Trigger Warning – Suicide/Death

The Beginning to The End

It was a rainy day when I decided to go to my local bookstore to browse books to add to my TBR list. With no time to get a cup of coffee, I walked quickly past the entrance and was going to make my way to the back of the store where most of the LGBT+ books are, but a book cover caught my attention. The complementary colors of blue and orange really stood out on the brown bookshelf, and I made my way to it. “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig had a short description written by one of the employees, talking about a library in limbo and living any life you want, so I bought it and left the store. 

The truth is, I didn’t pick it up for a week until a friend of mine mentioned that they were reading it. They said they enjoyed it so far, so I decided it was finally time to read the book. Another week later, I finally began the book, I don’t tend to procrastinate when it comes to reading books, but something about this book caused me to put it off. There was a certain vibe coming from the book, something about the description was haunting me; I felt this would be a life-changing book, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. 

The End to The Beginning

The book is about Nora, she’s in her mid-thirties, and she doesn’t have her life together. Relatable. Nora’s journey in the book begins after she takes her life and finds herself in the Midnight Library. The Midnight Library is a place you can end up somewhere between life and death and where you get another chance at life. 

At the Midnight Library, you can live any life that’s possible for yourself. This had me confused at first, but Haig does a great job at explaining the concept. Haig does a great job at explaining a lot of things, new or old, real or fictional concepts, and if you’re into philosophy, you’ll probably enjoy a lot of the conversations that happen in the book. The book follows Nora and only Nora as she goes through many different possibilities, but it never gets boring, and you’ll find yourself unable to put it down (beware). 

As I mentioned, I knew this book was gonna be life-changing, and I have to admit it changed a very crucial thing about my life. It changed my outlook on life. I know that sounds vague, but I can’t say more without giving away the whole book. But I can say this, “The Midnight Library” gave me hope. It made me really think about my own life, and for a moment after finishing that book, I felt serene, as if everything about life made sense. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is so well written, and it has such interesting ideas that I sincerely hope everyone gets to experience it and enjoys it as much as I did.

If I had to give it a rating, it would probably be 9.8/10 because nothing in life is perfect.