The Midnight Library book review

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Published by Viking on September 29, 2020
Pages: 288
Goodreads

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?

I managed to pick this one up from my library and thought I should start my year off with something a little inspirational and had heard great things about The Midnight Library. The premise was something that resonated with me and I thought it sounded very like It’s a Wonderful Life, one of my favourite Christmas movies. I originally rated this one quite high, but when I came to writing my notes for this review I realised this book just wasn’t for me.

Characters in The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library follows Nora Seed and her journey into the afterlife. Her story is one of someone struggling with depression and the consequences that follow her decision to commit suicide. If you’re triggered by a book that talks about depression, suicide and anxiety then this book isn’t for you. I thought I was going to really love Nora’s character but actually by the end she became a walking fortune cookie and it frustrated me, the sudden u-turn. I really didn’t think the ending was all that realistic, it didn’t follow her arc and it made the whole character feel forced. It really turned me off her as a person and it made me disconnect from the story.

I wish I had more to say about the characters in The Midnight Library but unfortunately there were no others of note. They were all sort of back up to Nora and as such were very two-dimensional. I think if there had been someone else pushing the story forward it would have made the read a lot better for me in the long run. The side characters were just too shallow for the subject matter they were dealing with and it frustrated me more than not.

Good and Bad

As I said, this was set to be one of my favourite reads but the more I thought about it, the more I ended up thinking of things that I hate about this book. But I won’t start there, I’ll start with the things I enjoyed. The main bit being the setting. I loved the idea of the library and books holding different lives and regrets. It was well described and it made perfect sense, I would have loved for Haig to have tied The Midnight Library into Nora’s past life just a little more. The use of Mrs Elm and the way everything comes together with her in the end was well executed and made me wish that the rest of the book had been written that way.

To be honest the only reason this book has scored a three-star was because of the pacing and how quickly I read it and my initial enjoyment of the story and setting.

For me the worst part of this book was the insane amount of cliched writings at the end, all about how to overcome your deepest darkest thoughts and be a better person. It all just came across as a little vague and a little overdone. I would have loved for there to have been a deeper conversation about depression and suicide instead of these shallow platitudes which don’t seem to fit right within the story. Everything was tied up too nicely, there was no further hardships and it was just an annoyance.

Recommendation

I wouldn’t recommend The Midnight Library, I think there are better books that deal with mental health. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is one of my favourites, I just think this book is too shallow for the subject matter and I wanted a little bit more for what I was reading. The complete lack of emotion at the end put me off and I struggled to connect with the character as a whole after that. I couldn’t even feel happy for her.

Have you read The Midnight Library? What were your thoughts? Anything I said struck a chord? Let me know in the comments.