Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
September 24, 2025
Warnings about the review and book in discussion: this book touches on topics of suicide, self harm, mental health, addiction, loss, grief, infidelity, and broken relationships. While this book is not graphic, it does mention these topics, and if any of these are triggering to you, I would still steer clear of this book, even though it was very good and I very much enjoyed it.
Have you ever wished you could see what your life would be like if you hadn’t decided to pursue a sport in high school, or if you didn’t move your junior year of high school, or if you picked another college major, or if you had made other romantic choices? Have you felt like your regrets weigh heavier than anything else in your life, and that your head is so clouded with them that they take up your every thought? Nora Seed sure has. She is living in the small town that she grew up in, where she chose not to pursue a career in swimming because she didn’t like that she was good enough for people to watch, and quit a band that was really good because her romantic partner didn’t like she was in it, and called off a wedding for Lord knows what reason, and turned down a friend when she offered her a way to get out of the small town and live a life of adventure a continent away, and is living with the crushing regret of all of it. We meet Nora in her last days. She is contemplating who would really even care if she was still around, and cannot think of a single person. Her parents have both passed, her brother is eternally upset with her and she has had a falling out with her best friend. She just got fired from her job and her cat passed away in the road outside her apartment. There is nothing going for her. So she takes matters into her own hands and ends her life, only to wake up in The Midnight Library. Here she is met by a person who appears to be her childhood librarian and has been tasked with being her spirit guide through her journey through the lives she could have lived. Each book in her library is one of the infinite ways her life could have been different had she made different decisions, and she can choose to pick one up, and live inside it either for a moment, or for forever. Would she be happier if her band got really big and she was rich and famous? Would her life be fulfilling if she chose to pursue swimming and become a very successful olympic champion? Would she feel like she made a difference if she became a scientist like she dreamed of when she was a child? How would her life be different and how would it be the same? She has the chance to find out.
I really enjoyed this book. It was thought provoking and felt almost like it was a “live the life you love, love the life you live” kind of message. I have often struggled with the weight of my regrets and mistakes, so I feel like I can relate to Nora a lot in this book. I will say, though, that I am at a really good spot in my mental health journey, and I think if I was not this would be not as good of a book for me to read. Currently, I have a lot going for me, and I feel really happy with where I am at, but if I read this book even just a handful of years ago when I was frustrated with just about every aspect of my life, I would have had a much harder time getting through this. All this to be said, if you are currently at a good spot with your mental health, I think this book would be a great book to add to your autumn reading list, but if you are struggling at the moment, maybe wait until spring.
