The Midnight Library

Paperback, 288 pages

English language

Published Feb. 4, 2021 by Canongate Books Ltd..

ISBN:
978-1-78689-273-7
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4 stars (116 reviews)

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 she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?

1 edition

Which life is worth living?

4 stars

What if you could know which path your life would have taken if you had made other choices?

Every little decision you make can lead to a slightly different outcome or could alter your life completely.

There are infinite possible lives – but which one ist the „right“ one? And how would you know?

These are the questions Nora has to ask herself when she finds herself between life and death after a suicide attempt.

The huge Midnight Library contains all of her possible lives - each one as a book.

At first, when I started reading it, I wasn't sure if I would like the story. But the more I progressed, the more it became a page-turner.

Philosophical and spiritual, makes you think.

And though I am not a native speaker, I found the book easy to read in english.

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

God awful read.

The plot is over-explained and dumbed down through the dialogue to the point where it’s painful to read. The entire story could have been summarised in a self-help/suicide prevention pamphlet, which would have spared me from the incessant attempts at gaining an emotional response.

0/5
I don’t believe in censoring books but this shouldn’t have been published.

Loved this as Invisible Cities

No rating

I love these kind of books that explore how one thing can be multiple things - like cities in Invisible Cities or time in Einstein's Dream. In this case, it's one life and all the alternative universes that might spin off it. Altogether, an enjoyable read though maybe not as poignant as Invisible Cities or Einstein's Dreams.

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is a relatively fast read. There's a lot you can skim.

It's getting a 3-star review because I like the concept. However, in its execution this book wasn't for me. I'm not sure who it's for, to be honest. I could go into why, but I'm not sure that really helps anybody because the why's feel personal and not generic.

I will say every positive review I've read of this book implies I should already know who Matt Haig is, and I have aboslutely no clue who he is, even after googling. That's probably the most generic issue I have - that the book seems to be sold on his name recognitition to a good degree and I don't recognize his name.

So, again, it's an okay book. I wouldn't recommend it because I don't know who it's for, probably people who already like Matt Haig and would read …

Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The ending was exactly what I expected. Although I kept wishing for something more brave all through the book, it was fitting in the end.
I would have liked to meet more of the other people who jump in and out of lives and hear their takes on existence.
All in all it wasn't so much uplifting as it made me long for other versions of my life, in which I made different decisions, so I guess it didn't quite fulfil its purpose on me.

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