A review by sharanyaaguha
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


 “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?” 

 


Nora, a girl living by herself. She lost her father when she was young and her brother doesn't talk to her anymore. Dan, the boy he used to date and almost married and a store where she works for living. A cat and a boy who learns piano from her is all she has. One fine day, she learns that she has lost her job, her cat and the only good thing she was looking forward to, the boy, has decided to discontinue their lesson. Tired of her life, she decided to die. But as soon as she is ready to do so, the clock strikes 12 and she finds herself in a library, The Midnight Library. The librarian,  Mrs. Elm, who was also her school librarian and the only person who has shown kindness to her is there. Among the endless shelves there are books and in each book there is a life, formed by taking slightly different decisions that she had in her life. She can live in all these lives and decide in which one she is actually happy. And if she finds one she'll live there forever. Skeptical at first, Nora decides to take a shot. She lives several lives only to be dissatisfied with herself in each of them. She finally finds one where she spends quite a while, but soon realizes that even if she's happy here, this isn't the life she created for herself. The other Nora created this life and she has just taken her place, robbed her of everything. So she decides that she wants to live, yes, she does. She returns to the library only to find it being caught up in a fire. Mrs. Elm urges her to choose one final book before the fire burns everything. She chooses one - the one where she lives. And then she wakes up in her bed, dizzy, because she took pills to end her life. Gathering all her strength she is able to knock on her neighbor's door who calls an ambulance and saves her life.  
Her brother comes to visit her and eventually everything is sorted and when she returns to her home, there's this line about her old neighbor who called the ambulance :

He smiled and mouthed a ‘thank you’, as if simply her act of living was something he should be grateful for.

which says, how by doing a small thing or by just existing you're able to make a difference in someone's life. The book ends with Nora finally finding happiness in her actual life, which gives all of us a hope that even when you feel like you're caught in a storm, there's always a rainbow waiting for you on the other end.
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