The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig has an interesting premise, and I appreciate the core message it tries to deliver. The idea that every choice we make branches into a different life is compelling, and the book does a solid job of showing how small actions can have major consequences. That said, the execution didn’t fully hit the mark for me.

From the start, it felt pretty obvious where the story was heading. The moment Nora steps into this in-between world and starts exploring alternate versions of her life, you can already tell the main takeaway—regret is a tricky thing, and no life is perfect. While that’s a great lesson, the journey to get there felt repetitive and, honestly, kind of exhausting. Watching her jump from one life to another, only to realize again and again that each one has its own problems, made the whole thing feel more draining than thought-provoking.

I also found the book quite heavy in an unexpected way. Given that it deals with themes of depression and suicide, it’s not an easy read, and I can see it being especially tough for people struggling with those issues. It doesn’t shy away from the weight of those emotions, but at times, it felt like it was almost pushing too hard on that despair. It’s not just introspective—it’s borderline suffocating.

That said, I respect the attempt to show a more magical way of looking at life. The idea that we don’t need to know the future to find meaning in the present is something a lot of people need to hear. It’s a reminder that no life is without struggle, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth living. The book captures that sentiment well, even if the storytelling itself didn’t fully click with me.

Overall, The Midnight Library has a powerful message, but it’s not the most subtle or surprising read. If you’re into philosophical, life-affirming fiction with a bit of a fantastical twist, you might get more out of it than I did. But if you prefer a story with more depth and unpredictability, this one might leave you feeling more drained than inspired.

Lovely book! I honestly had no idea where the book was going with the library but overall all the pieces came together. I need a Mrs. Elm in my life, I probably do and don’t realize it yet. Needed to read this as I’m trying to figure out and navigate my own life just like Nora. Gave me great perspective.

v good v nice

I finished it in a day and it was perhaps the fastest book I have ever read in my life. I must say that I was very satisfied in terms of its suspense, readability and story. In the novel, Nora, who feels her life worthless due to the regrets she feels because of her choices and the direct/indirect consequences that followed, finds herself on a journey in which many people can find a piece of their own life. The development of the story, the characters, the narration and the message given got full marks from me. I feel lucky to start 2025 with such a book; I have a book that is a candidate to be a bedside table.

The idea behind the book was interesting, somewhere between life and death there is a library filled with books representing all the different ways it could have gone. I can see the appeal, as many of us can relate to Nora's story -- but for my taste, there was something missing. Like the author could have gone deeper or built more around the story. By mid-book, it was clear to me how it was going to end - so not much surprise there.

All in all a good and quick read. Interesting concept, and a light way to touch on subjects like mental health.

met this book at the right time of my life when I was burned out of academics. Life has a purpose, no matter what.

I was gifted a physical copy for my birthday by my bestfriend’s partner and this has been in my tbr for quite a while now, so imagine my surprise!

This was a good read, personally. The concept of getting to experience the lives you could have lived is really interesting to me. Haig could have gotten more in-depth with some parts, but I really enjoyed this.

A favourite quote:

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.

a personal failing; this book was too difficult for me to read when i was in a place where i had trapped myself in a life i didn't want and i couldn't figure out how to escape. i struggled and then put it down; since then, so many old things have broken apart and so many new, good things have risen from the ashes, but this book is now too tied to the past for me to see past it (136/288)

thanks god i am alive

• Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ.
• She wondered if her parents had ever been in love or if they had got married because marriage was something you did at the appropriate time with the nearest available person.
• 'True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.' – Socrates
• Want is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill the lack with something else the original want disappears entirely.
• The only way to learn is to live
• The more focused you were on the activity, the less foced you were on everything else. You kind of stopped being you and became the thing you were doing
• You can choose choices but not outcomes
• Most gossip is envy in disguise
• The more people were connected on social media, the lonelier society became.
• You don't have to understand life. You just have to live it.
• As Thoreau wrote, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
• A former curse and a present blessing
• The prison wasn't the place, but the perspective

This is my First Adult Matt Haig Book, and I must admit that I have always been daunted by this book and I have no idea why. I decided to pick the Audiobook and was reading alongside and this created a lovely reading experience especially for a book that is all about choices, regrets, and embracing life and leave you as the reader questioning your own choices.

Nora Seed is having a really bad day. She is mugged, loses her job, blamed for other’s people’s failures, and her cat is run over by a car. She is also seriously depressed. This day is one of many bad days that Nora has experienced over the last decade of her life. She can’t take life anymore and attempts suicide. Nora wakes up to discover that she is in the space between life and death known as The Midnight Library. Here, Nora is given the opportunity to take the paths she didn’t choose and undo her regrets. She travels into the multiverse, getting to experience her other lives.

Nora’s character felt like a real person making real decisions. I could feel of her emotions from both the dark side and the life side. She is such a fragile, desperate, adventurous person who is not scared by anything. I love how Haig has woven in magic, fantasy alongside Quantum physics, literature, and philosophy to make a captivating read.

This is such an emotional and powerful read. Nora is a character who is fragile and in a desperate state on mind that she decided to take her own life, but this is such a book that offers love, warmth and healing. Its inspired me to stop regretting things and embrace the here and now a little more.

I needed a break from fairy world so I read this one. It was good and cheesy but a little too corny for me sometimes. I kept getting annoyed with the main character and I only finished it because I needed to know her end decision wasn’t going where I thought. She ended up making the decision I agreed with but I forced myself to finish it

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐.𝟓 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

I cannot name one thing I liked about this book. Maybe the first three chapters, after then I don't even know or remember what happened. I was just waiting for the main character to finally die because clearly that's what the first fifth or so of the book was insinuating with its "x-hours before Nora decidded to die," but the girl just didn't want to die.

I don't think it was written for me as the target audience - and it's crazy because I found similarities between this and "I want to die, but I want to eat tteokbokki". Similiarities which included that self-help kind of genre. However, I actually enjoyed the tteokbokki.

I'm unsure why if they're birds of the same feather, but perhaps because that was written like a non-fictional book bearing conversation between a real woman and her psychiatrist, while "The Midnight Library" was written like an actual fictional novel. I would've probably given it 3 stars had I read even further and reached the end.

the concept sounded interesting at first but i thought it was a little cheesy/sappy and lacked depth

This had been on my TBR shelf for ages and I'm glad I finally picked it up. This book starts in a bad place and leaves you full of hope by the end.

2013 tumblr would’ve loved this book

i enjoy this book a lot! it was funny seeing her try different lives and it makes me think of my biggest regrets and if i’m living in my full potential (i’m not) but i wish nora the best

Read it a while ago but loved it :) I love any books that make you reflect on life

The idea behind the book was interesting, however the author had not seized the opportunity as should have. The story had more of a potential. Anyway it’s a fun read.

its so crazy bc,,, ive seen this book so many times and thought about reading it so many more times but for some reason i picked it up the other day and i feel like it was just the right moment to read this, ive been feeling very,,, unsure about the future and everything and regretting a lot of things and just feeling not good, and i cried a lot not bc its a sad book but bc i understood it. and its very beautiful

“Places are places and memories are memories and life is fucking life.” *** Somewhere between 3 and 3.5. There were numerous quotes like the one above, so I found myself cringing a lot. I started off with high expectations, then halfway through I felt the book was overrated. Later something piqued my interest, but in the end, my expectations remained unmet. The premise really caught my attention, because I'd never heard of anything like it. Though I'm not big on the self-help advice, so I felt like the book was trying a bit too hard. The ending was so predictable and I'm disappointed because it felt like the author made no effort to switch it up. I had envisioned a potential ending— if it had happened, I might've given this book 4 stars. But it didn't, so there's that. For what it's worth, the book is physically pretty, though.

*warning: i’m about to be a real big bitch* this book was so boring. it could have been so cool. but it was just not. it was giving “male author writes a book based off a thought i had in middle school and yet he thinks it’s groundbreaking and life changing because he had this thought at 45 years old and i had braces when i thought of this”

I dnf this book, it was……. Not my thing 😭😭