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twirl 's review for:
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
This review was written in August but I delayed posting due to the book club I was reading it with. I’m honestly not sure if any of the others finished it, and probably for good reason. I had to push myself through this one.
What if you could live all the lives you regretted not living?
This book is likely a great fit for young adults who struggle with depression, though personally I felt it was long winded and I struggled to like or relate to the main character, Nora.
I believe this book would have been much better suited for my younger self who struggled frequently with depression and suicidal ideation. I did relate heavily to the book of regrets and how it can be so easy to mourn the lives you did not choose. I think my younger self would have desired to make many changes and therefore would have benefited from the message, since now I am happy with the life I ended up with and glad than I have lived to see it.
I loved the premise of the story. I thought it was a cool way to utilize the idea of parallel universes/lives in a self-help kind of way. I felt I would have preferred this to have been a short story. The author was very verbose (especially with excessive lists- in which I turned my audiobook speed to 2x so I could “skim”) and I felt like for me, the messaging was very clear after a few lives. But again, I understand that the elaborate and many lives would have been something my younger self would have enjoyed. And I do think it is fun to explore the many alternatives and could be a bit of a challenge to condense.
And I think most of all, I wish Nora would have been more likable. Her internal voice and actions were quite pessimistic and I felt like it was hard to get a good sense of her personality otherwise. With her being the only consistency across lives, I had little motivation to read. I did end up liking her much more from about 80% and all the way through to the ending, which I think made the ending all the more happier.
In summary, while at times this book felt sad, disconnected, and verbose, it had good messaging and cool premise. The execution of the premise and messaging left more to be desired for me personally.
3.5 stars for quality
2 stars for personal enjoyment
What if you could live all the lives you regretted not living?
This book is likely a great fit for young adults who struggle with depression, though personally I felt it was long winded and I struggled to like or relate to the main character, Nora.
I believe this book would have been much better suited for my younger self who struggled frequently with depression and suicidal ideation. I did relate heavily to the book of regrets and how it can be so easy to mourn the lives you did not choose. I think my younger self would have desired to make many changes and therefore would have benefited from the message, since now I am happy with the life I ended up with and glad than I have lived to see it.
I loved the premise of the story. I thought it was a cool way to utilize the idea of parallel universes/lives in a self-help kind of way. I felt I would have preferred this to have been a short story. The author was very verbose (especially with excessive lists- in which I turned my audiobook speed to 2x so I could “skim”) and I felt like for me, the messaging was very clear after a few lives. But again, I understand that the elaborate and many lives would have been something my younger self would have enjoyed. And I do think it is fun to explore the many alternatives and could be a bit of a challenge to condense.
And I think most of all, I wish Nora would have been more likable. Her internal voice and actions were quite pessimistic and I felt like it was hard to get a good sense of her personality otherwise. With her being the only consistency across lives, I had little motivation to read. I did end up liking her much more from about 80% and all the way through to the ending, which I think made the ending all the more happier.
In summary, while at times this book felt sad, disconnected, and verbose, it had good messaging and cool premise. The execution of the premise and messaging left more to be desired for me personally.
3.5 stars for quality
2 stars for personal enjoyment