Imagine you got a second chance at your life. What would you change? In The Midnight Library, a philosophical fiction novel by Matt Haig, the reader gets a taste of what that might be like. This novel details the journey of finding beauty in life. In the beginning of the novel, the reader follows a terrible day in the gloomy life of the main character, Nora. All in one day, Nora gets fired from her job as a music teacher (to one student) and her only companion (her pet cat) dies. As a result, Nora starts to spiral, feeling like she has no impact on the world. She recalls all the regrets she has in her life, yearning to have a life more like someone else or another version of herself. Nora is miserable and she ends up trying to take her own life when she is suddenly transported to “The Midnight Library”. In this dimension, she can live through different possibilities of her life to see what could have happened. She experiences her life as an Olympic swimmer, pop star, and more. However, none of these things made her truly happy like she had always imagined they would. Through experiencing these other lives, Nora realizes that she had a more positive impact on those around her in her original life than she had known. The reader follows Nora’s uplifting journey as she finds peace with herself and learns that happiness is more than just having a lot of money or being famous. One’s happiness is determined by one’s choice to either accept their life the way it is or try to be someone else. This is one of the best books I have ever read! I was so immersed in the storyline and I was really rooting for the main character. The beginning of the book was very heart-wrenching but in comparison, seeing the main character’s growth, especially at the end of the novel, was extremely uplifting. Once I finished the book, I walked away with valuable lessons. While it was hard for me to push through the sad parts of the story, it made the happy parts of the book feel so much greater. All in all, I loved the uplifting message of the novel and I was so much more engaged than I have been with other books. This book was amazing and I highly recommend it!
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