The Midnight Library By Matt Haig

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Well, I've finished The Midnight Library! Here are my thoughts:

The Midnight Library is Matt Haig's take on tropes and storylines that I feel readers are all too familiar with. A down on their luck Nora Seed faces all types of calamities within the span of mere hours. Engulfed with despair, Nora sees no option but to commit the unthinkable and end her life. What follows however, is the start of a magical journey as Nora finds herself in the Midnight Library. This library is not just any typical library, but is quite literally Nora's second chance at life; a second coming, if you will. The concept of living other lives in place of your own gives the book an interesting premise and makes for a strong start to Nora's story; after all, many of us can only dream of having the same opportunity that Nora has had.

Despite the promise of what could be a fresh take on second chances and self-redemption, I felt that the exploration of Nora's other lives were not engaging enough to incite a consistent interest in what the story is about. These "possibilities" as it is called, were a hit or miss, and by the third jump into Nora's alternate lives, the book became somewhat dull and predictable. Sure, one could argue that these lives were pivotal to Nora understanding the root of her problems, but I was fairly confident that I had understood the meaning of it all quite early in the book (for example there are degrees of good and bad to be applied to life, and that the only way to learn is to live). It was a considerable effort getting to the end of the book, and I wish The Midnight Library's plotlines were a lot more interesting.
The saving grace of this book is of course the lessons of life that Matt infers throughout every chapter. The little morsels of advice that Mrs Elm shares with Nora, as well as the impeding satisfaction of seeing Nora being able to cope with her inner despair was what compelled me to finish reading the story. For someone who is particularly new to the reading world, the Midnight Library may feel like a breath of fresh air. But for someone who is already familiar with the concept of second chances and the obvious narrative of despair transforming into hope, there are various books and films out there that have set a high bar for telling emotional yet uplifting stories; the Midnight Library has yet to reach that high standard of excellence.

The Good: The Midnight Library provides an interesting premise to pull readers in, and is filled with real-life moral lessons that may compel readers to look within themselves and appreciate life in a different way. Stylistically, the book is sound and fulfills the readers' expectations by the end of the book (it ticks all the boxes).

The Bad: The book arguably messes around with very familiar plotlines; a person shifting from despair to hope, and the exploration of second chances in life. Granted, there are books that may do these plotlines justice, but the Midnight Library still has a long way to go before it can consistently engage the reader.