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A review by kylita
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
3.0
Editing my review: I read this book when I was severely depressed. I am grateful for what it reminded me of, but the writing just was not deserving of 5 stars. There was so much lack of character development with the supporting characters, the writing felt overall juvenile to me. And that is okay, just not a 5 star book.
Also, after discussing with a friend this cannot be truly considered sci-fi. There is no scientific explanation behind her alternative lives and can Nora actually choose to stay there? Or is it just a Dream?
The more I write the less I like this book, so I should just stop here because I do think it was a good read for when you are feeling hopeless.
Rating Disclaimer: There is a high probability that if I did not see myself in Nora Seed so much that this would not be rated as 5 stars. So, I should first list the things that did not work for me:
- The writing felt a little flat even though the premise was wonderful. It felt as though the story was written just to get across Matt Haig's idea of every choice you make influences your life one way or the other but regretting choices does nothing for you. It didn't elicit any emotion from me, just lots of nodding.
- If there are a million parallel lives, what happens to the people living them if Nora didn't choose it? Maybe I was not paying enough attention, but there is a moment when she knows she is about to leave the life she is living and she feels a sense that the people in this life will be okay without her. So does that mean she truly leaves? Why does her interaction with another slider leave her mid-sentence? Physics, admittedly, was never a strong point of mine, so maybe I just don't understand how this could all theoretically happen.
But, that is the thing, Matt Haig gave voice to very real feelings of depression and unlived choices. The feelings that you never made the right choice and trying to make choices to satisfy someone else's life.
I loved the mixture of philosophy and science fiction. Ultimately, I loved that it was just recognizing the choice in living and seeking out the things that made it worth living.
Also, after discussing with a friend this cannot be truly considered sci-fi. There is no scientific explanation behind her alternative lives and can Nora actually choose to stay there? Or is it just a Dream?
The more I write the less I like this book, so I should just stop here because I do think it was a good read for when you are feeling hopeless.
Rating Disclaimer: There is a high probability that if I did not see myself in Nora Seed so much that this would not be rated as 5 stars. So, I should first list the things that did not work for me:
- The writing felt a little flat even though the premise was wonderful. It felt as though the story was written just to get across Matt Haig's idea of every choice you make influences your life one way or the other but regretting choices does nothing for you. It didn't elicit any emotion from me, just lots of nodding.
- If there are a million parallel lives, what happens to the people living them if Nora didn't choose it? Maybe I was not paying enough attention, but there is a moment when she knows she is about to leave the life she is living and she feels a sense that the people in this life will be okay without her. So does that mean she truly leaves? Why does her interaction with another slider leave her mid-sentence? Physics, admittedly, was never a strong point of mine, so maybe I just don't understand how this could all theoretically happen.
But, that is the thing, Matt Haig gave voice to very real feelings of depression and unlived choices. The feelings that you never made the right choice and trying to make choices to satisfy someone else's life.
I loved the mixture of philosophy and science fiction. Ultimately, I loved that it was just recognizing the choice in living and seeking out the things that made it worth living.