A review by purplehulk713
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the most exquisite and compelling books I’ve ever read, and it spoke to me on such a direct, spiritual level. It felt like truth. From beginning to end, it was insightful, and so readable, too. While many books with existential themes like these can come off as dense and tedious to read, this novel was wildly engaging and incredibly uplifting. Haig was remarkably poetic in his prose, and many of his quotes will always echo in my soul. Like
”The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. Once the lava slows and cools, it solidifies and then breaks down over time to become soil—rich, fertile soil. She wasn't a black hole, she decided. She was a volcano. And like a volcano she couldn't run away from herself. She'd have to stay there and tend to that wasteland. She could plant a forest inside herself.”
I think it cured most of my existential anxiety (as long as I remember these quotes). “‘You don't have to understand life. You just have to live it.’” Nora’s journey, finally realizing that life gives meaning to life, as Wendy Mass says in Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, and
realizes that perspective of your life is what matters, not the nature of it.
But the most important thing is that you are alive. Life isn’t to be lived to please others and fulfill their dreams. You will gain a much greater understanding of your regrets and how to resolve them. Nora Seed embodies so many of the things with which we find ourselves uncomfortable, so it’s all of us can empathize with her journey. Come, check out a book—there are plenty of lives to live in the Midnight Library.
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