Carole reviews: The Midnight Library

 

Author: Matt Haig

Narrator: Carey Mulligan

Title: The Midnight Library

Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism, & Science Fiction

Format: Audiobook

Published:  August 13, 2020

Where I got It: My shelf (Audible)

Summary: 

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? A novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Review:

This is our book club book. I've seen the name and heard good things but I never added it to my TBR. Yayy for being forced! 

Here we follow Nora who finds herself with life just throwing everything at her. Everything has gone wrong, she feels left behind, left alone, and full of regrets. She now finds herself between life and death. In this area, there is a library and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a life that could have been if you made a slightly different choice. Nora will find herself dealing with her regrets and possibly choosing a new life. 

First...I will say there may be some triggering things here. This character is terribly depressed and full of anxiety. We deal with heavy things like death, addiction, and so forth. So be warned. 

I figured I would cry. I was close at the beginning when you just wanted to hug Nora and beg her not to do what she wanted to do. Poor thing. THINGS WILL GET BETTER!!!!! Nora is a doll and it broke my heart. But no tears. This will make you feel and make you think. 

To be honest...I did contemplate all my regrets and choices I made. Life could've gone a whole different direction. It would be interesting to see those lives....mainly out of curiosity not because I think they would've been better. But yes...a crazy and interesting concept. 

The ending was perfection *chefs kiss*. It was fitting and made me happy. It was slightly open-ended but it was fitting. Rare that an open-ended ending is good, but it worked well. 

Mhmmmmm....what to say without spoilers..................errrrrrrrr......this was good. It was interesting to see all our side characters and how they would end up with decisions Nora made. 

This is a great book club book. I can't wait to discuss this so I can go over the spoilers lollll!

The narrator was fantastic! Perfection. 

In the end, I liked this WAY more than expected to. This has a great concept and interesting characters. Normally endings that are even remotely open-ended bother me, buuuuut this was done right. It gives you just enough and it is sort of symbolic of the meaning of the book. I for sure recommend this. I'll stamp this a 5. 

Challenge(s):

- #56 for Audiobook Challenge