A review by mari_books
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

3.5

Midnight library is a very intense, philosophical, depressing and hopeful book. It’s pretty fast paced and has a simplicity to the writing that is surprising given the depth of the theme. Do not read this book if you are in a tough place with mental health or in your life - the ending is highly insightful but I think the path to getting there is kind of rocky (if you stop reading at the wrong point). HUGE suicide trigger warning, somehow I missed that before reading. I thought the concept was highly original, and despite the large number of characters I didn’t find it overwhelming at all. I would read more from this author.

Only docking stars bc I felt that the ending trope was very typical. That a women is happiest with the most average life of a wife/mother because of love (I know there were other elements but those were stand out pillars of her joy). That the exceptional women must by default have a flawed life etc…clearly written by a man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent