The Midnight Library

A Novel

by Matt Haig

Hardcover, 304 pages

English language

Published Sept. 29, 2020 by Penguin Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-525-55947-4
OCLC Number:: 1159773625

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(83 reviews)

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 blockbuster 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 …

1 edition

WardenRed reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

None

4 stars

It is quite a revelation to discover that the place you wanted to escape to is the exact same place you escaped from. That the prison wasn’t the place, but the perspective.

I... definitely have a lot of complicted feelings about this one.

The beginning of the book hit me really hard. I'm sadly not a stranger to depression or suicidal ideation, and Nora's experience on that day that almost became the last one was frighteningly relatable. I actually had to put the book aside for a couple of days after getting through that first part, because I was afraid to get triggered into a bad mental state at this rate.

Once the actual story with the library and the endless do-overs started, though, I began to gradually lose my connection to the story. I do understand and admire the overall concept. I've certainly wondered about what-ifs a lot in …

It is quite a revelation to discover that the place you wanted to escape to is the exact same place you escaped from. That the prison wasn’t the place, but the perspective.

I... definitely have a lot of complicted feelings about this one.
The beginning of the book hit me really hard. I'm sadly not a stranger to depression or suicidal ideation, and Nora's experience on that day that almost became the last one was frighteningly relatable. I actually had to put the book aside for a couple of days after getting through that first part, because I was afraid to get triggered into a bad mental state at this rate.
Once the actual story with the library and the endless do-overs started, though, I began to gradually lose my connection to the story. I do understand and admire the overall concept. I've certainly wondered about what-ifs a lot in my own life, spent a lot of time trying to imagine where and who I would be if I just did one thing differently years ago. And the concept of exploring those what-ifs until you find something that re-fuels your will to live is interesting, in theory.
In practice, something in the way it was handled here rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think it's the book's fault; I think it's just a certain difference of... perception? Values? Between me and the author, and that's okay. The book is definitely thoughtful, poignant, and incredibly well-written. Even though with all the skips between lifetimes and possibilities things are bound to get a bit confusing now and then, the author does a great job focusing the spotlight on all the right things. It just wasn't exactly the book for me, I think.

Gossamerchild reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

I don't know why I didn't enjoy this as much as I had anticipated. I think it was just a tad too schmaltzy for my taste.

hedgeling reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An easy read dealing with suicidality and the possible lives we might lead. Basically what it says on the tin.

hedgeling reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An easy read dealing with suicidality and the possible lives we might lead. Basically what it says on the tin.

IAmCortney reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

It's a good book. The ending was predictable, but that doesn't make it less wholesome or the message of the book less pure. An uplifting insight into the nature of regrets, potential, and the importance of perspective on any situation.

Zéro Janvier reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Après avoir découvert Matt Haig avec deux livres de non-fiction, j'avais envie de le connaître sous une autre facette, celle de romancier. J'ai alors choisi son dernier roman, paru en 2020 : The Midnight Library.

Ce roman nous propose de suivre l'aventure pseudo-fantastique de Nora Reed, une trentenaire anglaise souffrant de dépression, alors qu'elle semble avoir perdu toute envie de vivre. Au seuil de la vie et de la mort, elle découvre une incroyable bibliothèque géante où chaque livre lui donne accès à une de ses vies possibles, si elle avait fait un jour un choix différent.

Continuer la natation pour faire plaisir à son père et espérer concourir aux Jeux Olympiques ? Suivre le rêve de son frère de devenir une rock-star dans le groupe de musique qu'ils avaient formé ensemble ? Devenir une scientifique en mission sur les glaciers arctiques ? Poursuivre ses études en philosophie ? Ouvrir un pub avec son ex-fiancé qu'elle a quitté juste avant le mariage ? Terminer le roman qu'elle avait abandonné ? Accepter l'invitation de son voisin à prendre un café ?

Autant de choix et de vies que Nora regrette, alors qu'elle se sent abandonnée, inutile, coincée dans une vie qui ne lui convient pas : son frère ne lui parle plus, sa meilleure amie est partie en Australie, son patron vient de la virer, et son chat Voltaire vient de mourir.

Dans cette librairie fantastique, Nora explore les vies qui auraient pu être la sienne, et apprend à mettre de côté ses regrets.

The Midnight Library est un livre touchant et joliment écrit. Il n'y a pas d'énorme surprise dans le récit, on sent assez vite où l'auteur veut nous emmener, mais c'est efficace et élégant. On n'échappe à quelques leçons ou clichés que l'on croirait sorties d'un livre de développement personnel quelconque (“il ne faut pas essayer de comprendre la vie, il faut la vivre”), mais cela reste très minoritaire dans un texte réussi.

Je suis donc plutôt convaincu par les talents de romancier de Matt Haig, que je continuerai à suivre avec intérêt. J'ai d'ailleurs un autre de ses romans qui m'attend sur ma liseuse et qui pourrait bien être ma prochaine lecture.

zhliu0124 reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Who can get into this Midnight Library?

I found this book is dull to read. But there are some interesting ideas. One of them is that why Nora entered this library. Who is given the chance to visit this library?

The key idea of the book is that you have made so many mistakes in your life and you want a chance to reverse them, in the hope of having a better life. Everybody makes mistakes; Our lives are made of a series of mistakes and the lessons we have learned from. The mistakes are our signature. More importantly, not a single mistake in our lives is isolated. We can always find the “roots” of a mistake from many mistakes we have made before. So correcting one mistake means changing a series of mistakes and therefore our identity. Who will want to eliminate his/her existence completely? Only the people do …

RaquelPinkPanther reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I have read this book to my 12 years old daughter and it has given us the opportunity to discuss important topics at that age like depression, mental illness, appreciation of the positive things in the life we get to live. Despite the initial roughness of the story, it is a very optimistic book. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

Kathleen reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A very lovely, very inspiring read that came into my life at the right time as a person in her late 20s struggling with the idea of who I am/what I should be doing/feeling regret about things I have and haven’t done. Just go do some stuff, any stuff! The possibilities for your life are endless, and this book was a nice little reminder of that.