FIVE STAR READ ALERT. I spent many months fighting the hype around The Midnight Library. how could a book possibly be that good for that many people to love it (very much how I felt about The House in the Cerulean Sea too).

The Story

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

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 new 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.

My Thoughts

Maybe I should start listening to the book hype. How many other books have I missed out on because too many people read it and loved it? The Midnight Library was so beautiful.

It does start out tragically. Reading about someone, even a fictional character, in that level of depression where she attempts to commit suicide…it’s hard. In the grand scheme of the book, that particular action is a small window, but worth mentioning if you are sensitive to that kind of language or action.

The overall concept of The Midnight Library is so freaking cool. It takes the superhero concept of the multiverse and applies it to real life. What would happen if we could just pick up a book to experience what might have been if we made a different decision?

Nora’s desire to live is what warmed my heart the most. No life is perfect, and we are the ones in control of how we move forward. You can choose to repair the relationship or remove someone toxic from your life. Follow you dreams. Make the connections with others.

After I finished the book, I immediately (after removing the book jacket) gave it to my mom, along with The House in the Cerulean Sea. Yes, I have warned her that they’re a little quirky, but SO WORTH THE READ.

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