In the classic style of Matt Haig, The Midnight Library takes an interesting concept, combines it with a commentary on mental health, and creates a riveting read about humankind. This book has sadness and regret within it, but it is also filled with hope – reflective of much of life for many of us. I loved the concept of seeing how Nora’s life might have turned out based on the different decisions she has made, and it really made me think about what changes I could make in my own life – and if I would have done so or if that might have changed something else that I am so grateful for. Another poignant read by Matt Haig – recommended for anyone is feeling a bit lost (particularly given the current lockdown situation), particularly if they have enjoyed Haig’s previous books.

Sometimes it seems fortuitous that you pick up a book at the exact moment it can really help you. I was having a bad Corona day (you know the ones, where you feel like the black fog of this nightmare will never end and you’ll be trapped in a dystopian world forever…) so I was desperate for a few hours of escapism. I started The Midnight Library and honestly had a huge personal paradigm shift while reading.

Matt Haig has been very open about his mental health, in interviews and on his social media platforms he has revealed that he has attempted suicide in the past. He has written two non-fiction books about mental health – Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet and a brilliant children’s book, The Truth Pixie that also talks about mental health in a way children can understand. In The Midnight Library, he explores this highly personal theme in novel form.

We meet lead character Nora Seed at a pivotal moment in her life; a series of events climax in her taking an overdose. She just does not see the point in living anymore. This is when she finds herself in The Midnight Library, with librarian Mrs Elm:

‘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.'

Mrs Elm gives Nora The Book of Regrets where all of Nora’s are listed. Nora then gets the opportunity to live a different version of her life and amend a decision she regretted making. If she loves the life enough, she can stay there.

In her ‘root life’ (as her main one is referred to), Nora studied philosophy, taught piano lessons, worked in a music shop and nearly had careers as a both a rock star and an Olympic swimmer. Nearly being the key word here – how much can change when we just make one tiny decision differently?

Elements from Nora’s many lives are cleverly interwoven throughout and although we go with her through several lives, with the same people cropping up, it all feels fresh and new. She has to learn who she is in each life and assess how the decisions she makes in each will have an impact.

As much as there is the pure imagination of Nora’s many lives, Matt Haig ties it in with a deliciously intriguing multi-world string theory physics idea (fear not, non-physics fans, my main knowledge of the topic comes from Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, so you don’t need to know about it – Matt Haig explains perfectly).

Any book that can combine a wonderful, engaging story with concepts that help you positively shift the way you are thinking about things while also making your heart swell is a truly special find indeed. Such a beautiful, thought-provoking and hopeful book – read it!

“She learned that undoing regrets was really a way of making wishes come true.”
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Everyone has thought at least once in their lives: “what if...” What if I had picked that job? What if I had gone to another university? What if I had married my first love? Life is made up by choices, and every choice we make, even the smallest, lead us to where we are now. And Nora is in a terrible state. She is depressed and she has many regrets. She could have been an Olympic, a singer, a traveller.. instead she had made all the wrong choices and she has decided it’s not worth living anymore. So she decides to die, but instead of going into Paradise or Hell she ends up in a huge library (which is actually my idea of Paradise 😂). Every book here teels the story of a life she hadn’t lived, a life that would have been if she had taken a different path and she is given the opportunity to experience them and actually see how they are. This book is so inspiring even if a bit predictable, it teaches us an important lesson: it’s meaningless to regret things we haven’t done.. every life is full of loss, pain and regrets, that’s just how life works. What we can do is to try to take the best from the choices we make, to look for the future and to spread love and positivity and never underestimate the importance of the small acts of kindness. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

"Because, Nora, sometimes the only way to learn is to live."

Caveat: I received this book free from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second Matt Haig book after The Humans which I remember enjoying as a mixture of science fiction and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime but I don’t remember many details of it. An alien taking on the form of a human, learning that humanity is messy and contradictory but ultimately worth protecting. It is rather vague. And my review, looking back on it seems a little briefer than usual too.

This book certainly has similar vibes: it takes a classic sci-fi staple – in this case the quantum idea of the multiverse which should be familiar enough to the general public and viewers of Star Trek and Marvel and DC films and Doctor Who, or to readers of Life After Life (sublime) or The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (great fun) – and marries it to that same core belief in the value of being alive and being human. It is a very life affirming novel which in these dark days is very very welcome!

Our protagonist is Nora Seed, erstwhile philosophy student, erstwhile singer / song writer, erstwhile swimmer. When we meet her, she is currently unhappily employed in the aptly named String Theory, a struggling music shop; she is estranged from her brother; she is bereft of a love life. But she does own a cat. It is her being sacked and discovering her cat’s death which leads to her deciding to take her own life – a fact which cannot be a spoiler as the opening line of the novel is “Nineteen years before she decided to die…”

Having taken an overdose – and the mechanics and effects of suicide are not elaborated on or glorified – Nora finds herself in a midnight that never ends, at a building which resolves itself into an infinitely large library whose books contain ever possible alternative life Nora could have had, had she made different decisions in her life. Had she not given up swimming, a book contained that life; had she not abandoned her dreams of working as a glaciologist or her philosophy studies or her chance to go for a coffee with a guy, there are books containing those lives. Under the kindly case of someone who looks like Mrs Elm, her old school librarian, Nora gets the chance to dip into and live those alternative versions of herself, and the chance to remain in one that makes her happy.

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. 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?


The library offers Nora the chance to be Scott Bakula in her own, personal version of Quantum Leap!

Oh boy!

It is the most fantastic idea and concept! And presenting it as a library rather than, say, a video store is always going to bring a bookish nerdish joy!

Structurally, we do become a little problematic as a novel at about this point, however. The concept requires Nora to try out different lives, to explore different choices she could have made and it does become a little episodic and repetitive as a novel.

The first alternative version of herself is one where she did not split up with her fiance but supported him in realising his dream of owning a country pub. As she steps into this life – and every subsequent life – we follow her almost like a detective trying to uncover the facts she needs to be able to successfully masquerade as the ‘real’ Nora in this version of herself; we see her discover that some of the decisions she regretted in her “root life” may have actually been the right decision after all; she returns to the library re-evaluating that “root life”.

Wash – rinse – repeat.

There was some variation: many of the events in our lives are nothing to do with the decision we may or not make, after all, even if we feel responsible, but that is the core pattern.

Haig manages it well: just as it begins to feel a little repetitive he shifts things a little. He never comes close to the poetry and pathos of the Kate Atkinson, nor the thriller elements of the Claire North book, but he is doing something else wonderful: that simple reminder that life, for all its cares and worries and regrets – perhaps because of all its cares and worries and regrets – is valuable and worth living and grasping onto.

And, at the end of the day, I did come to care for Nora and loved watching her gradual development as a character which could not have happened credibly any more quickly than Haig gave us. She may be one of the quieter characters in my reading recently – but there is room in this world for those quieter characters! – but she and the novel are touching and tender.

And that is a wonderful and timely thing to be reminded of. Perhaps, once we strip away the science fiction and literary clothing, the book that this most brings to mind is Charles Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.

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An exquisitely written look at regrets. I’ve never read one of Haig’s books before but I will definitely be buying the back catalogue. Pure poetry.

Nora Seed has arrived at a dark place whee the pain is so much and she feels so isolated that she doesn't want to carry on living.

She is transported to the Midnight Library where she meets Mrs. Elm the librarian who supported her at school once. The library consists of books, all green in colour and exists between life and death. Firstly Nora has to look at the huge tome of the Book of Regrets. In it are all the times where she regretted a particular decision at a turning point in her life or other small different possible turns.

Nora is allowed the opportunity to become a "slider", to go and try out the lives she might have had. She starts with the bigger decisions like what would have happened if she has continued with a particular relationship /a particular career path etc. If she is content enough she will stay in the other life, if not she will return to the library, but time in her "root life" is running out. Will she be able to choose a life before her time ebbs in her "real" life?

Like Haig's "How to Stop Time" this is a book about how to find meaning in life. Like that book it is underpinned by philosophy. In this case it is quantum physics and string theory. From my very limited understanding of these things there is the theory that there are whole parallel universes where other events have happened.

There is comedy in that Nora arrives in other lives and has to live them with little information. Her phone gives her some details but the reality of being an expert in an area of science , getting into bed with someone who is effectively a stranger can be funny.

Of course Mrs Elm gives hints about the importance of small things for example, but as with life Nora must find her own meaning.
I preferred this to How to Stop Time as the lives are more ordinary (no meetings with Shakespeare). However It doesn't have the tone I so enjoyed in his Christmas trilogy for children.

It is one to get you thinking. I was thinking about major turning points in my own life when I may have chosen differently and I would have had a totally different life. What did I decide ? That would be a spoiler so I won't say.

Reading a new Matt Haig book is like coming home. This was gorgeous – beautiful, haunting, uplifting, bittersweet. It offers a whole new way of looking at the idea of regrets and 'what if's. I really loved it.

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY was such a clever and engaging concept. The protagonist Nora’s journey was a walk through hopelessness to a chink of light, right through to a place of possibility. I was thoroughly engaged with this strange but wonderful story throughout. It’s a hard one to pin to a genre but I’d call it either magical realism or sci-fi realism…just made up a new one there!

The depiction of depression in this narrative was painfully real, identifiable to anyone who has felt this way or has been close to someone who has. There was no prettying up of the experience, it was raw and gritty. I felt for Nora, even though she wasn’t overly likeable at the beginning. Nora definitely grew on me along the way.

"Nora went through her social media. No messages, no comments, no new followers, no friend requests. She was antimatter, with added self pity."

No way am I going to spoil for you what the midnight library was but when it was revealed to me as a reader, I literally felt delighted at the concept. It was fresh and unique but also, I believed in the idea of it, for this story. The stories within the story were all about possiblity, the what ifs, the second guesses, the fantasies and the maybes; it was hard to look up from the page.

Did I have a favourite possiblity or character? Maybe but I think I always knew where it was going to end and that felt just right.

Matt Haig has told a wonderful story through fiction, maintaining his reign as the best mental health advocate out there. No patronising, no assuming, just real and kind. Highly recommended and I’m sure this book will have wide appeal.

"Howl, into the night,
Howl, until the light,
Howl, your turn to fight,
Howl, just make it right."

Thank you to Canongate Books for the early review copy.

Wow, what an incredible book, life-affirming, uplifting and powerful. It tackles head-on the serious and potentially life-destructing issues of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-worth (or lack thereof), dead pets, climate change and “grass is always greener” mentality. It does this with gentle humour, philosophy and sheer brilliance. The Midnight Library is a place between life and death where each book provides the chance to try another life you could have lived if you had made different choices – a really simple way to explain the many-world interpretation of quantum physics and the universal wave function. It could have gone a bit groundhog day, but it didn’t - it was much, much better.
A male author writing from a female perspective doesn’t always feel genuine, but Matt Haig nailed it. The mental health areas are well-documented to be ones he has a deep knowledge of and his love of the environment and passion for libraries shines through. It is an ode to life.
Please just read it, my review could never do it justice.

Enormously thought-provoking at every page, it felt as if I was holding up a mirror to my own life. Carefully considering and questioning decisions, thoughts and feelings I've had myself. I loved Nora's journey and adored this book. With shades of Paulo Cohelo's The Alchemist, this truly will have me thinking long after I've finished it. Thank you to Netgalley and Canongate for the opportunity to read in advance of publication.

The Midnight Library is another fantastic and imaginative piece of writing from Matt Haig. What if you could go back and change a decision you made, but now regret? How would that impact on your life, and more importantly, your happiness? That is exactly the opportunity The Midnight Library offers Nora when she feels utterly despondent with her life.
Nora has the chance to pursue her successful swimming career, continue as lead singer/songwriter in a rock band and travel to Australia. Will any of these lives make her more fulfilled or does happiness and contentment come from somewhere else?
Not only is this an incredibly thought provoking story, it also offers a message of positivity and hope. Even if we regret some of our decisions, there is no guarantee we would be any happier. We all have the possibility within ourselves to create a change and bring about a more satisfying existence. A novel and self help book all in one. What a triumph!

I first got into the author's books with how to stop time. I enjoy books that are slightly sci fi without being full of space scenes, witches and magic, and other such things. The lovely thing about Matt's books are they're set in normal places, it's just 1 unusual thing that affects the main character but the rest of the world is normal which is the sci fi aspect. After coming to this story from how to stop time I had high expectations and boy did he manage to blow those out the water! This book is gripping and makes you really feel for the main character whilst still remaining something that's very much easy reading and enjoyable. I devoured this in 1 sitting and loved every minute of it. I don't want to give away what happens but I will say it's a very satisfying ending. I have recommended this book to my family and friends and am now anxiously awaiting the next novel from this author

A woman attempts suicide, and become trapped in the midnight library between life and death. She gets to experience the intimate amount of "could have been" lives, built from the regrets of her root life.

I LOVED this book, I lived it more and more each page I read. By the end, I had tears in my eyes. The message is one that I resonate so much with, as someone who has battled their mental health and experienced suicidal thoughts in the past, this book is a true masterpiece. A fiction book with all the inspiration of a non-fiction book.

Amazing, thank you for this fabulous story Matt! And thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in, in return for my honest review. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Have you ever imagined how your life might have turned out if you had taken a different decision at some point? If you had taken a job you turned down? Said no to something you didn't really want to do but still did? Or simply allowed yourself to follow your dreams?
Matt Haig's The Midnight Library is about exactly this scenario; Nora Seed decides to end her life but instead ends up in the Midnight Library where, thanks to a fairy-godmother-like librarian, she is given the option to try out all the other lives she could have had. In doing so she reflect on what her regrets are and whether life really is so miserable killing herself is still what Nora thinks is best.
Although the opening may unsettle some readers this novel could work really well as a book group read or an inspiration for a creative writing group. Sensitively handled it could also work in helping to discuss mental health issues and taboos around suicide. An easy and quick read, The Midnight Library isn't as funny or insightful as some of Haig's earlier books but it is one that could spark interesting conversations and personal reflections.

[Reviewed for FOLIO by Zoe]

I read and enjoyed How to Stop Time from Matt Haig and I definitely loved The Midnight Library as well.
Nora is unemployed and just lost her cat. She also lost contact with her brother, which causes her to be depressed and commit suicide. But, she doesn't die and instead goes to The Midnight Library. There, she has the chance to choose different paths and live different lives. This was really interesting, and the fact that Matt Haig writes about mental health so well is amazing. I think it helps a lot of people.

I highly recommend it.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this early copy.

I really enjoyed How to Stop Time from Matt Haig and The Midnight Library did not disappoint either. It centres around Nora who is unemployed and grieving the loss of her cat, she is depressed, has lost contact with her brother and is suicidal. She is regretful of a lot in life and unfortunately attempts suicide, but rather than dying she goes to The Midnight Library where she gets a chance to live alternate lives and trial how her life would have ended up had she chosen other paths. This, again, was a really interesting concept. I thought it was well written and it kept me enthralled right up until the very end. I really do recommend this book.

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

I finished this book a few days ago and I still don't know how I feel about it.

I love the concept and the first half of the book is full of really great things; it's intriguing and engaging and the MC is relatable.

Then it got a bit preachy and I started to lose interest.

It rallied at the end and gave a heart warming, if predictable, ending.

It was only after I had finished the book and was thinking about it in relation to my own life that it made me quite angry.

The regrets that the MC is dealing with are easy and they match the level of the regrets that I have in my life - which is why I so instantly engaged with her but I think it makes light of regret and the message it sends is very blinkered. There are people who have to live with regrets so huge and so monstrous that the chance to live a life where a different decision was made is a magical dream and I think that is ignored in this book. The message that you wouldn't be happy in another version of your life because you didn't earn that happiness and that you just need to make the best of the life you've got, it might be true but for a lot of people that's just depressing and I was looking for something a bit more hopeful.

Matt Haig's latest offering is a quirky, melancholy yet life affirming tale of regret for the roads not taken, a "what if" scenario that will speak in its own way to every one of us. After all we all wonder, don't we, what our lives might look like now if we'd turned left instead of right...if this thing had happened but not that thing...

Caught between life and death, main protagonist Nora finds herself in a vast library, the books here are stories of her life not lived. Guided by the librarian, who reflects a part of her past, Nora tries on some of those lives for size, a process that changes her understanding of her life in many many ways..

The Midnight Library is kind of "It's A Wonderful Life" for the modern age, written with the deep insight into certain aspects of the human condition that Matt Haig is known for, beautifully crafted and offering the reader many thought provoking idea's. It's a novel you will drift off with into thoughts of your own life decisions, whilst constantly being brought back to Nora and hers.

What does a happy ending look like? Well that's the thing. It can look like many many things.

The Midnight Library is beautiful. I loved every minute of it. Highly recommended

A really thought-provoking book, which I enjoyed immensely. I thought the characters were very well developed, and loved the writing style. This is my first time reading Matt Haig and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of his work now. Really really good!