Name: Fabian's review of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Item: The Midnight Library
Rating: 4.5
Author: Fabian

Matt Haig

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

The Midnight Library

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?

Fabian

Love and laughter and fear and pain are universal currencies.

Martyna Melania Anastasia

There was a net of love to break her fall. 

There was no way of living that can immunise you against sadness. Sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. 

Life is strange. How we live it all at once. In a straight line. But really that’s not the whole picture. Be wise 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 turning.

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year "A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book. 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 to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

A Novel

Joe Ricupero

 It was interesting, she mused to herself, how life sometimes simply gave you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it.

There was a net of love to break her fall.

Who knows? Every second of every day we are entering a new universe. And we spend so much time wishing our lives were different, comparing ourselves to other people and to other versions of ourselves, when really most lives contain degrees of good and degrees of bad

She realised, in that moment, that she was capable of a lot more than she had known.

“…It seems that you have spent all your life saying things that you aren't really thinking. This is one of your barriers.” 

“Yes. You have a lot of them. They stop you from seeing the truth.”

“About yourself. And you really need to start trying. To see the truth. Because this matters”

Dream big . . . You can be anything you want to be. Because in one life, you are.

I am resigned to being this way for ever. There will never be a life that I truly want to live for ever. I get too curious. I get too much of a yearning to live another way.

Sometimes just to say your own truth out loud is enough to find others like you. 

To be part of nature was to be part of the will to live. 

When you stay too long in a place, you forget just how big an expanse the world is. You get no sense of the length of those longitudes and latitudes. Just as, she supposed, it is hard to have a sense of the vastness inside any one person.

 But once you sense that vastness, once something reveals it, hope emerges, whether you want it to or not, and it clings to you as stubbornly as lichen clings to rock.

It wasn't the shock of having been close to death. It was the shock of realizing she actually wanted to live.

The lonely mind in the busy city yearns for connection because it thinks human-to-human connection is the point of everything. 

We’d just sit together, together but silent. Happy silent. Reading newspapers, drinking coffee.

… the truth is that success is a delusion. It’s all a delusion. 

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. 

Stephanie Rich

I can not imagine the pain someone would have to go through, to find themselves at the point in life, where not living seems like the only choice left.

But I think social media pressures (especially young) people to false ideals thus making fomo and regret become perpetual thoughts for many. What do you regret most in life? What would your life look like if you've chosen a different path?

I appreciate Noras decision that life is worth living and her accepting that the choices you make define who you are. I've read this book by accident and while it's certainly a novel-suiting happy ending it contains a universal lesson that I've come to realize I needed myself.

I can not imagine the pain someone would have to go through, to find themselves at the point in life, where not living seems like the only choice left.

But I think social media pressures (especially young) people to false ideals thus making fomo and regret become perpetual thoughts for many. What do you regret most in life? What would your life look like if you've chosen a different path?

I appreciate Noras decision that life is worth living and her accepting that the choices you make define who you are. I've read this book by accident and while it's certainly a novel-suiting happy ending it contains a universal lesson that I've come to realize I needed myself.

Volts deserved better though.

Must read for anyone reflecting on their life’s choices and confused about the path ahead. The book is full hope and highly Imaginative and empathetic.

Smitha

A truly profound story that everyone should read when the time is right in their life. This is a book that should find you but not be forced on you. The colorful metaphors help drive the story and pain its picture of hopeful despair.

I found that even before reading this book I saw the universe this way. An endless mess of possibilities that stem from your everyday decisions big or small. Every possibility exists out there. It’s our job to keep searching the life we have for the fulfillment we require. We aren’t alone and our team is much bigger than we realize. I believe in the universe and its signs and this book helped me to feel calm in the path I’m currently on. 

This is the life meant for me it’s just up to me to make it happen.   

A truly profound story that everyone should read when the time is right in their life. This is a book that should find you but not be forced on you. The colorful metaphors help drive the story and pain its picture of hopeful despair.

I found that even before reading this book I saw the universe this way. An endless mess of possibilities that stem from your everyday decisions big or small. Every possibility exists out there. It’s our job to keep searching the life we have for the fulfillment we require. We aren’t alone and our team is much bigger than we realize. I believe in the universe and its signs and this book helped me to feel calm in the path I’m currently on. 

This is the life meant for me it’s just up to me to make it happen.   

Simple yet profound book to people . Recommended to people who feel lost in their lives . Life is precious, preserve it think about how many versions of life you can live. you can do it

maxlilies

This was really good. Maybe it will especially hit for people who have had similar thoughts and experiences, but man this was cathartic. I actually found it difficult to read in public because I would get teary!! I was not ready. I remember thinking one of his other books sounded a little schmaltzy - like a little toxic positivity, maybe? - but after reading this I think I’m more inclined to try reading other stuff by him! 

Coley T

I thoroughly enjoyed this, although it is a very hard topic to read about most of it because, at least for me at this time, it felt a bit too close to home in some aspects. Check triggers and probably your mental health before going in this.

This story gives you a perspective that it feels necessary for a lot of people need to have in their lives whenever you feel you have reached bottom in any aspect of your life and feel there's no hope, there's always be.

the only reason I don't give a 5 star it is because of some pacing issues I had in the middle of the story.

I feel like a solid 4.5 🌟 

I thoroughly enjoyed this, although it is a very hard topic to read about most of it because, at least for me at this time, it felt a bit too close to home in some aspects. Check triggers and probably your mental health before going in this.

This story gives you a perspective that it feels necessary for a lot of people need to have in their lives whenever you feel you have reached bottom in any aspect of your life and feel there's no hope, there's always be.

the only reason I don't give a 5 star it is because of some pacing issues I had in the middle of the story.

The reading was easy, it flows well.. Nora is a bit annoying at times, though.

Great to make u reflect on life and how good it is to live it here and now!

Denis Crepaldi

The reading was easy, it flows well.. Nora is a bit annoying at times, though.

Great to make u reflect on life and how good it is to live it here and now!

Alicia Evans

A pretty dark and depressing tale told in a beautiful and uplifting way. 

Really appreciate the Author's imagination and the point that he was trying to convey.

Adwait Kulkarni

A pretty dark and depressing tale told in a beautiful and uplifting way. 
Really appreciate the Author's imagination and the point that he was trying to convey.

reading this book felt less like a proper story and more like scrolling through endless philosophical self-help memes you'd see on facebook and twitter, like someone was just force-feeding me online wisdom. honestly, finishing this was an absolute test of endurance. giving it a 0.5 bc it cured my insomnia lol.

Really disappointed me, didn’t like the writing style at all but it was a good idea.

evie coxon

A collection of my thoughts whilst reading ‘The Midnight Library’…

ophelia ross 

A collection of my thoughts whilst reading ‘The Midnight Library’…

- Not even 10 pages in and the cat fucking dies are you kidding me!

- “To live is to suffer” damn

- “Be kind to each other”

- “To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three-parts dead”

- “A person was like a city. You couldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole”.

- What the FUCK…she gets to see a life where her cat lives and it fucking dies AGAIN

- “The more people are connected on social media, the lonelier society becomes”. 

- “You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.”

- “Never underestimate the big importance of small things”. 

Such a beautiful book 🥺

moira

Di antara kehidupan dan kematian terdapat sebuah perpustakaan yang jumlah bukunya tak terhingga. Tiap-tiap buku menyediakan satu kesempatan untuk mencoba kehidupan lain yang bisa dijalani sehingga kau bisa melihat apa yang terjadi kalau kau mengambil keputusan-keputusan berbeda... Akankah kau melakukan apa pun secara berbeda jika kau mendapat kesempatan untuk membatalkan penyesalan-penyesalanmu? Benarkah kehidupan lain akan jauh lebih baik? Nora Seed harus membuat keputusan. Ia dihadapkan pada kemungkinan bisa mengubah hidupnya, memiliki karier yang berbeda, tidak putus dari mantan kekasih, dan mewujudkan mimpinya sebagai glasiolog. Ia menjelajahi Perpustakaan Tengah Malam untuk memutuskan apa sebenarnya yang menjadikan hidup pantas dijalani. Setelah kehidupan yang diisi berbagai penyesalan dan kegagalan, akankah Nora Seed akhirnya mendapatkan kehidupan yang bisa memberinya kebahagiaan sejati?

Perpustakaan Tengah Malam (The Midnight Library)

⚠️ Before you read this book, please check the trigger warning. This book has a lot of trigger warning such as suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, self-harming, and many more. So, please beware. ⚠️

Buku yang menceritakan tentang perjalanan Nora Seed menghadapi depresi serta penyesalan-penyesalan dalam hidupnya. Ia diberi kesempatan untuk mencoba kehidupan lain yang bisa dijalani sehingga ia bisa melihat apa yang terjadi kalau ia mengambil keputusan-keputusan berbeda.

Kita bisa melihat bagaimana perjuangan Nora menghadapi kehidupan lainnya, lalu belajar dari setiap kehidupan lain yang telah ia jalani sampai akhirnya ia memutuskan untuk tetap melanjutkan hidupnya. Dari buku ini juga banyak hal yang dapat kita pelajari, bagaimana kita harus berjuang mengejar mimpi-mimpi kita, serta mensyukuri kehidupan kita saat ini. Ending nya sangat heartwarming, ikut terharu melihat Nora berjuang menghadapi depresi nya dan kembali menjalani kehidupan dengan bahagia. 

Walaupun kita tidak bisa terus-menerus merasa bahagia, tetapi perlu diketahui bahwa selagi kita masih hidup, kita selalu memiliki masa depan dengan beribu kemungkinan. Jadi, teruslah hidup. Karna kadang-kadang satu-satunya cara untuk belajar adalah dengan hidup.

Ayudisa Bestari

⚠️ Before you read this book, please check the trigger warning. This book has a lot of trigger warning such as suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, self-harming, and many more. So, please beware. ⚠️

—
Buku yang menceritakan tentang perjalanan Nora Seed menghadapi depresi serta penyesalan-penyesalan dalam hidupnya. Ia diberi kesempatan untuk mencoba kehidupan lain yang bisa dijalani sehingga ia bisa melihat apa yang terjadi kalau ia mengambil keputusan-keputusan berbeda.

Kita bisa melihat bagaimana perjuangan Nora menghadapi kehidupan lainnya, lalu belajar dari setiap kehidupan lain yang telah ia jalani sampai akhirnya ia memutuskan untuk tetap melanjutkan hidupnya. Dari buku ini juga banyak hal yang dapat kita pelajari, bagaimana kita harus berjuang mengejar mimpi-mimpi kita, serta mensyukuri kehidupan kita saat ini. Ending nya sangat heartwarming, ikut terharu melihat Nora berjuang menghadapi depresi nya dan kembali menjalani kehidupan dengan bahagia. 

Walaupun kita tidak bisa terus-menerus merasa bahagia, tetapi perlu diketahui bahwa selagi kita masih hidup, kita selalu memiliki masa depan dengan beribu kemungkinan. Jadi, teruslah hidup. Karna kadang-kadang satu-satunya cara untuk belajar adalah dengan hidup.

It was such an interesting concept! I’m not going to lie I love a book about a depressed girly who gains the will to live. It really keeps me going sometimes 💁🏻‍♀️

Mariah crawford

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.

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.

Kayla Pham

Being in something of a late-life crisis, I was recommended this book by a good friend. It’s an interesting read, and has some good nuggets. The story (fable?) is predictable, but it does deal well with the shackles of regret (if you’re one of those people who say they never regret anything, this may pass you by, but for me, it’s part of my ‘root humanity’). It can be naive, and simplistic (most things are either/or - there’s not a great deal of space for nuance.) But it circumvents the ‘self-help’ genre stereotype well. The underlying message is that life is never going to be perfect, so don’t pine for something unachievable. Personally, I think the James song summarises it well:

I’m not sure this book will lift me from my depression, but I will try to remember its message. 

Jan Jackson

Being in something of a late-life crisis, I was recommended this book by a good friend. It’s an interesting read, and has some good nuggets. The story (fable?) is predictable, but it does deal well with the shackles of regret (if you’re one of those people who say they never regret anything, this may pass you by, but for me, it’s part of my ‘root humanity’). It can be naive, and simplistic (most things are either/or - there’s not a great deal of space for nuance.) But it circumvents the ‘self-help’ genre stereotype well. The underlying message is that life is never going to be perfect, so don’t pine for something unachievable. Personally, I think the James song summarises it well:

Raise your glass
Life’s a fucking miracle
We’re made of light
Our form is physical
If we love life
Life loves reciprocal
Celebrate
She, he, we, they
Welcome sign

I’m not sure this book will lift me from my depression, but I will try to remember its message. 



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.

Hakan Erbas

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.

Lavinia

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.

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 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)

Stephanie Rich &
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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