The book starts off with a number of quotes, then I found it went weird. It's hard to explain, and early on I wondered why the author chose to go this way.

Since there are multiple characters at many points in the book, it can be difficult to know who is saying what.

There are some chapters or parts that I felt could have been removed all together, and the book overall would be the same. Sometimes the book felt wordy, or felt like I was reading a page filler.

"The quiet made her realise how …

Wonder what your life would be like if you had done one thing differently? Unfortunately that currently isn't possible, but through this book you can through Nora, her life, and her different lives.

"Now, you have to decide how you want to live."

"Because, Nora, sometimes the only way to learn is to live"

The book starts off with a number of quotes, then I found it went weird. It's hard to explain, and early on I wondered why the author chose to go this way.

Since there are multiple characters at many points in the book, it can be difficult to know who is saying what.

There are some chapters or parts that I felt could have been removed all together, and the book overall would be the same. Sometimes the book felt wordy, or felt like I was reading a page filler.

"The quiet made her realise how much noise there was elsewhere in the world."

At multiple points while reading, I wondered, how is the book going to continue with x number of pages left?

At the beginning of many lives, there are tons of talking to figure out what's going on in that life, and as the book progresses you are just told about certain things happen. I'm not sure if the author did this to shorten the number of pages, or because they knew you would only need to know about certain things.

"This was a new feeling – as if she was taking someone’s place"

The book does have a couple of frightening moments, which do help to ensure the book doesn't get too boring, however some may find it stops them from continuing to read.

"that you can choose choices but not outcomes"