Nessa D

Hey y’all!

So I read this book, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, all the way back in January and I enjoyed it a lot. This was the January book for our Teachergram book club. This book deals with suicide (as a TW (Trigger Warning) there is a suicide attempt) and it’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. As with a lot of the books we read in our book club, I have never heard of it. When I ordered it, I had no idea that it was a book lots of people tried to get their hands on. There were back orders and places were running out of this book. People had to wait a while to order it even on Amazon. I guess I got to it right in time (I ordered in mid December). Even my bff had to wait on a waiting list at her local library so that she can check it out. Needless to say, I had some high hopes for this book.

Synopsis

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 dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. 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? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, 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 was a beautiful book. I cried! A book never makes me cry. I identified with Nora so much. As you may or may not know, I have attempted suicide before and I sometimes have thoughts of suicide as well (thank goodness I never act on those thoughts) so it was really easy for me to understand where Nora was coming from. I find myself sometimes wishing things were different and going back in time to change situations. However, my choices (and life let’s be real) lead me to who I am today, so I’m not sure if I’d exactly want a do over….maybe with my crush I’d go back in time and tell him how I feel about him. Point is, I get it.

Nora tried many many different types of books that had lots of versions of her life. To me, each of them had a sad element to them and I guess the lesson is that no matter what, life is what we make it. We have to accept the good and the bad. I’d say my favorite version of life that she had was the last one. I won’t spoil anything but it just felt so safe and was the ultimate goals! The one I hated? I think the one where she lived at a winery or was it the one where her cat died right away (not a spoiler…in fact it’s one of her reasons why she wants to kill herself). I felt sorry for a fellow jumper that she met from time to time as she checked out books(lives). He allowed himself to be jaded and never really dealt with his feelings.

I won’t be shocked if it was made into a movie. This is a great book. Life is a journey and it’s up to us how we live it. It’s all about perspective. It’s a wonderful book. I don’t want to give too much away basically she hates her life and tried to take matters into her own hands but ended up with so much more.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars

What book have you read that has touched you in a way such as this had for me?

XOXO,

LolaDasher