This story follows Nora, a woman struggling with depression, wondering if there will ever be more to life than the cards she is given. On the brink of ending it, she finds herself in the midnight library, a space where every book she sees brings her to a different version of her life. Nora explores these alternative lives, living through different dreams, careers, relationships and ambitions. Some of them bring here joy, while others clarify that some things were truly not meant for her. Through time, she stars to appreciate her original life, finding out that some aspects of it might not be as bad as it seems.
While the concept of the Midnight Library made me really excited, I found that the execution of the story has some flaws. That’s why to me, this book was kind of disappointing. I loved the concept and the idea of alternative realities, offering the chance to live through multiple versions of your life. Haig was able to create such an interesting idea that paved the way for character growth—after all, who wouldn’t want the chance to revisit past choices and see where they lead? This interesting concept, however, was poorly told.
The ending was predictable from the start and some of the alternative ‘realities’ felt kind of inconvenient to me. While a few alternative realities were surprising and emotional, others felt underdeveloped and added little to Nora’s journey. Due to these different short stories, the book does read really easy and I kept the pages turning, but this probably made the ending even more disappointing for me.
I also couldn’t relate to or care for the main character. I think Haig tried to craft an inspirational character, but he used cheesy and empty messages to do so and he certainly has missed the mark here. Nora never became a character I could connect with; her self-pity and overdramatic reactions kept her from evolving into someone readers can connect with. Haig had the opportunity to show real character development, but instead, Nora remained as blunt as she was at the start.
Haig had all the ingredients for a thought-provoking story, but in the end, the execution fell flat. It’s a fun and easy read, but the story should have been told with depth, character and an element of surprise. Haig wasted a chance to do just that.
Briana3643
Awesome