A thought-provoking, heart shattering story of Nora Seed, a 35-year-old woman, who despite all the pain and disappointments she’s had, finds the will to try again — in another life.

One of the best reads I’ve had in the recent years, that makes you think of life itself — and how, despite everything or anything that’s happened in your life, it will always be your life.

TW: Discussions of depression and suicide

Nora has been many things in her life: a sister, a promising swimmer, a bandmate, a partner, a philosophy graduate, a friend, helpful neighbour, a piano teacher, a music shop worker, and a cat owner. Nora  feels like at the age of 35 she’s failed numerous times. As the life she knows starts to crumble down, Nora does the only thing she can think of to end the pain — swallow down a bunch of her antidepressants.

Nora wakes up in a place not quite for the living and not quite for the dead, with only a figment of her former school librarian, Mrs. Elm to guide her through the process: the process of finding a life to try to live  and stay in, instead. 

As Nora begins to explore these parallel lives, she soon begins to recognize how no matter which path in those parallel lives she seems to take, she can’t shake just how unhappy she is in a life that is not hers. She begins to reflect on how the dreams in those lives and her achievements had been created by the hopes and dreams of the people around her instead of herself. 

When Nora finds herself back in the Midnight Library time and time again, she can’t help but feel frustrated of not having found a perfect life for her. That’s when Mrs. Elm instructs her to focus on the “little things”.

It takes a few more lives, more absent dreams and even a few seemingly great lives for Nora to recognise her true will to go on, despite the pain and suffering she’s gone through in her life. It’s only when she returns to the Library for the seemingly final time, as the mere premise of it is crashing down, when she realises life as it is isn’t about the achievements, or the fame, or even the love — it’s about being an endless paths to take and countless of possibilities. The only way you can choose any of them, is the beauty of it all: and the key to do that is to just keep living.

I’m not going to lie, I went into this book with no pre-existing knowledge of it. When I first got to the point of Nora attempting and getting to the Midnight Library, I was a bit sceptical of how it would be pulled off without seeming “cheap” or worse, shallow take on a depressed mind.

As someone who’s suffered from depression for most of their life, and has been going through similar thoughts and feelings to the main character Nora in the book, and more than once have I gone through the cycle of thinking about the point of it all.

Never in my life did I think I’d read a book that would do such a beautiful job at portraying the sheer terror of realising you don’t want to actually die: how you just want to feel the pain and the disappointment anymore.

When I got to the last 80-or-so pages, I found myself crying and not stopping until the final pages. What started out as a whirlwind of emotions, finally settled down to a sense of peace as the premise of the book finally dawned upon me:

Life isn’t free of pain — it’s messy, and it’s painful, at times, but it’s also beautiful, and joy, and endless possibilities. The only way to get to that part is to keep living.

Kudos to Haig for this book. It’s got to be one of the best ones I’ve read in my life.

 Have you ever battled with all of the "what ifs" in life?

The Midnight Library is a novel about Nora Seed, who feels like her life has gone off track. She’s unhappy and filled with regrets, so she decides to end it all. But instead of dying, she wakes up in a mysterious place called the Midnight Library. This library is special because every book in it represents a version of her life, based on the different choices she could have made. Nora gets the chance to live out these alternate lives to see how things might have turned out if she'd made different decisions.

The book is really about dealing with regret and understanding that life is full of possibilities. Through Nora's journey, the story shows that no life is perfect, and it's okay to have made mistakes. The author, Matt Haig, uses this adventure to teach us that it's not about wishing for a perfect life, but learning to accept the one we have, flaws and all.

What makes this book relatable is that we’ve all wondered "what if?" at some point, wishing we had made different choices. The story offers hope and reminds us that the life we're living is enough, even if it’s not what we expected. The idea of the Midnight Library is pretty cool, and the story lets Nora explore a lot of different versions of her life, which I know many of us have wished we could do.

In the end, The Midnight Library is uplifting and helps us see that it’s okay to embrace the life we’ve chosen, even if it’s not perfect. It’s a good book for anyone who likes stories about second chances, finding peace with yourself, and seeing the world in a different way.

Overall Verdict:
The Midnight Library is an inspiring and thoughtful read. It’s a good mix of fiction and self-help, and it encourages you to appreciate the life you’re living, no matter how imperfect it might seem. If you’re into books about personal growth and second chances, this one’s worth reading! 

This book was just simply beautiful, I absolutely loved this book and all the meaning it holds.

This book has lots of important messages that I think everyone should read and learn from. I really reflected on my own life after reading this book.

"She realized that's what she was. A black hole. A dying star, collapsing in on itself."

"Death is the opposite of possibility."

Excellent quick read. Had me tearing up only 22 pages in. Perfect companion on a cold, snowy January day.

It felt like it went on and on and on in some parts and super rushed and incomplete in others. Several inconsistencies as well. Was a decent adventure with interesting philosophical elements. Had potential but fell short for me. 

I have an unfortunate habit of starting to mirror characters in the media I consume, for better or for worse. At the halfway point, I was nervous that it would make me miserable. Nora Seed, however, contains multitudes. This book was a delight. Although I correctly predicted the ending and the plot itself was very easy to divine, I still had a good time watching Nora's journey. Definitely a good addition to my library.