I was thrilled to be accepted for an advanced copy of Matt Haig's new fantastic novel.
I immediately was thrown in to Nora's world, her hurts and her regrets. This sounds like a depressing concept but actually it is a most uplifting and life-affirming story, without twee sentiment.
There's a special library, The Midnight Library, where the librarian oversees all of Nora's life stories, her multiple lives resulting from all her choices. Each book is an opportunity to "try" a different choice but each alternative has its own inevitable consequences and lessons for Nora, and those she loves.
The philosophy in this story is interesting and the way you are shown how our own happiness comes from within and through the different kinds of love we experience. The lessons of life are painful with many routes that deviate from our dreams and even ideals, but have led us to be the people that we are, and that is sometimes all about perspective.
A brilliantly engaging and thought provoking read that I could read again and again.

‘Between life and death there is a library,’ she said. ‘And within that library , the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?’

Ever since Matt first tweeted about the idea of this book, I was sold. So when I saw it on Netgalley I had to try for it, and dived straight in when I was accepted.

This story was amazing, like a fiction version of Matt's Self Help books.

The story starts with Nora who takes he own life, and wakes up in a strange library full of books which look the same, and a familiar face. She has endless possibilities of living a life she never did, each book a different life. She can visit as many as she wants, and if it isnt he right life to stay in, she'll end up back in the library to try again.

Sounds great right? Living the lives she never got to, living out choices she regrets making? Well she only has a certain amount of time in the library, as long as be click stays on Midnight, so she needs to figure her plans out before time runs out.

The idea of this story is brilliant, and the book didn't fail to make me smile. I'd recommend it to everyone!

Very much a 21st Century “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
When Nora Seed decides to die by suicide she is shown alternative lives to help her see if a different life with different choices will yield a more satisfied Nora.
As much of a self help book as a fiction novel, The Midnight Library is a sweet story that touches on philosophy, purpose and meaning.
Matt Haig’s sensitive writing style turns a touchy subject into a conversation starter.
Definitely one for the book clubs and definitely one for someone who struggles with mental health problems.

What a clever and likeable book. Matt Haig's well known awareness of the impact of depression on an individual runs through the book. He is clever, insightful and kind. I absolutely loved our heroine, Nora and I really wanted her to live and live well..
The idea behind the book is inspired and it is brilliantly executed. I read the book in two days and I didn't want to put it down. The story line is really different but at it's heart is family, friendship, a longing to be fulfilled in life, and how our experiences make us what we are. I thoroughly recommend this book for all ages and genders. There really is something for everyone.
Thank you so much to Matt Haig, to the publishers and to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this delightful and moving book. I highly recommend it.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

“Between life and death there is a library,’ she said. ‘And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

So begins Matt Haig’s new novel. A brilliantly beautiful, sweet, life affirming story.

After attempting suicide Nora Seed has the opportunity to explore how her life may have played out if she’d made different choices. Inside the Midnight Library with the guidance of her old school librarian, Nora unpicks her regrets and experiences countless lives. Delving into the ‘what ifs’ and questioning what makes a successful or perfect life. What is it that makes life worth living?

The book explores big topics of mental health, depression and suicide with a light and touching style. Haig draws on his own experiences of mental health and depression allowing him to write with understanding and empathy. It is the perfect example of the healing power of storytelling, the balanced art of fiction as medicine.

This book is a beautiful affirmation of self worth, contentment and hope. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I cannot recommend it enough.

Published in the UK in August 2020. Thanks to @netgalley and @canongatebooks for my eARC.

What a jam this book was! The idea that there are various spaces we are unaware of between life and death is well depicted in this fascinating novel.

Imagine if you can fix your regret. Imagine if you can change your life where the choice that put you on a crossroads took you on a different path, where you lived in another country, fell in love, became famous, or had an adventure. What if you had the chance to live those lives to find the life you truly want?

I love Matt Haig’s books.

He never disappoints.

His fiction novels are the everyday lives of people injected with fantastical elements. They never feel like gimmicks, because Haig has the talent to weave them into his narrative where it feels normal, and not extraordinary. When I discovered he was releasing a new book, I had to get my hands on it. I adore How To Stop Time and The Humans, and I can say The Midnight Library joins in on my adoration of his writing talents.

Nora Seed has reached her low point. After losing her cat, her job, and is full of regret, Nora decides to take her own life. When she wakes up she finds herself in a library, where she meets her school librarian, who shows her all the lives she could’ve had from her book of regret, leading to Nora facing her regrets and discovering what she wanted out of life.

Anyone who has read Haig knows about his own issues with mental health, a topic he isn’t afraid to explore in his novels. Nora struggles with her own issues, and Haig writes every unflinching detail, from how dark it can go, yet always balances that out with hope that the darkness can be overcome or managed. It’s honest and vulnerable, not afraid to show the difficulty of being in such a dark place, but showing you need to embrace life over depression, which is never easy. And the wonder of the library shows that there is so much you can get from life. It can take you anywhere, you can become anyone, do anything, and go anywhere. But even if you do find the perfect life, can you dedicate yourself to a life you know you don’t belong in?

The exploration of the library and the concept of multiple lives was fascinating to witness, how different life can go if we made different choices, but aren’t the perfect worlds we wish them to be, or how one choice can change the direction of other people’s lives, too. It’s like Ground Hog’s day, but without the one day repetition, but more how a person responds to it, when life doesn’t feel like reality anymore.

The one thing I had trouble with was how quickly Nora made her revelations in her new lives. In some of them she would only be there for a few hours before she has her inspirational epiphany, and it felt way too quick to come to those conclusions, especially when she was going on very little information on her new life. It could’ve done with more time exploring them more.

The Midnight Library is an emotional exploration of life, death, and the possibility of what life might hold for us. Pick it up and get ready to fall head over heels.

After attempting suicide, Nora Seed finds herself in The Midnight Library. A place that is entirely her own, where she has the opportunity to fix her regrets and see what life would have been like if she had made other choices, taken a different path.

Another truly exceptional book from Matt Haig, The Midnight Library is filled with heart, hope, and the most uplifting message. Haig writes with boundless empathy and creates characters that are so human, I defy anyone to read and not find some aspects of their own self within them.

Of course, mental health is at the core of this story, and as usual, it is dealt with with the utmost respect and love, in a way that only someone that has faced their own struggles could do.

Devoured in a day and pre-ordered immediately. This is a book not to be missed, that's for sure!

I found I was able to relate to the main character, Nora, throughout her journey in this book. I think it is a story that is incredibly well thought out and will definitely make you consider your own life and your regrets from a different perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone!

Reading a book by Matt Haig is like reconnecting with an old friend. There's something about his writing that I find comforting; his work is accessible and full of humanity. He makes you think about your own experiences and often make sense of them.
The Midnight Library is no different. Nora Seed has had enough of life and attempts suicide. She finds herself in a position to 'try on' the lives she could have lived. Would any of them have been better? Nora's journey probably reflects a lot of peoples mental health journeys. The idea that you could see how life would turn out if you'd made a different choice is an intriguing and interesting one. I loved Nora's lives - she could have been a rock star, a glaciologist, a pub owner... the possibilities are endless. Ultimately, the message is one of acceptance and hope, that there is light as well as darkness, and that even the smallest act might change someone's life.
A lovely lovely book. Plus it has a librarian - Mrs Elm - and they rule.

Books are magical. Some books come into your life at a point in time when you need them the most. The best books are the ones that you read and they stay with you. They are the books that you will read over and over again. The Midnight Library is one of those books. It is a book so full of heart, humanity and emotion, one with a perfect storyline that will tunnel its way into your heart. One that will stay there.

The protagonist is Nora, her life is falling apart, with things breaking down in her personal, family and work life, she feels like her life is no longer worth living. That's when she has a 'visit' to the Midnight Library. A place where she is surrounded by the books of lives she could have lived if Nora had made a different decision in her life. Filled with a life of regret, but the opportunity to have a taste of a life based on those, Nora takes us on a magical, emotive journey. What I loved about Nora is that she's a character who we can all identify with on some sort of level, I definitely saw a piece of myself in her and that made the book so much more magical for me.

It made me think, and it'll make you think, if you could go back to a moment and change the trajectory of your life, would you? Would it make you happy?

Matt Haig's writing, as ever, is poetic and thoughtful, taking thoughts that we all have and producing a poetically philosophical plotline that will have you captivated, utterly absorbed.

Oh my. Midnight Library is an enchanting, poignant, life affirming novel which touches your heart and changes your perspective. There is not the words to properly articulate how wonderful it was.

I loved the concept of the library and the idea of having multiple lives makes an intriguing page turner. I felt that the pacing of this story was on point, and I never felt bored of any of the lives explored as each story had purpose and a lesson to offer both the character and the reader.

Through the rich narrative, Haig carefully explores regrets and the role they play in our life and mental health. I loved how the main character had the opportunity to reflect on the things that were making her unhappy and had a chance to see how things could be different if she changed them. Nora is a lovable but flawed character who I invested in within the first 5 pages and I often wanted to jump into the book myself to help her.

It felt like a fiction self-help book, shining a light on mental health, the impact of regrets on our self-worth, the meaning of happiness and what it truly means to live. He deals with depression and suicide with clarity and realism that never felt uncomfortable. Sometimes you read a book for entertainment, and sometimes you are lucky enough to have been entertained and educated – this book does just that.

Matt Haig should be available on prescription. Not only a beautiful imaginative story, but also medicine for the soul, a novel every human should read.

Thank you netgalley and canonbooks for giving me the opportunity to read this!

The Midnight Library is beautiful not only does it tell the story of the protagonist in a way that she enraptures your heart and soul, really making you feel. It makes you think about your own life and the choices you've made.. A riveting and thought provoking read that lingers with you long after you've turned the last page and closed the book.

“’Between life and death there is a library,’ she said. ‘And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?’”

At the lowest point of her life, feeling as if there is no hope, Nora Seed attempts suicide. She wakes up in a library, at a point between life and death, and discovers that she has a chance to try infinite alternate lives.

First of all, the concept is wonderful and Matt Haig executes it brilliantly. I had long been a fan of the way he can explore quite dark ideas of mental health and suicide but balance them with a light, positive and hopeful tone. As the story develops, and Nora gets to try out these possible lives, we see how much potential one life can hold and how small decisions can affect not only her own life but the lives of those around her.
At its heart, The Midnight Library is a heart-warming story about embracing life and the dangers of holding on to regret.

Thank you to Netgalley and Canongate for granting me a copy of this book early!

Such a fantastic premise and it’s really nicely executed. It’s got hope and positivity that doesn’t come across as cliche or patronising. A genuinely lovely book that’s so easy to read and thoroughly gripping.

‘Nora shook her head. Wishing it would fall off. Her own head. Onto the floor. So she never had to have a conversation with a stranger ever again.’ #themidnightlibrary - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This review is a little premature but hell I am spurting it all out now, and probably will again sooner to publishing date too.
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Matt’s brings together once again his unique blend of light and airy, alongside bitter sweet life poignancy with this story of Nora, a young woman pushed to the end of her emotional and mental breaking point, and is about to have a fairly eye opening outta body experience courtesy of, you guessed it, The Midnight Library.
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This isn’t just one for fans, or those that struggle with mental health themselves, it is a touching story for any contemporary fiction reader, one that is looking for a great story and perhaps a little cry too.
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And on a personal level, I just love Matts Writing style, he breaks mental health down without belittling it, you can see his own understanding laid bare with a frankness that’s doesn’t have to be uncomfortable but is just there in plain sight.
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This is such a beautiful book.

It's profound, thought-provoking and life-affirming - pretty much what Matt Haig does best.

The book is whimsical (with elements of magic realism and sci-fi) while never feeling trivial or flimsy. It deals with huge existential issues with great sensitivity and realism, combining philosophical concepts with everyday concerns.

Nora's search for peace, happiness and contentment is relatable and engaging. Her relationships are genuine and carefully explored; her connection to Mrs Elm was particularly powerful.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. As ever, Matt Haig has created a novel that is both entertaining and profoundly life-affirming.

First of all, thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley and canongate for my copy of this book. I am a huge huge fan of Matt’s and love his writing.
I had been very eagerly waiting for this one!

Gosh this was beautiful. I think Matt Haig could write about watching paint dry and I’d want it.

This book is so well thought out and so *human* and so empathetic. This book is a study in empathy, human emotion, desperation, loneliness, love, family, community, self loathing, self refection, self respect and mental health.

There is no filler in this book, nothing to skim-read or gloss over. It all matters and everything adds to the story and your experience. Nora is so likeable and relatable. We’ve all experienced poor mental health in varying degrees, even if it’s just feeling a bit ‘meh’, and so Nora is automatically someone we can read and understand and feel for.

Matt has such a personal experience with poor mental health and depression and a clear understanding of how it can make you feel (and it’s different for everyone). This is an honest book about how bad things can be, it doesn’t belittle depression of hopelessness or suicide, it respects it but handles it delicately in a way that isn’t overwhelming.

It is also a book about hope and how perception, good mental health and seeing others’ perspectives can make the world flip on its head and seen a different place.

I adore the general concept of the midnight library as a place and a plot. That we can contain multitudes in an infinite universe and all this can be within us and all be influenced by the smallest of choices and decisions, is amazing, overwhelming and somehow comforting with the way that Matt writes it.

I’m so grateful for this book and think everyone should read it. It is a book that takes you out of your own head whilst making you feel understood. It has so much heart, feeling and empathy and is written with an emotional intelligence that is unparalleled.

TW: please remember that this book does have an emphasis on suicide and poor mental health and although dealt with very respectfully and delicately, please keep your own MH in mind when reading this & take care.
Other TWs: cancer and death by cancer, adultery, pet death, loneliness, sibling death by suicide, death by car crash, alcoholism, addition, self harm.

** spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars 

Whilst it's definitely not a new idea that we lead multiple lives,Haig sets his story in a library,a guaranteed winner for anybody who loves books.
And he sets the moment to access those lives as the time between life and death.
It's done with warmth and humour,and has a very good moral of how we touch other people's lives without even realising it.
As Nora tries out various lives having attempted suicide,it seems she's never quite happy anywhere... 
Until she is,and then comes to realise what a difference her humdrum life has made to those around her.
It's definitely a heart warmer.

Like ‘How to Stop Time’ this is a book filled with hope and the reasons we live. It is written with Haig’s usual gentle genius at getting the reader through the dark. Brilliant.