The Midnight Library by Matt Haig | Book Review

Welcome to my book review for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

The Midnight Library Official Synopsis:

Between life and death there is a library.

When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

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The Midnight Library Review:

I want you to read that synopsis, and then read it again. Because it sounds like the synopsis of an incredible novel, right? Pair that with its high acclaim and abundant awards, and you’re bound to enter this book expecting a masterpiece. Maybe my high expectations were part of this book’s downfall, but I had really hoped for something groundbreaking when I went into The Midnight Library.

I don’t usually like to write negative reviews, but I also believe it’s important to speak up when a popular piece of media is so harmful. Let’s start from the beginning.

Initial Impressions

I thought the premise of this book was fascinating. As I began to read, I found the story’s setup to be well-written, attention-grabbing, and tension-building. We were off to a good start with many plotlines to explore and potential for a truly moving experience.

For a while, I remained on board with the hype. The Midnight Library has a unique premise and I was excited to explore Nora’s alternate life paths as she remained in limbo between life and death. My desire to know more kept me reading: What will Nora find in her alternate lives? Will she find a better life in one of them, or was her initial path the best? I continued to read, curious to uncover Haig’s insight on depression, regret, and a life worth living.

Soon enough, the novel took a turn for the worse.

Strike One

Maybe 15-20% into the book, a distaste began to gnaw at me, and it took a moment to place what was wrong. Once I put my finger on the issue, it was all I could see: The Midnight Library reeks of pretentiousness. I was early in the book, yet there were already one too many holier-than-though proclamations about free will and philosophy and how a person “should” approach life. Unfortunately, these moments continued throughout the entire book, some worse than others.

Now, I’m not one to let a single gripe ruin an entire book for me. I understand that I enter a novel with my own biases, and maybe there’s something hard-wired in me to be put off by men who go on about philosophy (yes, Nora and Mrs Elm are women, but the author is a man, and his voice is consistent regardless of which character is speaking). And maybe, since I am already familiar with quantum physics and string theory, I was more inclined to find the explanations of these topics preachy rather than informative.

This issue seemed minor enough, so I was willing to set aside my grievances and see what else the book had in store.

Strike Two

As Nora continues to explore different alternate lives through the midnight library, she naturally meets a range of different people, most of whom I find insufferable.

Don’t get me wrong. I adore an insufferable character here and there. I think they can add copious intrigue and tension to any story, and I am often thrilled when they enter the page. Done well, these characters make a book come to life.

Done poorly, however, we get a situation like The Midnight Library. Most characters in this novel can be sorted into two equally annoying categories: Those Who Philosophize and Those Who Don’t. Characters like Nora, Mrs Elm, and Hugo who fall into the former group all have the same personality; I’m not sure I’d be able to tell them apart aside from them having different names, and that’s a major issue.

Again, though, I was willing to continue to read despite this issue. Even though I couldn’t stand the characters, I know that’s often an issue of personal preference. Yet again giving The Midnight Library the benefit of the doubt, I read onward.

After all, my gripes aside, I thought the plot was still setting up for an emotional ending. And I still wanted to know what it is that so many people adore about this novel.

Strike Three

As the end of The Midnight Library approached, my hopes were still high despite my previous issues with the book. And, of all the endings I imagined, the one we got was perhaps the worst option.

The entire message of this book ends up falling somewhere between “You have so much to live for haha!” and “If you just change your perspective and practice gratitude, your depression will go away, silly!” For a book that talks about a topic as serious as depression, this is just not it.

There is little to no nuance present in this book’s discussion of depression and mental illness, and its band-aid solutions are bound to do more harm than good for readers. I myself have MDD, and I can confirm that it is not cured by merely changing your mindset.

(For those who are curious, the only things that have actually improved my depression are hormone regulation via an IUD and leaving the American education system via graduating, lol. But everyone is different, so don’t take this as advice.)

Depression is an illness that needs to be treated, the same as a liver disease, for example. One can’t just think their way out of it. It is at best ignorant and at worst dangerous to portray Nora’s extreme depression as being cured literally overnight simply because her worldview changes.

For such a highly acclaimed book, I was let down by its abysmal treatment of such a serious and delicate topic.

The Midnight Library Recommendation & Rating:

I cannot, in good faith, recommend this book to you. If you have depression, this book just slaps you in the face and then laughs. And if you’re not depressed, this is an awful way to learn more about the condition.

Instead, let me direct you toward some other media that you might enjoy more. If you’re looking for something with feel-good energy and an uplifting message, I’ve been enjoying the Heartstopper series recently. And if you want the best, most accurate depiction of depression I’ve ever seen in media, I recommend you watch Bojack Horseman on Netflix. Just stay away from The Midnight Library.

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 stars

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Thank you for reading my The Midnight Library review. To read more of my book reviews, check out my Book Reviews page.