The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

“Never underestimate the importance of small things.” – Mrs. Elm (Matt Haig, The Midnight Library)

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a book hoarder. My TBR list is endless, and yet somehow I still seem to add to it weekly, if not every couple of days. This book, this lovely little gem of a story, has been on my list since it first came out – over a year ago. Good news is, it finally got its day this past weekend – and truly, that was all it needed, which was a pleasant surprise.

See, I’d just come off of the final book in Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series (Kingdom of Ash), a nearly one-thousand-page whopper of a book that wrecked me fairly thoroughly. I needed something with a little less weight, something a little less long-winded. Enter, here, The Midnight Library.

The synopsis: Nora Seed’s having a tough time. She’s living a life full of regret, and it only seems to be getting worse – she loses her job, her cat dies, her best friend won’t answer her texts, etc. The downward spiral continues until Nora makes a devastating decision: she decides to die. In between life and death, she finds herself in the Midnight Library – a place where she can experience living the lives she may have had if she’d made different decisions along the way. If she finds one she desires, there is the potential for her to stay in that life – and let her old life fade away. But if she is disappointed, she’ll be returned to the library to choose another path, as long as death doesn’t come for her first. As she experiences those other lives, Nora lets go of some of her regrets, makes some major realizations about life in general, and comes to find that perhaps she doesn’t desire death at all.

It didn’t take long for me to get into the story. Nora is relatable from the get-go; she’s likeable, and it’s not a stretch in the slightest to empathize with the difficulties she’s going through. I appreciate the nod to mental health throughout her story, and even more the overarching message established at the end of the book.

The midnight library itself is a creative take on the in between and though the somewhat brief quantum physics explanation is quite vanilla, it’s likely more readable as a result. This book, as with some others I’ve read recently (They Both Die at the End is one example) gets almost preachy at times, a bit earnest in its need to convey the life lessons it seems intent on imparting. Certainly, however, you’ll find no lack of little quotable kernels to print out and hang on your wall to read on days when you need extra motivation.

Overall, the story and the message it sends is a positive one, and the outcome reflects that. If you want a feel-good story, you’ll get that here. If you need a reminder that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but rather where you water it – it’ll do that, too. And, if you find that you forget to slow down and smell the roses every now and again, well…this’ll nudge you in that direction.

That, I think, is one of the true beauties of this story – some of the things it says are complex, done in a simple way. That life, no matter how it may seem – miserable or joyful, ordinary or fantastic – holds within it unending possibilities.

4.5/5 stars for me. Solid offering, quick/easy read, and one I enjoyed. I’ll be picking up more of Haig’s books in the future. Buy it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/39HKoLO

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