The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Content warning for suicide, partner abuse, pet death and parent death.

Available September 29, 2020

What would you do if you had the opportunity to change your life? If you could go back in time and make different decisions about your life’s choices? Would you do it? When Nora makes the decision that life is too hard to continue living, she ends up in the Midnight Library. With the help of her former childhood librarian Mrs. Elm, Nora is given the opportunity to change the choices she regrets and live out different lives. But is another life worth living? How do simple choices make such drastic changes to our lives? With her time running short, Nora must choose between a life in the real world, or entering the afterlife. 

The Midnight Library is an interesting take on time travel. Nora has many regrets in her life from letting down friends and family, to not standing up for herself as often as she should. It’s through this lens that Nora tries many different takes on her life from living in different parts of the world, drastically different careers, to marrying different people. It is only when she finds true happiness will she stay within one of her new lives and yet, even when she feels happy “enough,” Nora finds herself slipping back to the Library in search of trying a new life. 

Nora is a complicated character written with a lot of depth. Dealing with anxiety has caused her to give up on dreams that seemed too overwhelming, even when she was excelling. Wanting to please others left her unable to see her own unhappiness and left her feeling unfilled. Even when Nora finds herself living a life free of anxiety, she finds herself conflicted about the choices made in that life and unhappy. As Nora travels to more and more of her other lives, she becomes increasingly confused about what she wants instead of more focused. 

I loved the character of Mrs. Elm. She was a wonderfully grumpy librarian who was both a real figure in Nora’s life, and her guide in the Midnight Library. The entire concept of the Library was what drew me to this book. To envision your life as countless different stories all inspired by each individual decision is fascinating. Now a book of regrets, that I can do without. 

The Midnight Library is a unique and intriguing story that captivated me from the very first page. 

If you would like a copy of this for yourself, you can get one here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.