Sunday, January 31, 2021

Book Review - The Midnight Library; Matt Haig


TITLE/AUTHOR: The Midnight Library; Matt Haig

PUBLISHER:  Viking

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2020

GENRE: Fiction 

FORMAT:  eBook PP/LENGTH: 288 pp.

SOURCE: library download

SETTING(s): England


ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  Life is too short to live with regrets.


BRIEF REVIEW:  Nora Seed, 35 is a young woman who is unhappy with her life and the choices she has made.  She begins to think that ending her life may be her best option.  The real truth is that Nora has not lived up to her full potential. It is only when Nora wakes up and finds herself inside of the library, speaking with Mrs. Elm, her former school librarian, does she get a chance to see her missed opportunities.  The Book of Regrets gives Nora an opportunity to go back in time to see the path she chose versus what would have happened had she made another choice. Nora once was a champion swimmer with Olympic potential, she was once engaged to get married as well. We learn what then happened to her relationship with her brother and what caused a rift with her best friend and also what really happened to her cat. 

This book does have a happy ending even though it starts out a bit of a downer.  The moral of the story: life is too short to live with regrets and, the time to find happiness is in the here and now. Although I'm happy I read this one, I was a little disappointed in it as well. There are quite a few characters in this story that were not well explored IMO; I wanted to know more.  The flow of this story seem too simplistic as well, I wished it was deeper. I thought it felt as if it had been written for a YA audience even though Nora was 35.  Overall, there was very little that will stick with me about this story long term except for maybe Nora's cat and, no, I wouldn't want an do-overs. 

RATING:  3/5 stars

MEMORABLE QUOTES:  "If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it......"

16 comments:

  1. I've seen this one all over Instagram & am curious. Sounds like an intriguing premise. I like that quote! Do-overs would be risky. On the one hand, sure, there are things I wish I had done differently. But, I wouldn't want to change them and risk not having the good things I have now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. It wasn't terrible but just felt like it was written for a younger audience.

      Delete
  3. I started reading this book a couple of weeks ago, but I keep getting distracted. It was a pretty sad beginning for me, but really interested in the library and how Nora comes out of it. I will definitely continue.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmm. I just bought this one. I hope I like it a bit more. It's getting so many rave reviews but what you said about it being too simplistic will probably bug me too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not terrible but, it could have been better. You could end up loving it as we've had different opinions about the same books before LOL

      Delete
  5. Hm, I appreciate your honest review.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I bought this for my mom and she's refraining from giving me her opinion until I've had a chance to read it. I'll probably read it sometime this month.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I do want to read this one but will have to keep my expectations in check!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes! This is pretty much how I felt about THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY, too. It has gotten such amazing reviews that I was expecting a lot, but for me it was just so-so.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have been hearing mixed reviews about this one.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.