Review by octopus_farmer - The Midnight Library

octopus_farmer 's review for:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

DID NOT FINISH: 50%

Note: I did skim the rest, since this was for a book club, so my review includes thoughts about the end.

I didn't finish because I personally found it a lesser, more drawn out version of It's a Wonderful Life. I liked how

she had no perfect version of her life,

but the thing that drew me away from it was when she wanted to relive

her cat living longer and was told her version was the longest life he had. It seemed cruel, pitiful solace to make her relive her cat's death in a variety of ways just to show her that she was a good owner and could care for something. It also seems something more natural to do towards the end? I also hated how she would have no idea of her life when entering - it seemed like a hackneyed way for her to mess up, freak out, confirm her self-doubt, and pull the plug. Even getting confirmation that she could leave a happy life doesn't seem to solve her anxiety because she learned the answer before going back to live it - any deviation from that path in the future is just going to help her spiral again. Also, why not dwell on the lives where she was someone completely different? I cannot imagine she wasn't gay or Black or deaf or any variety of marginalized identities at least once in her infinity of lives because of how wide the book seemed to spread the net. I would be more interested in exploring what she learns about herself in those scenarios, but we can never learn because she never gets context and remains the same version of herself when she plops into lives.

I don't know. Maybe I'm a soulless grinch. But it did not match my own experience of grief, and I think that's necessary to enjoy this book. I also didn't check any content warnings, so it's my own fault I walked into the major twist at the end of the first chapter, but it seems like a big thing to neglect mentioning in the book summary on the flap.

Content Warnings