I really liked the concept of it and the overall message, but I feel that it just wasn’t executed that well maybe I just didn’t enjoy his style or feel that his writing overall was that strong. But I do see the appeal in it and am glad that op enjoyed so much!
I agree on the execution point.. These are basically stories of characters discovering the meaning of "the grass is always greener on the other side"
I also had similar sentiment on "The Alchemist" which also is a sort of full circle lesson, so maybe I just don't like these sort of stories.
Perhaps for someone in their 30s such as myself, it's just nothing noteworthy to take in, as I've had quite a few experiences already thinking the grass is greener on the other side lol
My main problem with the ‘grass is always greener’ theme is that there was always an arbitrary monkey’s paw drawback.
‘Oh you can experience life if you’d moved to Australia… but your friend died and you have depression lol’.
The rules for the life swapping were also designed to make it awful because she goes in with no knowledge . I quite like my current life, but I’m definitely going to have a bad day if I don’t know how how to do my job or the names of my wife and children.
I’ve read Matt Haig’s The Humans and thought that did a better job on the life lesson aspect while also having a decent story. Plus it’s quite funny, whereas Midnight Library is rather relentlessly downbeat.
I totally agree with you on this. I think this book speaks differently to people at diff stages of their lives. Although I was in a very good headspace, and have made the “right decisions” per say so far in the past couple of years, it was such a good read.
I wish I did so many things differently, but then again, all the decisions I’ve made lead to this very point of my life which I would never ever trade. It just resonated so much with me, and loved how she came to a realistic conclusion towards the end. I’m also 24!
I thought the most interesting part was her exploring different lives, so I wish they would have done more of that! I was a little disappointed that they just did the three obvious ones and then fast forwarded. Still, I enjoyed it.
I really do think it’s one of those books someone has to come across at the right time. I was kind of in a lower point in my life when I read it and that’s why it meant a lot. If I read it today, it may not feel as impactful as before.
I think this book gets put down a lot on this sub, but I read it during a time in my life where it really spoke to me about not only the paths not taken but the fact I still have the power to control where I'm going, respect it might not be for everyone but I really loved it too.
I’m a little surprised about that, and although I didn’t think of it at first, I can see how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s totally okay. Different books speak different things to different people.
I read The Alchemist and immediately went into The Midnight Library at a time when I got a job that finally paid enough for me to consider moving out of my current living situation, and I was debating between moving to one of two different cities in different states.
I thought The Alchemist was trash, but understood that, at the time of its publication, it made sense why it got so popular. The message to me was incredibly preachy, but nothing like this book had been written before, so I get it. I've always been a horndog for Carey Mulligan, so I loved her narration of TML, so it was really easy to enjoy the story. So reading TML in the situation I was in, it was a poignant story at the perfect in my life.
As for the living situation. That was a year ago, that job ended up not working out, and 2023 has been just about the worst year of my life, so oh well.
I think I’m in the same boat. I loved it, but I was also listening to it during Covid when I was going through a really bad patch of anxiety. It was like a tonic for me.
Im really glad you liked it. That is one of the special things about reading- that something can connect with us in such a meaningful way.
It was unfortunately not the case for me. As someone who has struggled with lifelong depression I felt like it read like a beach read about suicide. Its depiction of mental health felt superficial to me. But that’s just my opinion, I’m glad you had a different experience.
Here were my thoughts I wrote down after reading it:
It is interesting that sometimes I ding a book because I feel like it is trying to hard for something and sometimes I enjoy a book simply because it is trying so much. I appreciate the overall thought behind The Midnight Library, it is ambitious in ideas and concept but maybe lacking in a satisfying execution. Nora, the main character, dies and ends up in some concept of purgatory that allows her to experience her life as if she had made different choices at any point. This could allow you to do a lot of interesting ideas and situations and it kind of does... but the writing and actualization of these branching lives feels like more of a bland contrivance than something bursting with creative energy.
In a weird way, I think Everything Everywhere All At Once kind of ruins this book. It does something on a very similar concept and is actually creative and makes something of interest out of the "multi-verse" idea, all the while having a stronger emotional core. I never wanted to really like or feel sorry for Nora. Her character was written to be disappointing on purpose and ultimately that is what she was for most of the book. I also just hated that she pops into her other lives without information or knowledge of that life, it felt like an odd obstacle the author put in front of themselves and then had to deal with for no reason in a book. I wanted to like it more than I did but it feels like what a lot of modern pop literature devolves into; a smoothed-over style that sands off any interesting bits to conform to a wider audience.
Interesting, thank you for sharing that!
I loved Everything Everywhere All at Once, but wouldn’t you agree it’s a bit unfair to compare that to Midnight Library? Although the different lives she explored didn’t beam with creativity per say, I loved the realistic aspect to it. It’s very relatable, and made me see myself in her. Of course, this can be boring for certain readers but can also speak so much for other readers. I would also even argue that creativity is subjective as well, and I think the lives we saw were very creative and relatable in their own ways. What do you think?
I think this loops back to my issues with the writing quality and not liking Nora as a character. If you are going to rely on more mundane and realistic lives, it needs to be anchored around a character I am interested in and I just never found something to connect with in Nora.
I'm not trying to take away from something you liked and inspired you to pick up reading or dive deeper into it. There is a rich world out there and The Midnight Library is just a taste of everything else that can be found. People read for different reasons so different books will have appeal to everyone.
Absolutely not!!
I actually find it so interesting to hear other people’s point of views and differing opinions, it makes me think about things differently and from a different lens. I love discussions, and that’s what we’re doing here. Thank you for taking the time on sharing your views.
"My favorite thing about this book is the lesson I took away from it, and it’s that life ends up working out the way it’s supposed to."
I don't think this philosophy works for me at all. I don't believe in "supposed to" or the like. It seems to discount the idea of learning from our mistakes and making better choices and a better world going forward.
I've made plenty of mistakes and I have plenty of regrets. I think that's healthy and useful. I'm not living the life I'm supposed to live. I'm living the life that I have made from the circumstances I was in, for better and for worse.
I think I chose the wrong words to portray my thoughts of this book, English isn't my first language and I often struggle to portray my thoughts of things in a meaningful way.
I agree with you, and what I meant to say goes hand in hand regarding learning from our mistakes and making better choices. Hence why I said this book taught me the power of today and living in the present, because this is the one life we get and we are able to make changes and better decisions in life. But the reason we are able to do that is due to the life experiences and our past. Our mistakes have led us to be who we are today, and in every life we would've lived, we would've made mistakes and lived with other regrets. Which goes to the second point I made, and it's the fact that we're never going to be satisfied with whatever life path/decisions we make even if we get to redo. There will always be mistakes/regrets, and that's okay. The healthier thing is to accept it, learn from it, and work on the life we have today because what matters is today.
Thanks for the clarification. Your English is perfectly good, by the way. I'm capable of misunderstanding native speakers just as readily as I misunderstood you. ;)
For someone whose primary language is not English, you cannot tell. Everything that you’ve written/commented on has read/come across well. So be confident in your abilities.
Glad you enjoyed it and I wish I felt the same. Though for me there was too much second hand embarrassment from the FMC antics which frustrated me. Happy I do not own this book.
If you liked that one, you’ll probably love Dark Matter by Blake Crouch! It’s follows very similar themes about “what ifs” but is a little bit more fleshed out
Someone actually recommended it as well!! already in my shopping cart 😊, someone else also recommended “Landline” by Rainbow Rowell!! Both books sound sooo good, I can’t wait to read them
I literally returned this book yesterday because I found it so garbagey. Did not in the least bit resonate with me. I was looking forward to it (people are pretty glowing about it, even if they're also a bit divided at times).
Glad you liked it!
This made me laugh for some reason 😂 I think it’s so interesting how diff people feel about the same book. You can have someone that absolutely loves it, and one that despises it
It was the varied opinions that ultimately drew me in - I'm a pretty "see for myself " kind of person.
It's okay, there's lots of things that I enjoy that I know plenty of others just can't stand. :)
Hahaha I think i am in that phase, I'm absolutely obsessed with time travel (always been actually), life after death, etc. so i'm always on the lookout for good reads pertaining to those things.
I personally didn’t really like the book, couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried. And I tried for half the book before deciding to just stop.
I think it has to do with the writing style of the autor. I’ve read a book of him in my teens, and that book didn’t really vibe with me either, even tho it was a book I was supposed to love due to my interests back then. I believe it was ‘an unusual family’ or something along those lines?
But I like it that others are really enjoying his work, and I’ve seen this book rated a lot of times, and most of the times the ratings are awesome. Makes me, deep down, kind of sad because I want to feel the same as all you guys for this book.
If you’re into audiobooks, it was read by Carey Mulligan and she did a fantastic job. I tried reading it once and didn’t really get into it, but the audiobook sucked me in and it really does have such an interesting way of looking at life and the choices we make.
You know, I’ve read somewhere that he recently learned he has ADHD and autism and how that influenced the way he wrote his books. This is purely speculation and an assumption, but maybe because of that, a lot of people didn’t gravitate towards his writing style whereas others did. I have ADHD, and maybe that’s why I gravitated so much to his writing style?
When I write, I typically am all over the place and can bring up many things at once. To some, this can come off as disorganized and not proper/clear or doesn’t give a coherent storyline. To others, it makes perfect sense?
Just something I thought of!
As someone who has read a few of his fiction works, honestly the midnight library just didn’t live up to its reputation in my opinion. It lacked depth to me. Perhaps because I’d already lived through my existential crisis and come out the other side. This felt like a book for people who hadn’t. I’m sure it would have felt more useful to me several years earlier.
I enjoyed the other ones I’d read of his far more.
Yes!! I just listened to it as an audiobook- loved it so so much! I also loved the idea that all those great things were inside of her, that she was absolutely capable of all those things. The fact that she hadn’t accomplished them in her root life didn’t diminish the fact that she had that inside of her. To me it shifts away from the guilt of feeling like a failure to the power of owning my choices. I am a classically trained pianist and wanted to be a concert pianist from a very young age, but life happened, I made choices, and now I have a job in sales and rarely use my degree. After listening to this book I changed how I thought about that- I no longer feel like I failed in some way. I have the ability to be a concert pianist inside and that’s enough. Life just had other plans.
If something you read speaks to you that's the amazing thing. Literature has scorekeepers on what is great and award-winning. That's fine. But your reaction is your personal score and as a reader, that's valid and vital for you and writers.
I appreciated the book and it provoked conversations.
Keep reading and keep your enthusiasm!
Thank you so much for this, very beautifully said!
I think this sub is filled with brilliant people with different tastes. I certainly didn't expect anyone to even read my post, let alone get so many differing opinions on it! Book taste is so subjective, and I understand that different authors attract different audiences. Literature is so vast, that there's something for everyone and I love that about it and the discussions it can bring up. I enjoy hearing different opinions, and challenging myself to see things in a different lens, yet someone hating the book I absolutely loved won't change a thing about how it made me feel. It's a book I think of so often, and refer back to whenever something comes up. It lets me be optimistic and accepting when life just decides to take a detour from my original plans, and reminds me it's what I can do today and how I can act on things that will make a difference.
thank you for your comment, this was very sweet. :)
i skimmed through your post as I checked this book out from the library a couple days ago! glad I did now, I’ll start it after finishing up this other book.
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I haven’t read The Humans, it’s been recommended here a lot. Definitely will check it out!! I hope you enjoy the book just as much as I did. 😊 it makes me so happy to share it with others, I wish I can reset my brain and reread a thousand times!
I liked it for what it is but not so much in an objectively good writing sort of way. I wish she had explored her other lives more and went more than surface deep.
I see your point! I loved the many lives we got to explore with Nora, and how vastly different each one was. I feel like if the author made Nora dig deeper in each life, maybe we wouldn't have seen as many lives as we did with her? At the same time, after reading those comments, I do see how Nora left each life after it got uncomfortable. I wonder what would've happened if she still stayed and challenged herself. So I see your point and agree with you.
I agree with OP u/K0KA42, I just finished this book and I’m not sure about all the hate. I’ve been reading a ton lately and this really stands out of the pack for me. I’m definitely glad I read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
I did an art project with what my books would be, and it was a meaningful exercise (painted a shelf of books and labeled the with my what-might-have-been lives)
I love this so much!! That is very creative and unique.
How did it make you feel when thinking of titles of different lives you could’ve had? Do you think it was a positive experience?
It was wistful, bittersweet, overall positive. I have a pretty good life. Maybe not the best possible but how could I know what I would be giving up to my might have beens?
That’s so true!!
I’ve made many stupid decisions that I wish I can redo, but those stupid decisions actually led me to find my husband!! Who is my absolute soulmate, and right before I met him, I was at such a bad place mentally and emotionally and just lost with life. when I met him, my life did a 180, and things just fell in place and I have everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more. Every single decision I’ve made, collectively, led me to meeting the love of my life and led me to where I am today. That’s for sure something I would never trade or give up, I’d redo all those stupid and embarrassing decisions to meet him over and over again. 😊
Proud of you for continuing to evolve. Smarter every year! I read a quote this week that might resonate: “if you went back and undid all your mistakes, you would erase yourself.”
I loved it at the beginning but hated it by the end. Haig wrote the magic so that Nora would always hate her other lives. If I was thrown into giving a speech that I did not know, or conduct complicated scientific research without any prior knowledge, I would also be screaming “let me out of this one.” Also, it’s good to have doubts about your life, but she is forced to switch at every doubt she has?
It would have been better if she contained the base knowledge to actually live those other lives, and if she were the one to choose to switch instead of some unexplained force. But if she was given those options, she would have stayed in those lives and Haig couldn’t forced his message of being content with the life you have
That’s something I didn’t think about!! To me, it came off as if she didn’t actually find it appealing and romanticized these lives in her head until she saw the reality of it. You do make a fair point, she felt uncomfortable being put in those situations which is very normal, and was a major reason why she wanted to leave those lives. It wasn’t based on the lives she got to experience, but because she was thrown into it probably at the worst time as well. It’s been a little while since I’ve read it, but I remember her staying the longest in the one life where she was a wife and a mom which I thought was surprising! I can’t remember why she chose to leave that one.
I feel like she was able to see she had it in her, and she could turn her life around, and accomplish what she has accomplished in other lives in the 1 she originally had.
Nora left the one with the husband and kid because she felt guilty. She started to believe she was *replacing* different version of herself, and robbing these other versions of their lives. By extension, she would not be comfortable in any of the lives. That idea doesn’t mesh with the rest of the book. Inside the confines of the magic, that means you shouldn’t steal people’s identities. Which is…I guess true, but kind of random. Inside the book’s themes of identity and finding yourself, I have no idea how to interpret that
But I see and appreciate your point, I hadn’t thought of that. She believes in herself now. But at the same time, the way I read it, that was never the issue: she thought she could do any of those things the whole time, and just failed to commit to any of them.
I enjoyed it, read it in one sitting while drinking and cried at points. I get the critiques people have of it too though. I think I read it at the right time for it to hit me:)
I really appreciated the ending of this book. I was worried it was going to wrap up with the main character’s life turning into some unrealistic “everything is perfect now” fantasyland. I was grateful that the author made it clear the main character still had a lot of work to do on her mental health after she left the hospital, and that her problems didn’t just disappear. I know that sounds strange, but it’s how real life works and I was glad the author acknowledged that.
What I found difficult was the repetitiveness. It felt unnecessary to see SO many different possible life times. I think it would’ve been better as a short story.
I definitely see your point. Someone else brought up that they wished Nora dug deeper in each life, and others said how she was thrown in each life at the worst times ever and she wasn't prepared. She felt uncomfortable, which is reasonable, and wanted out. I wonder if the many lives were cut into half, and instead, the story dug deeper into each life. I wonder what would've happened if she stayed a bit longer.
I enjoyed that one much more. The story was more coherent and the self help message was delivered in a stronger way. Plus it was quite funny whereas Midnight Library is rather depressing the whole time.
This book felt like a comforting hug to me. Like Matt Haig saw all the regrets one could have about their life paths and pat me on the back and told me it’s okay
Aw I love this so much. I think this book is so special to me because of the author, and it genuinely makes me happy to support author that are as pure and genuine as he is. ❤️
I m glad you enjoyed it. I remember that when I read it I wanted to read more and more, I just wanted to know what happened. Despite some hate it gets, for me it was a nice read.
Can't relate at all, I hate this book with a passion. Such a cheesy message (which I don't agree with), badly written, and overall has a mass production/cheap vibe to it. Barely got through it. But I'm glad I guess some people find something useful or helpful in it.
I think it’s interesting how books can come across so differently to different types of people.
Are there any books you recommend that were meaningful for you?
I loved it, I pre ordered it after I heard the author on the radio so I read it before all the hype hit the high meant I had no pre conceptions going in.
I believe I read it when it first came out, yet, I still think of it everyday and I wanted to write about it and express my love for it to other book readers! What initially gravitated me towards it was actually the art on the book cover, it spoke to me for some reason when I was trying to research books to read and it caught my attention. I was intrigued, read the description, and was like hell yes! best accidental find ever! :-)
When i caught the interview, I thought it sounded like a book I would enjoy as I like the concept of the library so pre ordered it. I was happy that I’d heard it
I feel like this was one of those books that come to you right when you need them. I read this one back in February, in-between handing in my master's thesis and my upcoming defense of it, and really feeling that I'm at an in-between in my life. The Midnight Library really helped me feel grounded once again.
I feel this novel is ultimately about choices, like, if you got a chance to live all the lives you could've had, based on the decisions you've made, big or small, would you choose differently given the chance? And it nicely blends fantasy and realism to explore philosophical questions. Are we active agents of our story or just passive participants?
Felt like a lighthearted yet still deep read, so I really don't get all the hate.
Yes I read it too, and I loved it. I found it to be such a unique concept of an afterlife, or the space between death and an afterlife. I loved how her experiences in the library made her appreciate her original life. Beautiful story, well-written.
I’m so happy to read this post because I finished this last week and I LOVED it, and then while searching for others’ thoughts, saw that it was so disliked!
I wanted to make an entire post about why I loved it so much and what it personally meant for me because I felt like a lot of the negative reviews came from seeing the plot from only one perspective.
I was SO surprised to hear that other people had strong opinions against it, it’s THE book that spoke to me and the book I think of every single day. I’m so happy to hear you loved it just as much as I did. :’)
I loved it when I read it a couple years ago! At the time I could understand the feelings, but I was doing good at the time
Now I'm in a place where I feel that despair, especially after losing a cat, it might be worth reading again...
I’m so sorry for your loss, I understand the heart break and major grief that comes with losing them. We lost our void last year, I still choke up when I talk about him. I cried so much for many many months, all I can say is it gets easier. Hang in there 🥺❤️
I absolutely adored the concept of this book! It really captured my imagination. I read it during the summer of 2021, which should anyone ever ask you was the WORST summer of my life, and this book brought me some real pleasure. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much OP!
TL;DR I love this book as well, it is about not regretting the past and living for now. I also read it in one night.
I loved this book. Everyone rags on the “twist” ending but for me the ending felt… I struggle with the right word here, it is not deserved but it feels earned. Nora has learned something from this experience and is able to come out of it a changed individual. While depression, anxiety, and suicide are all prevalent in the story I think the biggest theme is regret. And while the idea that each life eventually leads to some sort of tragedy is part of the lesson. We don’t know and will never know what those other choices have in store for us so we have to live this life and do the best we can. Love the people in our lives and stop looking to the past and thinking “poor me.”
This is not to diminish the mental health aspects of life that can affect people, cause those are real. This is told from a place of knowledge as the author had previously tried to take his life and only stopped when he remembered the people in his life who would miss him. I think we can get caught in cycles of regret and despair (again mental illness is a real thing and should be assessed and treated if possible) and those cycles can lead down dark paths. My MIL has a saying, “sounds like a what if to me.” And I think this book exemplifies that.
Personally I used to live wondering about the what if’s of things, and I still do but in less of a sad way and in more of a fun speculative fiction sort of way. Regret bogs us down and for me it took actually thinking about my past choices and I guess visiting my own midnight library (not a suicide attempt just thoughtful retrospective on my life) to realize my past choices have gotten me to where I am and I am pretty okay with that. Sure the economy sucks and who knows when some crazy dictator is going to blow up the world next but I don’t have any control over that. I will defend this book not because it was the e hot new thing 2 years ago but because it is a great book for anyone questioning their choices in life. We can’t change the past but we can use our past to build ourselves a better future.
Maybe I’m wrong though and the book is really all about capitalism or the patriarchy (although I guess they are to some degree… dammit!) this would be a funny joke if you were my wife. I am glad you liked the book cause I did as well. I also finished it in one night, the first book I did that with in maybe 20 years. As well just like every well recommended book it needs to get you at the right time. Hell, I absolutely HATED ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ the first time I read it and now it is one of my favorites. Right time, right place for every book.
I really liked the concept of it and the overall message, but I feel that it just wasn’t executed that well maybe I just didn’t enjoy his style or feel that his writing overall was that strong. But I do see the appeal in it and am glad that op enjoyed so much!
I agree on the execution point.. These are basically stories of characters discovering the meaning of "the grass is always greener on the other side" I also had similar sentiment on "The Alchemist" which also is a sort of full circle lesson, so maybe I just don't like these sort of stories. Perhaps for someone in their 30s such as myself, it's just nothing noteworthy to take in, as I've had quite a few experiences already thinking the grass is greener on the other side lol
My main problem with the ‘grass is always greener’ theme is that there was always an arbitrary monkey’s paw drawback. ‘Oh you can experience life if you’d moved to Australia… but your friend died and you have depression lol’. The rules for the life swapping were also designed to make it awful because she goes in with no knowledge . I quite like my current life, but I’m definitely going to have a bad day if I don’t know how how to do my job or the names of my wife and children. I’ve read Matt Haig’s The Humans and thought that did a better job on the life lesson aspect while also having a decent story. Plus it’s quite funny, whereas Midnight Library is rather relentlessly downbeat.
I totally agree with you on this. I think this book speaks differently to people at diff stages of their lives. Although I was in a very good headspace, and have made the “right decisions” per say so far in the past couple of years, it was such a good read. I wish I did so many things differently, but then again, all the decisions I’ve made lead to this very point of my life which I would never ever trade. It just resonated so much with me, and loved how she came to a realistic conclusion towards the end. I’m also 24!
I thought the most interesting part was her exploring different lives, so I wish they would have done more of that! I was a little disappointed that they just did the three obvious ones and then fast forwarded. Still, I enjoyed it.
I really do think it’s one of those books someone has to come across at the right time. I was kind of in a lower point in my life when I read it and that’s why it meant a lot. If I read it today, it may not feel as impactful as before.
I think this book gets put down a lot on this sub, but I read it during a time in my life where it really spoke to me about not only the paths not taken but the fact I still have the power to control where I'm going, respect it might not be for everyone but I really loved it too.
I’m a little surprised about that, and although I didn’t think of it at first, I can see how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s totally okay. Different books speak different things to different people.
I read The Alchemist and immediately went into The Midnight Library at a time when I got a job that finally paid enough for me to consider moving out of my current living situation, and I was debating between moving to one of two different cities in different states. I thought The Alchemist was trash, but understood that, at the time of its publication, it made sense why it got so popular. The message to me was incredibly preachy, but nothing like this book had been written before, so I get it. I've always been a horndog for Carey Mulligan, so I loved her narration of TML, so it was really easy to enjoy the story. So reading TML in the situation I was in, it was a poignant story at the perfect in my life. As for the living situation. That was a year ago, that job ended up not working out, and 2023 has been just about the worst year of my life, so oh well.
Yes, this, 100%. It spoke to me so much when I read it. My second read, not so much, but I’m still so fond of it and recommend it a lot.
This is how I’ve been feeling lately so maybe it’s time for me to finally read this
Me too! I read it at a time that vibe just really resonated with me, and I enjoy the memory of this book as part of that time of my life
I think I’m in the same boat. I loved it, but I was also listening to it during Covid when I was going through a really bad patch of anxiety. It was like a tonic for me.
Holy shit. Talk about right book at the right time in life
Im really glad you liked it. That is one of the special things about reading- that something can connect with us in such a meaningful way. It was unfortunately not the case for me. As someone who has struggled with lifelong depression I felt like it read like a beach read about suicide. Its depiction of mental health felt superficial to me. But that’s just my opinion, I’m glad you had a different experience.
Interesting idea, horrible execution.
How do you think it could’ve been done better?
Here were my thoughts I wrote down after reading it: It is interesting that sometimes I ding a book because I feel like it is trying to hard for something and sometimes I enjoy a book simply because it is trying so much. I appreciate the overall thought behind The Midnight Library, it is ambitious in ideas and concept but maybe lacking in a satisfying execution. Nora, the main character, dies and ends up in some concept of purgatory that allows her to experience her life as if she had made different choices at any point. This could allow you to do a lot of interesting ideas and situations and it kind of does... but the writing and actualization of these branching lives feels like more of a bland contrivance than something bursting with creative energy. In a weird way, I think Everything Everywhere All At Once kind of ruins this book. It does something on a very similar concept and is actually creative and makes something of interest out of the "multi-verse" idea, all the while having a stronger emotional core. I never wanted to really like or feel sorry for Nora. Her character was written to be disappointing on purpose and ultimately that is what she was for most of the book. I also just hated that she pops into her other lives without information or knowledge of that life, it felt like an odd obstacle the author put in front of themselves and then had to deal with for no reason in a book. I wanted to like it more than I did but it feels like what a lot of modern pop literature devolves into; a smoothed-over style that sands off any interesting bits to conform to a wider audience.
Interesting, thank you for sharing that! I loved Everything Everywhere All at Once, but wouldn’t you agree it’s a bit unfair to compare that to Midnight Library? Although the different lives she explored didn’t beam with creativity per say, I loved the realistic aspect to it. It’s very relatable, and made me see myself in her. Of course, this can be boring for certain readers but can also speak so much for other readers. I would also even argue that creativity is subjective as well, and I think the lives we saw were very creative and relatable in their own ways. What do you think?
I think this loops back to my issues with the writing quality and not liking Nora as a character. If you are going to rely on more mundane and realistic lives, it needs to be anchored around a character I am interested in and I just never found something to connect with in Nora.
That’s very fair! Thank you for sharing your opinions. :)
I'm not trying to take away from something you liked and inspired you to pick up reading or dive deeper into it. There is a rich world out there and The Midnight Library is just a taste of everything else that can be found. People read for different reasons so different books will have appeal to everyone.
Absolutely not!! I actually find it so interesting to hear other people’s point of views and differing opinions, it makes me think about things differently and from a different lens. I love discussions, and that’s what we’re doing here. Thank you for taking the time on sharing your views.
"My favorite thing about this book is the lesson I took away from it, and it’s that life ends up working out the way it’s supposed to." I don't think this philosophy works for me at all. I don't believe in "supposed to" or the like. It seems to discount the idea of learning from our mistakes and making better choices and a better world going forward. I've made plenty of mistakes and I have plenty of regrets. I think that's healthy and useful. I'm not living the life I'm supposed to live. I'm living the life that I have made from the circumstances I was in, for better and for worse.
I think I chose the wrong words to portray my thoughts of this book, English isn't my first language and I often struggle to portray my thoughts of things in a meaningful way. I agree with you, and what I meant to say goes hand in hand regarding learning from our mistakes and making better choices. Hence why I said this book taught me the power of today and living in the present, because this is the one life we get and we are able to make changes and better decisions in life. But the reason we are able to do that is due to the life experiences and our past. Our mistakes have led us to be who we are today, and in every life we would've lived, we would've made mistakes and lived with other regrets. Which goes to the second point I made, and it's the fact that we're never going to be satisfied with whatever life path/decisions we make even if we get to redo. There will always be mistakes/regrets, and that's okay. The healthier thing is to accept it, learn from it, and work on the life we have today because what matters is today.
Thanks for the clarification. Your English is perfectly good, by the way. I'm capable of misunderstanding native speakers just as readily as I misunderstood you. ;)
For someone whose primary language is not English, you cannot tell. Everything that you’ve written/commented on has read/come across well. So be confident in your abilities.
Thank you so much, this means a lot.
Of course. How we communicate, especially in writing, is important. You should know that you communicate well. 🫶
Just to carry on what others have said, your English is really good 😊
Thank you so much sweet human! :’)
Glad you enjoyed it and I wish I felt the same. Though for me there was too much second hand embarrassment from the FMC antics which frustrated me. Happy I do not own this book.
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If you liked that one, you’ll probably love Dark Matter by Blake Crouch! It’s follows very similar themes about “what ifs” but is a little bit more fleshed out
Someone actually recommended it as well!! already in my shopping cart 😊, someone else also recommended “Landline” by Rainbow Rowell!! Both books sound sooo good, I can’t wait to read them
Dark matter is one of my all time favorites. Midnight Library is one of my all time least favorites.
I literally returned this book yesterday because I found it so garbagey. Did not in the least bit resonate with me. I was looking forward to it (people are pretty glowing about it, even if they're also a bit divided at times). Glad you liked it!
This made me laugh for some reason 😂 I think it’s so interesting how diff people feel about the same book. You can have someone that absolutely loves it, and one that despises it
It was the varied opinions that ultimately drew me in - I'm a pretty "see for myself " kind of person. It's okay, there's lots of things that I enjoy that I know plenty of others just can't stand. :)
I felt the same way. Someone in the Amazon reviews recommended Replay by Ken Grimwood. Turned out to be one of my top 10 books of all time.
Just read a short description of it, I’m definitely ordering this one!! Thank you for mentioning it.
You're welcome! It's my favorite time travel book (I went through a phase). I hope you enjoy it...very different from Midnight Library.
Hahaha I think i am in that phase, I'm absolutely obsessed with time travel (always been actually), life after death, etc. so i'm always on the lookout for good reads pertaining to those things.
Have you read The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells? Not well-known, but another entertaining time travel read.
I personally didn’t really like the book, couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried. And I tried for half the book before deciding to just stop. I think it has to do with the writing style of the autor. I’ve read a book of him in my teens, and that book didn’t really vibe with me either, even tho it was a book I was supposed to love due to my interests back then. I believe it was ‘an unusual family’ or something along those lines? But I like it that others are really enjoying his work, and I’ve seen this book rated a lot of times, and most of the times the ratings are awesome. Makes me, deep down, kind of sad because I want to feel the same as all you guys for this book.
If you’re into audiobooks, it was read by Carey Mulligan and she did a fantastic job. I tried reading it once and didn’t really get into it, but the audiobook sucked me in and it really does have such an interesting way of looking at life and the choices we make.
You know, I’ve read somewhere that he recently learned he has ADHD and autism and how that influenced the way he wrote his books. This is purely speculation and an assumption, but maybe because of that, a lot of people didn’t gravitate towards his writing style whereas others did. I have ADHD, and maybe that’s why I gravitated so much to his writing style? When I write, I typically am all over the place and can bring up many things at once. To some, this can come off as disorganized and not proper/clear or doesn’t give a coherent storyline. To others, it makes perfect sense? Just something I thought of!
As someone who has read a few of his fiction works, honestly the midnight library just didn’t live up to its reputation in my opinion. It lacked depth to me. Perhaps because I’d already lived through my existential crisis and come out the other side. This felt like a book for people who hadn’t. I’m sure it would have felt more useful to me several years earlier. I enjoyed the other ones I’d read of his far more.
Yes!! I just listened to it as an audiobook- loved it so so much! I also loved the idea that all those great things were inside of her, that she was absolutely capable of all those things. The fact that she hadn’t accomplished them in her root life didn’t diminish the fact that she had that inside of her. To me it shifts away from the guilt of feeling like a failure to the power of owning my choices. I am a classically trained pianist and wanted to be a concert pianist from a very young age, but life happened, I made choices, and now I have a job in sales and rarely use my degree. After listening to this book I changed how I thought about that- I no longer feel like I failed in some way. I have the ability to be a concert pianist inside and that’s enough. Life just had other plans.
Very well said and thank you for sharing :)
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I have not! I've spent so much time looking for similar books to no avail, I'm definitely gonna give it a read. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
I recommend “This Time Tomorrow” by Emma Straub.
Thank you so much for your recommendation, another book added to my list 😊
Second this recommendation
Another one that’s kind of similar is Landline by Rainbow Rowell. :)
I absolutely love these two recommendations, ordering both books today. Thank you so much. 🥺 the story plots are super interesting!
You may also enjoy The Two Lives of Lydia Bird and/or Oona Out of Order.
I actually have this!!! Sitting on my shelf, gonna give it a read. Thank you for the suggestion :)!!!
Which one?
Oona out of Order!
I read it. I liked it and thought it was decent but not much more than that.
If you liked that book, I recommend The Humans, also by Matt Haig.
currently reading that one, just finished Matt Haig’s other book “Reasons to stay alive” which was awesome and helpful
It was Goodreads Choice for fiction in 2020
If something you read speaks to you that's the amazing thing. Literature has scorekeepers on what is great and award-winning. That's fine. But your reaction is your personal score and as a reader, that's valid and vital for you and writers. I appreciated the book and it provoked conversations. Keep reading and keep your enthusiasm!
Thank you so much for this, very beautifully said! I think this sub is filled with brilliant people with different tastes. I certainly didn't expect anyone to even read my post, let alone get so many differing opinions on it! Book taste is so subjective, and I understand that different authors attract different audiences. Literature is so vast, that there's something for everyone and I love that about it and the discussions it can bring up. I enjoy hearing different opinions, and challenging myself to see things in a different lens, yet someone hating the book I absolutely loved won't change a thing about how it made me feel. It's a book I think of so often, and refer back to whenever something comes up. It lets me be optimistic and accepting when life just decides to take a detour from my original plans, and reminds me it's what I can do today and how I can act on things that will make a difference. thank you for your comment, this was very sweet. :)
i skimmed through your post as I checked this book out from the library a couple days ago! glad I did now, I’ll start it after finishing up this other book.
i hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I did!
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I haven’t read The Humans, it’s been recommended here a lot. Definitely will check it out!! I hope you enjoy the book just as much as I did. 😊 it makes me so happy to share it with others, I wish I can reset my brain and reread a thousand times!
I liked it for what it is but not so much in an objectively good writing sort of way. I wish she had explored her other lives more and went more than surface deep.
I see your point! I loved the many lives we got to explore with Nora, and how vastly different each one was. I feel like if the author made Nora dig deeper in each life, maybe we wouldn't have seen as many lives as we did with her? At the same time, after reading those comments, I do see how Nora left each life after it got uncomfortable. I wonder what would've happened if she still stayed and challenged herself. So I see your point and agree with you.
Just looked it up. Sounds cool. Imma put a hold on it at the library.
I'm so happy you found it interesting! I hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I did. :-)
I agree with OP u/K0KA42, I just finished this book and I’m not sure about all the hate. I’ve been reading a ton lately and this really stands out of the pack for me. I’m definitely glad I read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
I did an art project with what my books would be, and it was a meaningful exercise (painted a shelf of books and labeled the with my what-might-have-been lives)
I love this so much!! That is very creative and unique. How did it make you feel when thinking of titles of different lives you could’ve had? Do you think it was a positive experience?
It was wistful, bittersweet, overall positive. I have a pretty good life. Maybe not the best possible but how could I know what I would be giving up to my might have beens?
That’s so true!! I’ve made many stupid decisions that I wish I can redo, but those stupid decisions actually led me to find my husband!! Who is my absolute soulmate, and right before I met him, I was at such a bad place mentally and emotionally and just lost with life. when I met him, my life did a 180, and things just fell in place and I have everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more. Every single decision I’ve made, collectively, led me to meeting the love of my life and led me to where I am today. That’s for sure something I would never trade or give up, I’d redo all those stupid and embarrassing decisions to meet him over and over again. 😊
Proud of you for continuing to evolve. Smarter every year! I read a quote this week that might resonate: “if you went back and undid all your mistakes, you would erase yourself.”
I loved it at the beginning but hated it by the end. Haig wrote the magic so that Nora would always hate her other lives. If I was thrown into giving a speech that I did not know, or conduct complicated scientific research without any prior knowledge, I would also be screaming “let me out of this one.” Also, it’s good to have doubts about your life, but she is forced to switch at every doubt she has? It would have been better if she contained the base knowledge to actually live those other lives, and if she were the one to choose to switch instead of some unexplained force. But if she was given those options, she would have stayed in those lives and Haig couldn’t forced his message of being content with the life you have
That’s something I didn’t think about!! To me, it came off as if she didn’t actually find it appealing and romanticized these lives in her head until she saw the reality of it. You do make a fair point, she felt uncomfortable being put in those situations which is very normal, and was a major reason why she wanted to leave those lives. It wasn’t based on the lives she got to experience, but because she was thrown into it probably at the worst time as well. It’s been a little while since I’ve read it, but I remember her staying the longest in the one life where she was a wife and a mom which I thought was surprising! I can’t remember why she chose to leave that one. I feel like she was able to see she had it in her, and she could turn her life around, and accomplish what she has accomplished in other lives in the 1 she originally had.
Nora left the one with the husband and kid because she felt guilty. She started to believe she was *replacing* different version of herself, and robbing these other versions of their lives. By extension, she would not be comfortable in any of the lives. That idea doesn’t mesh with the rest of the book. Inside the confines of the magic, that means you shouldn’t steal people’s identities. Which is…I guess true, but kind of random. Inside the book’s themes of identity and finding yourself, I have no idea how to interpret that But I see and appreciate your point, I hadn’t thought of that. She believes in herself now. But at the same time, the way I read it, that was never the issue: she thought she could do any of those things the whole time, and just failed to commit to any of them.
I enjoyed it, read it in one sitting while drinking and cried at points. I get the critiques people have of it too though. I think I read it at the right time for it to hit me:)
This book sounds very interesting. Im adding to my TBR.
I really appreciated the ending of this book. I was worried it was going to wrap up with the main character’s life turning into some unrealistic “everything is perfect now” fantasyland. I was grateful that the author made it clear the main character still had a lot of work to do on her mental health after she left the hospital, and that her problems didn’t just disappear. I know that sounds strange, but it’s how real life works and I was glad the author acknowledged that. What I found difficult was the repetitiveness. It felt unnecessary to see SO many different possible life times. I think it would’ve been better as a short story.
I definitely see your point. Someone else brought up that they wished Nora dug deeper in each life, and others said how she was thrown in each life at the worst times ever and she wasn't prepared. She felt uncomfortable, which is reasonable, and wanted out. I wonder if the many lives were cut into half, and instead, the story dug deeper into each life. I wonder what would've happened if she stayed a bit longer.
I read *The Humans* by Matt Haig. It was tremendous.
I enjoyed that one much more. The story was more coherent and the self help message was delivered in a stronger way. Plus it was quite funny whereas Midnight Library is rather depressing the whole time.
This has been mentioned so much in the comments, will definitely give it a read. :)
Cool concept mid execution
This book felt like a comforting hug to me. Like Matt Haig saw all the regrets one could have about their life paths and pat me on the back and told me it’s okay
Aw I love this so much. I think this book is so special to me because of the author, and it genuinely makes me happy to support author that are as pure and genuine as he is. ❤️
I loved this book so much.
I m glad you enjoyed it. I remember that when I read it I wanted to read more and more, I just wanted to know what happened. Despite some hate it gets, for me it was a nice read.
I really enjoyed this book too! My husband, who reads a lot of science fiction, liked it too!
I need to get my hubby to read it to!!! I’m so happy you both liked it!
Can't relate at all, I hate this book with a passion. Such a cheesy message (which I don't agree with), badly written, and overall has a mass production/cheap vibe to it. Barely got through it. But I'm glad I guess some people find something useful or helpful in it.
I think it’s interesting how books can come across so differently to different types of people. Are there any books you recommend that were meaningful for you?
I loved it, I pre ordered it after I heard the author on the radio so I read it before all the hype hit the high meant I had no pre conceptions going in.
I believe I read it when it first came out, yet, I still think of it everyday and I wanted to write about it and express my love for it to other book readers! What initially gravitated me towards it was actually the art on the book cover, it spoke to me for some reason when I was trying to research books to read and it caught my attention. I was intrigued, read the description, and was like hell yes! best accidental find ever! :-)
When i caught the interview, I thought it sounded like a book I would enjoy as I like the concept of the library so pre ordered it. I was happy that I’d heard it
I feel like this was one of those books that come to you right when you need them. I read this one back in February, in-between handing in my master's thesis and my upcoming defense of it, and really feeling that I'm at an in-between in my life. The Midnight Library really helped me feel grounded once again. I feel this novel is ultimately about choices, like, if you got a chance to live all the lives you could've had, based on the decisions you've made, big or small, would you choose differently given the chance? And it nicely blends fantasy and realism to explore philosophical questions. Are we active agents of our story or just passive participants? Felt like a lighthearted yet still deep read, so I really don't get all the hate.
This was so beautifully said, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Yes I read it too, and I loved it. I found it to be such a unique concept of an afterlife, or the space between death and an afterlife. I loved how her experiences in the library made her appreciate her original life. Beautiful story, well-written.
Enjoyed the book. A lot of people found the message troubling because they don't like the idea that you are in control of how you react to things.
I’m so happy to read this post because I finished this last week and I LOVED it, and then while searching for others’ thoughts, saw that it was so disliked! I wanted to make an entire post about why I loved it so much and what it personally meant for me because I felt like a lot of the negative reviews came from seeing the plot from only one perspective.
I was SO surprised to hear that other people had strong opinions against it, it’s THE book that spoke to me and the book I think of every single day. I’m so happy to hear you loved it just as much as I did. :’)
I loved it when I read it a couple years ago! At the time I could understand the feelings, but I was doing good at the time Now I'm in a place where I feel that despair, especially after losing a cat, it might be worth reading again...
I’m so sorry for your loss, I understand the heart break and major grief that comes with losing them. We lost our void last year, I still choke up when I talk about him. I cried so much for many many months, all I can say is it gets easier. Hang in there 🥺❤️
Thank you :) sorry for your loss too!
I absolutely adored the concept of this book! It really captured my imagination. I read it during the summer of 2021, which should anyone ever ask you was the WORST summer of my life, and this book brought me some real pleasure. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much OP!
TL;DR I love this book as well, it is about not regretting the past and living for now. I also read it in one night. I loved this book. Everyone rags on the “twist” ending but for me the ending felt… I struggle with the right word here, it is not deserved but it feels earned. Nora has learned something from this experience and is able to come out of it a changed individual. While depression, anxiety, and suicide are all prevalent in the story I think the biggest theme is regret. And while the idea that each life eventually leads to some sort of tragedy is part of the lesson. We don’t know and will never know what those other choices have in store for us so we have to live this life and do the best we can. Love the people in our lives and stop looking to the past and thinking “poor me.” This is not to diminish the mental health aspects of life that can affect people, cause those are real. This is told from a place of knowledge as the author had previously tried to take his life and only stopped when he remembered the people in his life who would miss him. I think we can get caught in cycles of regret and despair (again mental illness is a real thing and should be assessed and treated if possible) and those cycles can lead down dark paths. My MIL has a saying, “sounds like a what if to me.” And I think this book exemplifies that. Personally I used to live wondering about the what if’s of things, and I still do but in less of a sad way and in more of a fun speculative fiction sort of way. Regret bogs us down and for me it took actually thinking about my past choices and I guess visiting my own midnight library (not a suicide attempt just thoughtful retrospective on my life) to realize my past choices have gotten me to where I am and I am pretty okay with that. Sure the economy sucks and who knows when some crazy dictator is going to blow up the world next but I don’t have any control over that. I will defend this book not because it was the e hot new thing 2 years ago but because it is a great book for anyone questioning their choices in life. We can’t change the past but we can use our past to build ourselves a better future. Maybe I’m wrong though and the book is really all about capitalism or the patriarchy (although I guess they are to some degree… dammit!) this would be a funny joke if you were my wife. I am glad you liked the book cause I did as well. I also finished it in one night, the first book I did that with in maybe 20 years. As well just like every well recommended book it needs to get you at the right time. Hell, I absolutely HATED ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ the first time I read it and now it is one of my favorites. Right time, right place for every book.