The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - A Review

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is one of those books everyone seems to love—and I can see why the concept is intriguing—but for me, it didn’t quite land. The story follows Nora, a woman who’s feeling hopeless and decides she doesn’t want to live anymore. Instead of dying, she ends up in the Midnight Library, a strange in-between place filled with books. Each book represents a life she could have lived if she had made different choices. She gets the chance to “try on” these alternate lives, from Olympic athlete to rock star to ordinary adult, to see if she might have been happier somewhere else.

The premise is clever and full of potential, but unfortunately, the execution left me underwhelmed. Nora hops from life to life, and while the concept of exploring “what might have been” is interesting, it quickly becomes repetitive. Every alternate life has a catch, and every revelation about herself is spelled out in painfully obvious ways. I found Nora herself hard to connect with—she’s consumed by regret, constantly negative, and otherwise flat. It felt less like reading a story and more like reading self-help advice disguised as fiction.

I also had a problem with the way the book treats mental health. The implication that depression can be “solved” by perspective or attitude oversimplifies a serious issue and didn’t sit right with me. Real-life depression is complex, and while positivity and reflection are useful, they’re not a cure. This approach made it hard for me to fully enjoy the story.

On the positive side, the book is short and easy to get through, and the premise itself is imaginative. Some of the alternate lives were fun to think about, and the idea of a library of regrets is memorable. But beyond that, I didn’t find much to engage me—the plot is predictable, the lessons obvious, and the main character just didn’t hold my attention.

Overall, I’d give this one three stars. It’s not a bad book, and I can absolutely understand why so many readers love it. For me, though, the concept was far more compelling than the actual story, and I found it slow, repetitive, and ultimately unmemorable. If you enjoy reflective, self-help–style fiction or stories about alternate lives, it might be worth a try—but personally, it wasn’t my cup of tea.

★★★☆☆

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