Book #35: The Midnight Library

Having struggled a bit with Royal Assassin, I was tempted to go back to the old faithful of Harry Potter 6, however the arrival of several new books, made me not want to do that, I'll read new books as far as possible, and only switch to comfort books if I'm really struggling having read an absolute duffer of a book, or if I've run out of things to read. At the moment, my pile of new books to read has about 6 books in it!

So I chose this book, it was a goodreads recommendation. and it just leaped out at me, it's got rave reviews everywhere, and just looked intriguing. I also liked the sound of the genre, Sci-fi and fantasy. You can't go wrong with them, can you! Having finished Assassins Apprentice, I almost immediately started this. I started it around 18:00 on Saturday evening, and flew through it, finishing it at 12:30 on Sunday (this included going to sleep at 22:00, so I did sleep inbetween!)

The book then... wow, I can see why it got such good reviews. The midnight library is a place where you go between life and death. And every book within the library is a life that you could have led had you made certain choices. There is also the Book of Regret, which is filled with every single regret that you have ever had.

The main character in this book, Nora has had a life filled with regrets. She could've been an Olympic Swimmer, she could've pursued a career as a writer, as a philosophy lecturer, she could've been an international rock star, and she could've married the man she split up with days before their wedding. And the book explores every one of these lives, to see if she wants to go on, living these lives, or whether she wants to live her old life.

I don't really want to go to much into the plot of the book, it's clever, and the messages running through it, about owning your decisions and not living with regret are needed in this day and age. I'm glad that the final 'perfect' life which Nora visits was not her final destination, because life isn't perfect.

This review is quite a short one, because I don't want to go too deeply into this book, it's a beautiful read, and I would really recommend everyone read it! I'm intrigued enough to want to try more of Matt Haig's works now, to see if they are as thought provoking and brilliant.

An easy 5* book.

The Midnight Library: 2cm

Total read so far: 35 books, 108.5cm

Total left to read: 84.5cm