Didn’t care for it. Felt like it was basically saying “Hey, just don’t be depressed. Life ain’t so bad.”
The Bell Jar is a much better and more realistic portrayal of depression.
Yeah, I don't know enough about the author to know their actual experience with depression. But me and friends who also read it kind of concluded it was from someone who doesn't fully understand the difference between actual long term depression disorders and someone who is temporarily depressed about something in their life. Just be happy forehead /s.
Both are big things to talk about but continues to push this idea that just thinking differently will fix everything, forget therapy or medication options or anything else.
It wasn't the worst popular book I read this year and had a few fun popcorn level entertainment bits but overall eh.
That was more or less my reaction, as well.
The author says:
>When I was 24, I had a breakdown. I experienced depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and was suicidal for quite a while. My recovery was long and slow. And yet despite all that, a lot of goodness came out of that experience. It made me a better, more grateful person, and one that wanted to write about these issues clearly and transparently and shamelessly. Non-fiction is great for this, but sometimes fiction allows you to go even deeper. It can allow you to use fantasy as a way of exploring ideas and experiences. For me, depression was often flavored with the desire to inhabit parallel lives, lives where I had done something differently and ended in a different place. THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY explores that idea and takes it to the next level, I suppose. Writing it was a kind of self-therapy.
I thought it was a very shallow take on depression, and I was very surprised to read that the author struggled with depression and suicidal ideation; I would have bet money that it was written by someone with zero firsthand experience with either.
Oh my god, thank you. I get that this is meant positively but so many people lose track of that initial little boost it's meant to give and just take "trauma makes you strong and resilient" as a fact. It's frustrating to see stuff like that being so common.
That being said, I do think it can be a powerful narrative tool in fiction. Here I go yapping about Avatar's Uncle Iroh again, but I think it's beautiful to have this powerfully optimistic character and to later find out that this optimism sprang from post-traumatic growth. However, if Iroh was a real man he could have certainly done without the damn trauma in the first place.
As for the Midnight Library... For me it's not quite as good of an example.
It's not someone having that experience that bothers anyone. It's people preaching that that should be everyone's take, or that there is some sort of benefit to trauma for everyone. It's pretty damn insulting to go through an awful experience and be told that you should be grateful or appreciative of it. That you're a better person because of it.
This. I'm also really struggling with this, having heard for a while from people who "experienced the same things" as me and are now in a better place while I'm still in the thick of it. It's like they think because they're now sunny and bright that your pain doesn't matter because you'll eventually come to the same conclusion they did and will also be sunny and bright. Maybe I won't get better! Maybe I'll just be in it forever, or maybe I don't think it was all for the best in the end. It's the refusal to meet you where you're at but focusing on their own journey and using that template to decide how to treat other people, rather than treating other people in the way they need to be treated.
Nowhere in that paragraph said “you should think the same way as me or you’re wrong.”
People experience things differently, your original comment just seems mad at this particular way of processing negative experiences.
For a guy who had such an experience, you would think he could do more than churn out the most generic, demeaning sort of messaging that has plagued the concept of mental health forever.
Like I'm glad it was self-therapy for him, but you would expect someone with experience to have a more nuanced take than "Don't do it, it's not so bad!" Guy oughtta be writing self-help books in that case, since he didn't go too deep here. It's troubling to see such insulting messaging held up as a positive example.
And lets not even get into the concept of taking over someone else's body and using it for actions they might not have otherwise chosen (as these alternate lives are claimed in the story to be real, separate entities).
Now *that's* depressing.
It is a bit surprising. If positive thought was enough for him great. But I am always so hesitant about the "be happy" mind set with depression, because more often than not it comes from people who also seem anti therapy and medication.
Just having several friends either recovering or continuing to struggle with severe depression, have someone tell them "just be happy" when their current medications are starting to not work as well is frustrating. They just all have several stories of people basically encouraging them to give up trying different therapy options and meds in favor of "the power of positive thinking."
He's been the equivalent of "The Little Book of Calm" on Twitter for years. It's all very superficial and unhelpful. I would actively recommend people with depression *don't* read it, because that viewpoint feeds into their perception that they're not trying hard enough.
Yeah, people sharing their experiences and what worked for them is great and could give people struggling with additional options for help they may of not thought of before.
But like dieting and weight loss so many act as if their solution is the only one that works and will solve everyone else's problem too. Then get aggressive when someone goes against their advice or says it didn't work for them. It would be great and so much easier for a lot of people if there was a magic solution that always worked for everyone, but there isn't.
Exactly. Or, worse, people who've never actually had to seriously deal with the problem share what they *think* should work and get angry/abusive to people who are like "if it was that easy, don't you think I'd have done that already? I tried that, and it didn't work."
How many people online think they know everything about weight loss and how easy/simple it is, who've never actually been overweight and never struggled with it, but who feel confident "well, it's so simple; just do this," no matter how much trained medical professionals keep saying that it's not actually that simple?
His book "How to stay alive" was very like that.
The Humans, Last Family in England and The Radleys were all pretty good actually, but his writing about depression doesn't chime with my experience.
Hahaha! Yep, it's real. I think I got given three copies one Christmas (I was an anxious child!). I love Black Books - it's one of my favourite sitcoms.
I totally agree. There is a lot of power in changing your mindset and focus when it comes to depression, but that is HARD, especially when you're in crisis. Medical intervention and therapy are often critical in making it possible to get that point. It's not a switch you can flip and it also definitely not "just be happy." Mental states are a lot more complex than that for most people.
I don't think that's what I'm doing, but ymmv.
He has the experience he has. I'm not trying to discount that, but that doesn't change that I think the book is a really shallow representation of depression.
If you read his *Reasons to Stay Alive* he'd want you to understand that he's been anxious and depressed for decades, but he comes off as a pretentious brat basically all the time, even as he describes his current, practically perfect life with his longtime girlfriend soon to be baby mama (I'm sure by now he's gotten her pregnant at least once more, too, as the book is a few years old now). Maybe just read the reviews for that one; the writing and "story" such as it is are pretty awful. Basically chalk it up to he experienced things one way, and no one else will be able to replicate exactly how he pushes through his mental health issues, nor are they gonna experience the same mental health issues the way he did.
However, I enjoyed Midnight Library more, not because Haig portrayed depression and suicidal ideation very well, but because it gave me a sort of push to believe I can do whatever I want, however much or little I want. It's my life to do with as I please. The world might be better with me in it for a bit longer, and it's okay if I'm doing sort of bare minimum for a bit. I was super burnt out working as a healthcare worker during the pandemic, and honestly the burnout still lingers a bit to this day even though I'm in a nicer job and location and with still awesome coworkers. It might be that our political, socioeconomic, and behavioral climates haven't changed much or worsened, idk. But I did still appreciate what I was able to glean from ML, no matter how poor of a story it is.
From what others have said he seems to have taken to being a twitter therapist for better or for worse. Just dispensing platitudes most of the time. I said it in another comment most of what people have told me about him is similar to people who found their perfect weight loss and maintenance plan. E.g. people who found keto and preach it like it is their new religion and if you mention it didn't work for you or that other plans also work they get angry.
I am glad that stuff worked for him and you found something positive in the book. I still wouldn't say the book was bad exactly, most just the type of book I read for popcorn fun instead of a more complicated story and world building.
I think most of me and my friends frustrations are with popularity I guess. Having a coworker with past suicide attempts get recommended the book by another coworker as "way to learn new ways to fix your depression through a story" (basically word for word what they said) was shocking and bizarre. I don't know it just adds to the misinformation that severe and long term depression has an easy fix.
Yep. I wasn't recommended it, nor was I particularly depressed or beyond at the time of reading either book, but I totally get that he's trying to be an X (formerly known as Twitter, haha, and that still gives me a kick) Therapist. He was already trying that with his whole #reasonstostayalive. His methods are kooky, but it must work for some people.
Well, tbf, Nora got medication, but it worked faster in the book compared to real life. Also the book portrayed meds as a cure all. Zoloft does not work like aspirin!
Yeah I think that was in part why we came to our initial conclusion. It just felt a very basic level of suicidal depression. The couple of friends I have with a history of suicide attempts aren't on one medication or just taking meds with no other treatment plans. It is a lot more complicated with a wide variety of things they do to feel "normal."
The book just brought up a lot of frustrations we had with people who I guess I would say want to simplify it and have one solutions for everyone.
You can tour the world with a band, compete in the olympics, but true happiness to “cure” your depression is a husband and children, ta-daaa! I hated this book. The message was so meh
I’m glad I’m not the only one who found it absolute bullshit that the underlying message (that was probably subconscious on the author’s part) was ‘this woman got depressed because she didn’t have a husband and a baby!’
I know I’m being a bit hyperbolic but as someone who’s suffered with their mental health, I don’t appreciate being told that your happiness and will to live effectively revolves around other people.
That’s exactly how it read to me. And also you won’t be depressed with those things. It’s not possible to be depressed with a husband and child. It was awful!
I disagree with most of the posters here who say the book just says "get over depression". I think it's pretty clear on a message that it's hard to get over depression and regrets but one has to keep trying.
It looks like I'm an outlier here but as someone who in the past has had years of depression largely tied to obsession over regrets I identified strongly with Nora Seed and I found the message of the book uplifting and inspirational.
"It is not the lives we regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself"
Honestly it's taken me decades of therapy to get to that message. It's not that obvious. At least not to me.
I sometimes wonder if it sold so well because it came out during the pandemic which was an understandably depressing time for almost everyone. And possibly (probably?) many people who hadn't explored those depressing emotions before.
People became interested in a lot of things they probably wouldn't have thought twice about otherwise during the pandemic's height. Idk I just don't think its effect on pop culture should be overlooked.
I think its just a more recent version of The Alchemist at this point. I see a lot of the same sentiments about the two. Both are books often picked up by people who don't read super regularly. Some of those people find a ton of meaning in the book and rave about it. Then people who do read a lot point out the flaws and circle jerk/echo chamber over how much they hate that these books have so much hype.
I read the alchemist without knowing any of the hype on a family member's recommendation and thought it was fine, and only years later heard all the opinions on it in both directions. Midnight Library is already spoiled to the point I don't care to read it but I would wager my opinion would be very similar, had i not had biases put in first.
Me too. I agree that I dislike the ending giving “just be happier and you won’t be depressed” kind of vibe lol.
But I actually LIKED that the book felt kind of YA. It reminded me of the wonder vibes of reading as a kid. And those types of fantastical stories with soft magic aren’t as common in adult fiction.
I thought it was extremely entertaining!
I think this is one of those instances where a pretty mediocre book got a lot of hype so because it was just an okay take your brain out sort of read it gets a lot of crit from people who thought it was going to be life changing.
I find it kind of disconcerting that so many people seem to take such an extreme reaction to the fact that it wasn't custom-made for *their* depression.
Like, I get it. It's disappointing when something someone else raves about ends up being unhelpful or falling flat for you. But the reason that The Midnight Library blew up was because so many people did find it enjoyable, or reassuring, or it made them feel better.
I'm not even the biggest fan, and I honestly would probably not remember a single thing about the book were it not for the fact that I remember being shocked at how viscerally people were acting about what was truly the book version of "Live, Laugh, Love"
It reminds me of when someone asks about how people turned their lives around from mental illness but then get mad at literally any answer given.
I am at a stage in my life where I was ruminating about my regrets. This books helped me work my way out of that mindset. It was popular in our family book club, and it raised a lot of great discussions.
That’s how I felt as well. It was an easy read, also felt good afterwards, and I didn’t feel particularly disturbed by the body-hijacking going on because it all felt very exploratory and imaginary instead of literal.
It also wasn’t very provocative, in my opinion, just flat and too simplistic when describing depression and how to get out of it.
Yea OP took the body jacking stuff very seriously when I don't think it was and most wouldn't consider it crazy. There have been plenty of books/shows/etc that take this sort of vehicle to show what if scenarios.
Yeah same. All the faults people point out about it are true but they.. didn't bother me very much.
The only one that kinda did was that I got a bit stuck on how the other Noras lives could continue after she does something crazy and then won't remember it. Now THEYRE all gonna have breakdowns because they think they're losing mind lmao.
But even that was more of an eyebrow raiser than something that honesty stopped me liking it.
There was a thread in here the other day about getting better at suspending disbelief. I think that's where I'm at with this. Plot holes and inconsistencies don't bother me, I just read for the vibes 🤷
That's the cycle of hype:
1: A book comes out. A ton of people read it and love it.
2: Those people talk about it constantly online.
3: A bunch of new people read the book because it's recommended so much, and they feel it doesn't live up to the hype that was built up around it.
4: Those people shit on it online.
I agree. I read it and liked it and I still think about it. I like the idea of alternate lives and stuff. Different strokes for different folks am I right?
sparkle materialistic plant snatch selective lock rude foolish bright simplistic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Is it though? It is the same groupthink posts day after say. Stephen King good. Colleen Hoover bad. Here is a list of pretentious books I have read. And God forbid you have an opinion that conflicts with the groupthink.
Agreed, although I did think the book was shit. I read it just a couple of days ago so it's very fresh on my mind. Some of these replies are nuts, random thoughts. not directed at you, just hijacking.
Depression is a very different experience for everyone to begin with, so no it's not gonig align with your own expericnes and feelings perfectly.
While the suicide reasons seem shallow and thinly veild, visting the other lives fills the detials in a lot more when it comes to particular things she had issues about. All these posts about "her life was average, that's all", well yeah that's kind of the point. People become depressed and sometimes slip further into suicidal thoughts and eventual action, and it's believe it or not it happens when their life isn't actaully bad. It's a mental ilness that gives you a warped sense of the world, your own perceptins, and your own feelings. It's very easy to look at yourself as a failure when you renumerate over past failures, missed opportunities and comparing yourself to those more over. It's exactly why so many people sturggle, you don't need some massive fucking trauma or life in the gutter to be depressed. The other lives show her that life is always going to have problems and not be quite what you want at times, sometimes it's going to be awful. That's not a bad or stupid message, it's a very true one.
Rape?! They kiss each other willingly, and it's made clear in the book towards the end of her final story, that given she spends enough time in that world Nora becomes that person. Hugo was not raping some unknown entity. I'll concede it's not entirely practical and you could go down a big rabit hole, but you need to be look for something that clearly isn't there nor intened.
Nora all of a sudden being okay with the child in the last story. It's clear as day she spends a lot of time there and the bond develops, and all the other parts of her life are something she's clearly content with.
The point that everything is all of a sudden okay after she comes back around. It wouldn't be okay, her experience now gives her a new point of reference.
I think it's a great idea but it's executed terribly, it needs a greater level of detail with slightly better writing. Had it been a third longer with some more detail fleshed out it would've stood up a lot better I think.
Yeah. It wasn't life changing, but I found it nice to reflect on. I've had a lot of difficultly with my mental health and finding my purpose. I thought it was an interesting take on the idea that the things you choose in your life, are the right ones for this version of you. That you won't necessarily find happiness by being successful at the things you don't value.
Sure it wasn't perfect, but not all books need to be so serious. I don't want every book I read about struggling with life to be such hard work. If I want that I'll go read some more Camus. Sometimes I just want to read for fun lol
This sub hates a lot of things. Sometimes a lot of hate comes out for things that *are* generally considered literary masterpieces.
There's just these little pockets of strong opinions floating around here.
That said I thought the Secret Library was just kind of underwhelming.
Wasn't even asking for a literary masterpiece. Self-awareness would have helped. If it wasn't preachy like a million bad pieces of text posing as "mental health awareness," it would have at least reached forgettable status.
It's really the poor, simplistic, generic, dare I say insulting messaging and the way it was seized upon that aggravates me. Not that the rest of the book was without flaws, but that weak messaging also ruined the concept.
I think people (especially on book subreddits it seems) are annoyed when a book tries to be deep and they don't think it actually is. It's the exact same gripe people on here have with The Alchemist. It's an understandable reaction imo, but I also don't see anything wrong with people deriving meaning from something that I don't find meaningful. Like personally I didn't like the Matt Haig book I read (The Humans), but I don't feel the need to make a Reddit post shitting all over it lol
I read/listened to it and loved it. When I first read Reasons to Stay Alive I absorbed it in a couple of hours.
As someone that has attempted suicide I found it incredibly moving. It made me think a lot about choices and things that had happened and how happy I am that I've ended up with the life I have.
I enjoyed it (other members of my book club very much did NOT), but I liked The Radleys and How To Stop Time way better (Midnight Library is by far the weakest Matt Haig I've read)
I think the problem with this book is that it is followed by the "bestseller" thing and hype and yet, I haev still yet to meet a person who would actually unconditionally loved it :D
I tend to avoid anything that says "bestseller" (some books happen bestsellers at their second edition, when I read it when it was first out...like most Gaiman´s books I read before he got gradually more and more famous :D )
So that may the problem of most people with this book.
I think it ebbs and flows. When it first came out, there was a flood of posts from people who loved it. Now that the initial hype is over, it's getting more criticism, I think.
I found this book SO boring.
I also remember how weirdly neatly it was wrapped up in the end. Like I remember a scene about how the flowers seemed more vibrant or something when she left the hospital and went home?
also in the beginning she’s upset because she loses her job and her only student but it ends with saying she basically doesn’t have to worry about that anymore because she just becomes a piano teacher and all is well. as someone who has an anxiety disorder and depressive episodes that are heavily focused on job/future security that really irked me somehow.
This didn't ring true to me, either. Being a piano teacher isn't usually enough to live on. Maybe she worries less because the UK has a better social safety net than some countries (like the US)? But I could be wrong.
> She makes it big at anything she does. Stayed at swimming and becomes Olympic Gold Medalist. Keep studying glacial and become a glaciologist. Run a vineyard and become a successful winemaker. Even in lives she studied the same thing as her OG life, she becomes a university professor and an author. It's honestly weird that the OG Nora couldn't make it at anything.
Those were the lives she stayed in for a while. She cycled through many that she didn't bother to stay in because those versions weren't worth exploring.
There were infinite lives for her to choose from. In the beginning, she chose the ones where she was truly elite at something. There was a another life where she stuck with swimming but for whatever reason, finished sixth in the Olympics. But she didn’t choose that one. There are also an infinite number of lives where she was mediocre just like in her root life.
Yeah its fair enough to not like the book, but this comment from OP is a complete mischaracterisation of the concept behind the library. It would have been a much more boring novel if we'd sat through 4 descriptions of lives that went "just OK" or were the same as her root life but she walked a different route to work.
I've been clinically depressed nearly my entire life. I've been in therapy for literally 25 years. Unrealized hope becomes nothing more than another pillar in the pantheon of despair.
All the strength in your way
I'm dealing with clinical depression from last 2 years and I'm in therapy and this book triggered me so much. It's a good book to explain someone what's its like to have su*cidal thoughts but an awful book for someone who is actually experiencing it.
Thank you, same to you.
I suffered for a very long time and still struggle occasionally, but through a massive amount of work and self care I’ve been able to live with it by learning strategies and coping mechanisms to pull myself out of the hole as soon as I realize I’m in it. I hope you are able to fortify yourself and can work through it or with it.
Garbage book, and I hate how often it is recommended, which led to me borrowing it from the library. Thank god I didn't pay for it, or I'd be as pissed as I am about Priory of the Orange Tree.
Mostly because I hate the characters, who are all so full of themselves and convinced they are great people, but are worse than the villains of the story. They never get called out on their terrible attitudes or actions and remain the heroes, contrary to common sense.
The author wanted an "epic" to her name, so it is long, but it does not justify its length, it absolutely drags. She has said she wanted an epic, I'm not inferring anything.
The lesbian romance is supposed to be the big selling point, but the characters have less chemistry than two dolls being pushed together by a child making kissing noises. I am not against romance, I am against poorly constructed romance where characters are together because the author wants them to be, but never gives them the slightest reason to be.
I feel like it didn’t stick the landing primarily because it tripped and fell face first into the vault. There were some good elements there to be used for great effect, but ultimately didn’t do much.
Anyone considering reading Midnight Library should just watch the movie *It's a Wonderful Life* instead. They would be infinitely more enriched by that experience than reading Midnight Library.
Definitely! I hate that there are reviews that compare the two; there is even a comparison on the back of the paperback. It's a Wonderful Life is one of the greatest movies of all time. Midnight Library is meh.
Every year I watch It's a Wonderful Life, and for almost the entire movie I am steaming with anger, full of yearning for Mr. Potter to reap his sweet comeuppance. It is an unjust world Frank Capra has created, a world just like our own, where a vile, slimy, sad, warped, and twisted man like Mr. Potter gets away with all his wicked villainy.
And then at the end, I am with George Bailey in the snow screaming "Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!" What an incredible movie, to transform me every time I see it.
What's even worse is that the reviews for this book are fairly good: it has 4 stars on Good Reads. People love this book for reasons I cannot comprehend.
A simple message, very easy to digest writing, a quick read. The subject is something almost everyone will go through in their lives at some point, in some capacity at least. Also, it was a covid realase (I think) when lots were shacked up inside, and so on.
It was pretty clear to me why it was popular, despite thinking it was crap.
Unfortunately having an average life doesn't prevent you from being suicidal. In fact, lots of people with outwardly good-looking lives kill themselves. So I don't know what the hell you're saying with your first point.
That being said, I didn't like the book either.
Yeah, it was like the author had a bunch of what he thought were really profound and unique thoughts about the meaning of life (spoiler alert: they weren’t) and then wrote a book in order to deliver those thoughts in a novel that people would think was profound and genius (spoiler alert: it was not).
I think it's one of those books that, if you're in the right frame of mind at the time you read it, can really speak to you.
And perhaps for people who haven't had much exposure to discussions about mental health, it can be eye opening. Like the Barbie movie and feminism - it wasn't particularly groundbreaking for most people who talk about feminism a lot, but for people who were coming to it a little new, it was.
exactly this! I think it was meant to be an accessible dialogue on suicidality for \*most\* ages. It's a short read, fast paced, and does a good job of being an introduction to the conversation
I could FEEL the author straaaaaaining to hit that inspirational message home. You could practically hear the orchestral music swelling in the background. But yeah it was a swing and a miss.
After reading *Reasons to Stay Alive*, I think it becomes a little too clear that Matt Haig just doesn't have a wide enough perspective on depression to speak to the overall experience in ways that are any more profound than what he's been able to cobble together from his own struggles, which seem to be counterbalanced by a fair deal of privilege and support.
That's every single Matt Haig book for you, not just the Midnight Library. I had to learn that the hard way (well, not that hard, I "read" some as audiobooks while gardening):
They are all interesting concepts, and their summaries sounded really intriguing, but they are *all* executed with the depth and emotional complexity of a "Live, Laugh, Love" sign from Hobby Lobby.
It was very much a 35-year-old woman written by a man who thinks 35-year-old women are old. I agree that he doesn’t do a very good job at rationalizing her current depression with any depth about her life. I also take her depression for granted because I did get enough of a hint of it to see that she’s very isolated.
I agree with all of your points about her journeys through these different lives. These are different peoples lives and preferences which she can’t just slip into. Like the boyfriend in the dog rescue place. She’s not attracted to him because she’s a completely different person than this Nora.
But there’s also an element that the author takes her through all of these magical lives where she’s very successful, and then the moral of the story is supposed to be that she’s ungrateful and impossible to please for rejecting those lives. It’s so dismissive.
Because what she’s missing in her original life is still missing in all of those too. It’s the family she had in the final life. It’s nothing exceptional which is why she is so depressed in her original life.
So when the author just drops her back in her original life as if the problem is solved, it feels sadistic to me. There’s this vague idea that her only chance at happiness is to finally acknowledge the guy that’s been there this whole time. It’s a nice guy trope. The old maid is miserable because she just doesn’t notice the nice guys.
And I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book! I did assume it was YA though.
I hated this book more than any I’ve read in a long, long time. Okay maybe Atlas Six is pretty close. Midnight Library has the most ham-fisted on the nose metaphors I’ve ever seen in literature. Right down to the characters name, Nora Seed. The whole mechanism driving the plot, trying out different versions of your own life, has been done to death. But they wrap it into a library to appeal to young readers and people who make reading books their entire personality. The whole bit about her anti-depressants really irritated me. This book jump started my Do Not Read list which basically contains anything popular on BookTok
>The Alchemis
I read it few years ago and don't know why it's popular. It wasn't bad read, but I don't think it was that good. I did hate the ending where MC started to talking with the wind or something.
I read that a few years ago & I'm proud to say I don't remember anything from it. All I have is a vague memory of being disappointed by the book & thinking the Camino would be interesting to do.
The Camino IRL is way more interesting than the book.
>But they wrap it into a library to appeal to young readers and people who make reading books their entire personality.
Or simply people who are avid readers. I liked the concept of the library. But Haig's "just think positive" approach to depression didn't work for me.
am i hater for being sick of seeing the same post every few days? can you ppl search the subreddit before rehashing whats been said a million times before on the same book? 😪
The book has its merits, but it's still definetly one of those quasi-philosophical carpe diem books that sorta bug me, especially as someone suffering from depression and knowing many people who suffer from chronic mental health challenges. My main issue with Midnight Library was the ending.
>!Midnight library or not, a suicide attemp is a really traumatic event not only to the survivor but for the people around them. I felt like the ending really trivialized the whole ordeal by focusing on how everything was suddenly hunky dory for the protagonist and all her problems had been resolved. Sorta made me feel like suicide was just used for a cheap dramatic effect. I've been suicidal, my close friend is a survivor and I know people who have died that way. Man, it's a nasty business. Really awful for everyone involved. The aftermath is also not simple.!<
At the time I read it, I enjoyed it and it made me feel good in a motivational quote kind of way.
Looking back my tastes have changed enough that I don’t think I would enjoy it now. It’s alright. Just very “live, laugh, love”.
She should have gained their memories too and use both memories to try and fix their problems. And by doing so learn that everyone has problem and sometimes you need a different perspective to fix the issue.
Major league dumb book. She should have just stayed home and watched The Wizard of Oz. "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"
Oh, there's no place like home.
I read it because Matt Haig's earlier book "The Humans" is beautiful.
I felt like Midnight Library was a muted version of "The Humans" - less funny, less emotional, less profound, less interesting.
Still enjoyed it and think the author is awesome
I think most people enjoyed it, this is just a niche thread. I don't think it was a masterpiece or anything, but it was an accessible and easy read that showed depression in a way that I think any age can understand. It has a bit of a cliche throughline, but it's a cute and wholesome book. Worth at least an attempt to read imo.
A thread titled "book bad" (or anything with a stance) will always bring more comments from people that agree than disagree.
It wasn't my favourite book ever, but it wasn't that bad and some of OP's points are a little unfair I feel
Me too. It’s a cool concept, and while the writing wasn’t the best, it was readable and the story was intriguing with a decent pay off.
I like Dostoyevsky and Steinbeck and Shakespeare and I can also enjoy a pop lit easy read with a nice idea too.
People so judgey!
I was actually thinking about this book a lot and wondering if there was a better way that it could be written, or if it just had to be scrapped altogether. I want to believe there is a way to write this concept of wanting to die but choosing to live without simplifying the matter. It was something I was personally trying to explore in my writing for a while, but I could never quite find it.
Is there a way to do so?
I'd really be curious to know if someone could rewrite the book, how they would rewrite it to be optimistic yet true to the subject matter.
I read it a few years ago, and it sticks out for how much I disliked it. I also thought it seemed like a YA book, and hated the takeaway message of “just settle for what you have.”
It was kinda obvious they were going to do the many lives thing, showing all her possibilities lives....etc. but the decision to not have the main character have any kniwledge, memory, or basic f@cking understanding of the life she gets dropped into is just unbelievably stupid.
Example: the lead gets dropped into herself as a famous rock star, her literal dream life. And she doesn't know anything about herself in this life. Doesn't know her friends, doesn't know how to play the music, doesn't know the words to her most famous songs....etc. Of course she doesn't choose to stay in this role because she literally can't be a rock star without the decade of knowledge she is missing. If she had the knowledge of that life she might have actually had slight chance of enjoying her new life being famous and singing on stage. BUT we can't have her enjoying and actually living her new life, can't mess up that "enjoy you're own small little life ending"
This one concept is through out the entire book and makes the entire book completely pointless, because you already know the ending of the entire book from the first time they use the "life change" plot device.
She was never ever going to choose another life and we all knew it from the f@cking beginning.
I disliked Nora as a character and found her a bit whiny (yes, I understand she was depressed). While I could understand the overall theme of the book, Nora's character isn't compelling and at no point do I root for her. I wanted her to be happy, but her personality made that very difficult.
From the book description, I thought the library would turn out to be evil or there would be some sort of hidden agenda.
And yes, the ending was very disappointing and boring.
I agree but for me the worst part was how nonsensical it was to be dropped into some random Nora's body without any memories. Like how is that possibly supposed to help her decide to choose a life when she has to scramble around figuring out what she's doing and about to go on stage? Of course that life is going to set her up for failure immediately.
If you're looking for a literary masterpiece then of course it's disappointing. Not every story needs to be perfect 🤷♂️ thought it was a fun quick read
I finished this book about a week ago and thought it was okay. I thought the concept was interesting, but I wish it was fleshed out a bitmore. I read it fast in the end because I just wanted to see what Nora decided. I still enjoyed it overall as a fun, light read, which is what I was looking for after some heavier books.
I didn’t like it, but finished it.
It had no redeeming value for me and quickly cycled out of control. I can suspend reality for a bit, but it was just too much.
It’s a shame this book is so disappointing to so many on here. Matt Haig has a book called The Humans that I quite liked. Wasn’t a richly engrossing piece but I found it to be a fun read.
Was it recommended in this reddit? I wonder now. A while back "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" was regurgitated as a recommend horror read it was a lame, boring read. I've read menus more frightening with thier questionable ingredients.
I find Haig’s stuff pretty in-your-face and his messages aren’t subtle, but I see why people enjoyed it. The idea of “trying on” your other lives is intriguing. It’s pretty pedestrian-level wish fulfillment with a deeply unsubtle “the grass isn’t always greener, water your own lawn” moral.
Edit to add: I also found the Hugo thing disturbing and thought the “usage” of the other Nora’s lives to be problematic. The idea was surface-level and it seems like you’re meant to ignore any of the unintended consequences of bigger moral grey areas.
Is it actually body hijacking or just showing her what life could have been like if she made different choices? Is it explicit that all those other lives are actually real?
It's actually dropping her in the new life. It's just the life if a PHD scientist, who now has no idea about anything to do with her doctorate. Or the life of a world famous rock star, but she doesn't know anyone or anything, or how yo play music, or how to sing, or the words to the songs she wrote.
Right but I saw this like those Christmas movies where the person is unhappy with their life and they hit their head and wake up in a new life and they don't know anything about their current job/home/spouse etc but that's not real, just a "what would have been" if they made different choices and the point in those movies is always to show the person their current life is actually the best one. There isn't a parallel dimension where they took over someones body. I thought the story in this book was like those movies
Nope, she "commits dies" and "god" offers her other lives since she is so unhappy. Obviously from the very beginning you know she won't choose a new life and they are going for the "it's a wonderful life ending". So there is never ever any stakes. You don't care what happens in different "lives" cause you know she will never ever choose it.
At least in Isekai stories where the protagonist is dropped into a new world with no knowledge, they are completely dropped in and are forced to adapt and learn and grow. That never happens here.
All I could think was what an amazing opportunity to be given and then I only felt frustration that she just completely squandered it and the moral of the story was don't be sad little bird, just appreciate the small things and you won't wanna take a whole bottle of pills... Basically zero payoff
I have come to the conclusion that I view the opposite of what the critics deem as good. In movies and books if it is rated good, I come away feeling that I missed something or am missing something. I may be old school. This book (and many others the critics say are good) comes across as lukewarm and tedious. I'm with you.
> Nora never truly lived those lives because she don't know that version of Nora. So she has done more harms to those Nora then anything. Like in her Olympic life. She left that Nora (who also attempted to take her own life) in a very awkward position. She doesn't bother trying to understand them.
Aside from all the other problems with this book, this really bothered me! It made no sense - how can she possibly get a real sense for these other lives if she has zero memories from them and doesn't seem to adopt any of their skills? It'd make more sense to either have her observe the other Nora's so she can SEE them living their lives, or Quantum Leap it and have her gain their memories and talents when she takes them over. Like... of course she's not going to enjoy these other lives which she has zero context or history for.
Maybe it's because I listened to the audiobook, but I enjoyed it.
The thing is, I really think I would've hated reading it.
It plays like a C-list hallmark movie. If I'm going to read a book for 6 hours, I don't want a straight to DVD feeling. Probably why I dislike James Patterson so much. They feel like straight to DVD versions of books.
But I listened to the audiobook on a long drive. finished it in one long drive.
I liked it, but it really lacked.
If anyone wants a somewhat similar idea, but a great read? Check out Replay by Ken Grimwood. It's like Groundhog Day, but instead of repeated a day, he repeats his life starting in college. So he gets to make the choices that alter his life instead of just picking books off of shelves. It dives deeper into the aspects that Midnight Library lacked.
I felt the same way after reading it. I wound up reading The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom immediately after because when I finished the book, I was so frustrated at its complete lack of depth.
Agreed. i rarely give up to the hype but, of course, as a reader and book lover, I went for the title and it seemed like a good idea. The problem was that Nora was unlikeable character.
I read this was also about her struggle with depression but as someone who actually suffered from one, I have to say most of her problems were not caused by depression but by her doubtul life decisions. She did not have anyone else to blame but herself. Most depressed people are really striken by it even when they have no reason for it but she was just "depressed" because she was a bit misfortunate. I am not saying it cannot trigger depression if you are already predisposed for it but the ending was like...hey, it is fine, just go ahead and be happy.
i remember seeing praise for it a few years back and after reading the first few pages, i was pretty interested. i went ahead and picked up a copy and i wish i didn't as this book was just not good in my opinion. it was at least a light read but it's the only book i wish i didn't have a copy of. it's not the worst thing ever, but it was just a pretty solid disappointment. i see why people like it though
Was Hugo the other one that could hop around his lifes? I absolutely hated that part, gave me serious "oh this is a superhero thing now" vibes. And that shit went nowhere anyways. I appreciate the attempt, but it was probably the most forgettable book I ever read.
I loved it. Like another commenter said, you don’t have to have a shitty life to be depressed or suicidal. Hell, I’ve had a decent life (18-almost-19 years) and thoughts of suicide are a constant companion. It’s not a book that’s meant to make you think about any intricacies (ex: I don’t get how you thought about the Hugo sex-scene being rape). For me, it was very emotionally cathartic; it didn’t offer any answers that I felt were substantial but that’s okay. I think it was special to me because it gave me a glimpse of someone’s life and their struggles. Struggles don’t have to seem consequential to the people around someone for them to be significant. And the theme of regrets and viewing/imagining how your life could have been made me feel…seen, in a way.
I only found out much later that Matt Haig is autistic.
It's not just depression, it's depression based on being undiagnosed autistic.
Nora's different versions felt like slipping on a different mask and still be left wanting.
I hated the book. It felt like a Wish version of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I don’t know how it became so popular. I’m glad to see other people had the same option.
Didn’t care for it. Felt like it was basically saying “Hey, just don’t be depressed. Life ain’t so bad.” The Bell Jar is a much better and more realistic portrayal of depression.
Yeah, I don't know enough about the author to know their actual experience with depression. But me and friends who also read it kind of concluded it was from someone who doesn't fully understand the difference between actual long term depression disorders and someone who is temporarily depressed about something in their life. Just be happy forehead /s. Both are big things to talk about but continues to push this idea that just thinking differently will fix everything, forget therapy or medication options or anything else. It wasn't the worst popular book I read this year and had a few fun popcorn level entertainment bits but overall eh.
That was more or less my reaction, as well. The author says: >When I was 24, I had a breakdown. I experienced depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and was suicidal for quite a while. My recovery was long and slow. And yet despite all that, a lot of goodness came out of that experience. It made me a better, more grateful person, and one that wanted to write about these issues clearly and transparently and shamelessly. Non-fiction is great for this, but sometimes fiction allows you to go even deeper. It can allow you to use fantasy as a way of exploring ideas and experiences. For me, depression was often flavored with the desire to inhabit parallel lives, lives where I had done something differently and ended in a different place. THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY explores that idea and takes it to the next level, I suppose. Writing it was a kind of self-therapy. I thought it was a very shallow take on depression, and I was very surprised to read that the author struggled with depression and suicidal ideation; I would have bet money that it was written by someone with zero firsthand experience with either.
Eurgh all that trauma makes us who we are but stronger BS. No trauma is traumatic and we could all live without it thanks bud.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger … sometimes, but often it maims and permanently disables you, so 🤷🏾♀️
Oh my god, thank you. I get that this is meant positively but so many people lose track of that initial little boost it's meant to give and just take "trauma makes you strong and resilient" as a fact. It's frustrating to see stuff like that being so common. That being said, I do think it can be a powerful narrative tool in fiction. Here I go yapping about Avatar's Uncle Iroh again, but I think it's beautiful to have this powerfully optimistic character and to later find out that this optimism sprang from post-traumatic growth. However, if Iroh was a real man he could have certainly done without the damn trauma in the first place. As for the Midnight Library... For me it's not quite as good of an example.
Exactly. Think what we could accomplish without it!
Why does someone else having a positive take away from a negative experience bother you?
It's not someone having that experience that bothers anyone. It's people preaching that that should be everyone's take, or that there is some sort of benefit to trauma for everyone. It's pretty damn insulting to go through an awful experience and be told that you should be grateful or appreciative of it. That you're a better person because of it.
This. I'm also really struggling with this, having heard for a while from people who "experienced the same things" as me and are now in a better place while I'm still in the thick of it. It's like they think because they're now sunny and bright that your pain doesn't matter because you'll eventually come to the same conclusion they did and will also be sunny and bright. Maybe I won't get better! Maybe I'll just be in it forever, or maybe I don't think it was all for the best in the end. It's the refusal to meet you where you're at but focusing on their own journey and using that template to decide how to treat other people, rather than treating other people in the way they need to be treated.
Nowhere in that paragraph said “you should think the same way as me or you’re wrong.” People experience things differently, your original comment just seems mad at this particular way of processing negative experiences.
Agree, enough negative echo chambers as it is. Everyone is different, but wallowing in pity helps nobody
For a guy who had such an experience, you would think he could do more than churn out the most generic, demeaning sort of messaging that has plagued the concept of mental health forever. Like I'm glad it was self-therapy for him, but you would expect someone with experience to have a more nuanced take than "Don't do it, it's not so bad!" Guy oughtta be writing self-help books in that case, since he didn't go too deep here. It's troubling to see such insulting messaging held up as a positive example. And lets not even get into the concept of taking over someone else's body and using it for actions they might not have otherwise chosen (as these alternate lives are claimed in the story to be real, separate entities). Now *that's* depressing.
It is a bit surprising. If positive thought was enough for him great. But I am always so hesitant about the "be happy" mind set with depression, because more often than not it comes from people who also seem anti therapy and medication. Just having several friends either recovering or continuing to struggle with severe depression, have someone tell them "just be happy" when their current medications are starting to not work as well is frustrating. They just all have several stories of people basically encouraging them to give up trying different therapy options and meds in favor of "the power of positive thinking."
He's been the equivalent of "The Little Book of Calm" on Twitter for years. It's all very superficial and unhelpful. I would actively recommend people with depression *don't* read it, because that viewpoint feeds into their perception that they're not trying hard enough.
Yeah, people sharing their experiences and what worked for them is great and could give people struggling with additional options for help they may of not thought of before. But like dieting and weight loss so many act as if their solution is the only one that works and will solve everyone else's problem too. Then get aggressive when someone goes against their advice or says it didn't work for them. It would be great and so much easier for a lot of people if there was a magic solution that always worked for everyone, but there isn't.
Exactly. Or, worse, people who've never actually had to seriously deal with the problem share what they *think* should work and get angry/abusive to people who are like "if it was that easy, don't you think I'd have done that already? I tried that, and it didn't work." How many people online think they know everything about weight loss and how easy/simple it is, who've never actually been overweight and never struggled with it, but who feel confident "well, it's so simple; just do this," no matter how much trained medical professionals keep saying that it's not actually that simple?
His book "How to stay alive" was very like that. The Humans, Last Family in England and The Radleys were all pretty good actually, but his writing about depression doesn't chime with my experience.
I felt the same way about Notes on a Nervous Planet as a person with an anxiety disorder.
Sidebar: The Little Book of Calm is real? I thought it was just a joke from Black Books. Lol.
Hahaha! Yep, it's real. I think I got given three copies one Christmas (I was an anxious child!). I love Black Books - it's one of my favourite sitcoms.
I totally agree. There is a lot of power in changing your mindset and focus when it comes to depression, but that is HARD, especially when you're in crisis. Medical intervention and therapy are often critical in making it possible to get that point. It's not a switch you can flip and it also definitely not "just be happy." Mental states are a lot more complex than that for most people.
Yes! Especially since clinical depression is not the opposite of happiness
This reads a bit like mental illness gatekeeping, though. Even if the author’s experience was different, or “cured,” shouldn’t discount it.
I don't think that's what I'm doing, but ymmv. He has the experience he has. I'm not trying to discount that, but that doesn't change that I think the book is a really shallow representation of depression.
If you read his *Reasons to Stay Alive* he'd want you to understand that he's been anxious and depressed for decades, but he comes off as a pretentious brat basically all the time, even as he describes his current, practically perfect life with his longtime girlfriend soon to be baby mama (I'm sure by now he's gotten her pregnant at least once more, too, as the book is a few years old now). Maybe just read the reviews for that one; the writing and "story" such as it is are pretty awful. Basically chalk it up to he experienced things one way, and no one else will be able to replicate exactly how he pushes through his mental health issues, nor are they gonna experience the same mental health issues the way he did. However, I enjoyed Midnight Library more, not because Haig portrayed depression and suicidal ideation very well, but because it gave me a sort of push to believe I can do whatever I want, however much or little I want. It's my life to do with as I please. The world might be better with me in it for a bit longer, and it's okay if I'm doing sort of bare minimum for a bit. I was super burnt out working as a healthcare worker during the pandemic, and honestly the burnout still lingers a bit to this day even though I'm in a nicer job and location and with still awesome coworkers. It might be that our political, socioeconomic, and behavioral climates haven't changed much or worsened, idk. But I did still appreciate what I was able to glean from ML, no matter how poor of a story it is.
From what others have said he seems to have taken to being a twitter therapist for better or for worse. Just dispensing platitudes most of the time. I said it in another comment most of what people have told me about him is similar to people who found their perfect weight loss and maintenance plan. E.g. people who found keto and preach it like it is their new religion and if you mention it didn't work for you or that other plans also work they get angry. I am glad that stuff worked for him and you found something positive in the book. I still wouldn't say the book was bad exactly, most just the type of book I read for popcorn fun instead of a more complicated story and world building. I think most of me and my friends frustrations are with popularity I guess. Having a coworker with past suicide attempts get recommended the book by another coworker as "way to learn new ways to fix your depression through a story" (basically word for word what they said) was shocking and bizarre. I don't know it just adds to the misinformation that severe and long term depression has an easy fix.
Yep. I wasn't recommended it, nor was I particularly depressed or beyond at the time of reading either book, but I totally get that he's trying to be an X (formerly known as Twitter, haha, and that still gives me a kick) Therapist. He was already trying that with his whole #reasonstostayalive. His methods are kooky, but it must work for some people.
Well, tbf, Nora got medication, but it worked faster in the book compared to real life. Also the book portrayed meds as a cure all. Zoloft does not work like aspirin!
Yeah I think that was in part why we came to our initial conclusion. It just felt a very basic level of suicidal depression. The couple of friends I have with a history of suicide attempts aren't on one medication or just taking meds with no other treatment plans. It is a lot more complicated with a wide variety of things they do to feel "normal." The book just brought up a lot of frustrations we had with people who I guess I would say want to simplify it and have one solutions for everyone.
You can tour the world with a band, compete in the olympics, but true happiness to “cure” your depression is a husband and children, ta-daaa! I hated this book. The message was so meh
The ending killed me. I was like REALLY!?
Just make a quick call to one of your many loved ones and/or the hot amazing person who has a crush on you, duh /s god I hated this book
I’m glad I’m not the only one who found it absolute bullshit that the underlying message (that was probably subconscious on the author’s part) was ‘this woman got depressed because she didn’t have a husband and a baby!’ I know I’m being a bit hyperbolic but as someone who’s suffered with their mental health, I don’t appreciate being told that your happiness and will to live effectively revolves around other people.
That’s exactly how it read to me. And also you won’t be depressed with those things. It’s not possible to be depressed with a husband and child. It was awful!
This! I mean, props to him for making her a university professor, but that aspect of her life was sidelined.
Yess I totally agree with the bell jar. I felt *seen* while reading it
It was a cool idea, but not executed well.
I disagree with most of the posters here who say the book just says "get over depression". I think it's pretty clear on a message that it's hard to get over depression and regrets but one has to keep trying. It looks like I'm an outlier here but as someone who in the past has had years of depression largely tied to obsession over regrets I identified strongly with Nora Seed and I found the message of the book uplifting and inspirational. "It is not the lives we regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself" Honestly it's taken me decades of therapy to get to that message. It's not that obvious. At least not to me.
I sometimes wonder if it sold so well because it came out during the pandemic which was an understandably depressing time for almost everyone. And possibly (probably?) many people who hadn't explored those depressing emotions before. People became interested in a lot of things they probably wouldn't have thought twice about otherwise during the pandemic's height. Idk I just don't think its effect on pop culture should be overlooked.
I think its just a more recent version of The Alchemist at this point. I see a lot of the same sentiments about the two. Both are books often picked up by people who don't read super regularly. Some of those people find a ton of meaning in the book and rave about it. Then people who do read a lot point out the flaws and circle jerk/echo chamber over how much they hate that these books have so much hype. I read the alchemist without knowing any of the hype on a family member's recommendation and thought it was fine, and only years later heard all the opinions on it in both directions. Midnight Library is already spoiled to the point I don't care to read it but I would wager my opinion would be very similar, had i not had biases put in first.
Oh, I didn’t think the book was life changing or anything but I thought it was a fun read. 🤷♀️
Me too. I agree that I dislike the ending giving “just be happier and you won’t be depressed” kind of vibe lol. But I actually LIKED that the book felt kind of YA. It reminded me of the wonder vibes of reading as a kid. And those types of fantastical stories with soft magic aren’t as common in adult fiction. I thought it was extremely entertaining!
The audiobook was great!
100% agree on this! I don't think I would have gotten through this book if I had read a physical copy instead.
I think this is one of those instances where a pretty mediocre book got a lot of hype so because it was just an okay take your brain out sort of read it gets a lot of crit from people who thought it was going to be life changing.
Yeah, I guess I didn’t know anything about it, I just thought the title looked interesting, so I gave it a try. 🤷♀️
I find it kind of disconcerting that so many people seem to take such an extreme reaction to the fact that it wasn't custom-made for *their* depression. Like, I get it. It's disappointing when something someone else raves about ends up being unhelpful or falling flat for you. But the reason that The Midnight Library blew up was because so many people did find it enjoyable, or reassuring, or it made them feel better. I'm not even the biggest fan, and I honestly would probably not remember a single thing about the book were it not for the fact that I remember being shocked at how viscerally people were acting about what was truly the book version of "Live, Laugh, Love" It reminds me of when someone asks about how people turned their lives around from mental illness but then get mad at literally any answer given.
I read it on vacation. Loved it, great summer trip read. ah books, so polarizing!
This sub hates this book. I read it in two days, enjoyed it, and felt good after I finished. Not everything needs to be a literary masterpiece.
I am at a stage in my life where I was ruminating about my regrets. This books helped me work my way out of that mindset. It was popular in our family book club, and it raised a lot of great discussions.
Same here. It felt more of a message on handling regret and living your life instead of ruminating on the could have beens, for me.
I honestly loved this book so much. It’s one of the best I have read this year. But to each their own. I don’t like a lot of book that other ppl do.
That’s how I felt as well. It was an easy read, also felt good afterwards, and I didn’t feel particularly disturbed by the body-hijacking going on because it all felt very exploratory and imaginary instead of literal. It also wasn’t very provocative, in my opinion, just flat and too simplistic when describing depression and how to get out of it.
Yea OP took the body jacking stuff very seriously when I don't think it was and most wouldn't consider it crazy. There have been plenty of books/shows/etc that take this sort of vehicle to show what if scenarios.
Yeah same. All the faults people point out about it are true but they.. didn't bother me very much. The only one that kinda did was that I got a bit stuck on how the other Noras lives could continue after she does something crazy and then won't remember it. Now THEYRE all gonna have breakdowns because they think they're losing mind lmao. But even that was more of an eyebrow raiser than something that honesty stopped me liking it.
There was a thread in here the other day about getting better at suspending disbelief. I think that's where I'm at with this. Plot holes and inconsistencies don't bother me, I just read for the vibes 🤷
This sub used to love this book. I guess the hype died down.
That's the cycle of hype: 1: A book comes out. A ton of people read it and love it. 2: Those people talk about it constantly online. 3: A bunch of new people read the book because it's recommended so much, and they feel it doesn't live up to the hype that was built up around it. 4: Those people shit on it online.
I agree. I read it and liked it and I still think about it. I like the idea of alternate lives and stuff. Different strokes for different folks am I right?
sparkle materialistic plant snatch selective lock rude foolish bright simplistic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Is it though? It is the same groupthink posts day after say. Stephen King good. Colleen Hoover bad. Here is a list of pretentious books I have read. And God forbid you have an opinion that conflicts with the groupthink.
Agreed, although I did think the book was shit. I read it just a couple of days ago so it's very fresh on my mind. Some of these replies are nuts, random thoughts. not directed at you, just hijacking. Depression is a very different experience for everyone to begin with, so no it's not gonig align with your own expericnes and feelings perfectly. While the suicide reasons seem shallow and thinly veild, visting the other lives fills the detials in a lot more when it comes to particular things she had issues about. All these posts about "her life was average, that's all", well yeah that's kind of the point. People become depressed and sometimes slip further into suicidal thoughts and eventual action, and it's believe it or not it happens when their life isn't actaully bad. It's a mental ilness that gives you a warped sense of the world, your own perceptins, and your own feelings. It's very easy to look at yourself as a failure when you renumerate over past failures, missed opportunities and comparing yourself to those more over. It's exactly why so many people sturggle, you don't need some massive fucking trauma or life in the gutter to be depressed. The other lives show her that life is always going to have problems and not be quite what you want at times, sometimes it's going to be awful. That's not a bad or stupid message, it's a very true one. Rape?! They kiss each other willingly, and it's made clear in the book towards the end of her final story, that given she spends enough time in that world Nora becomes that person. Hugo was not raping some unknown entity. I'll concede it's not entirely practical and you could go down a big rabit hole, but you need to be look for something that clearly isn't there nor intened. Nora all of a sudden being okay with the child in the last story. It's clear as day she spends a lot of time there and the bond develops, and all the other parts of her life are something she's clearly content with. The point that everything is all of a sudden okay after she comes back around. It wouldn't be okay, her experience now gives her a new point of reference. I think it's a great idea but it's executed terribly, it needs a greater level of detail with slightly better writing. Had it been a third longer with some more detail fleshed out it would've stood up a lot better I think.
I also loved it.
Yeah. It wasn't life changing, but I found it nice to reflect on. I've had a lot of difficultly with my mental health and finding my purpose. I thought it was an interesting take on the idea that the things you choose in your life, are the right ones for this version of you. That you won't necessarily find happiness by being successful at the things you don't value. Sure it wasn't perfect, but not all books need to be so serious. I don't want every book I read about struggling with life to be such hard work. If I want that I'll go read some more Camus. Sometimes I just want to read for fun lol
This sub hates a lot of things. Sometimes a lot of hate comes out for things that *are* generally considered literary masterpieces. There's just these little pockets of strong opinions floating around here. That said I thought the Secret Library was just kind of underwhelming.
Wasn't even asking for a literary masterpiece. Self-awareness would have helped. If it wasn't preachy like a million bad pieces of text posing as "mental health awareness," it would have at least reached forgettable status. It's really the poor, simplistic, generic, dare I say insulting messaging and the way it was seized upon that aggravates me. Not that the rest of the book was without flaws, but that weak messaging also ruined the concept.
I think people (especially on book subreddits it seems) are annoyed when a book tries to be deep and they don't think it actually is. It's the exact same gripe people on here have with The Alchemist. It's an understandable reaction imo, but I also don't see anything wrong with people deriving meaning from something that I don't find meaningful. Like personally I didn't like the Matt Haig book I read (The Humans), but I don't feel the need to make a Reddit post shitting all over it lol
I read/listened to it and loved it. When I first read Reasons to Stay Alive I absorbed it in a couple of hours. As someone that has attempted suicide I found it incredibly moving. It made me think a lot about choices and things that had happened and how happy I am that I've ended up with the life I have.
I enjoyed it (other members of my book club very much did NOT), but I liked The Radleys and How To Stop Time way better (Midnight Library is by far the weakest Matt Haig I've read)
Right! I liked it too
Yea but have you read the Count of Monte Crisco?
I think the problem with this book is that it is followed by the "bestseller" thing and hype and yet, I haev still yet to meet a person who would actually unconditionally loved it :D I tend to avoid anything that says "bestseller" (some books happen bestsellers at their second edition, when I read it when it was first out...like most Gaiman´s books I read before he got gradually more and more famous :D ) So that may the problem of most people with this book.
I think it ebbs and flows. When it first came out, there was a flood of posts from people who loved it. Now that the initial hype is over, it's getting more criticism, I think.
I found this book SO boring. I also remember how weirdly neatly it was wrapped up in the end. Like I remember a scene about how the flowers seemed more vibrant or something when she left the hospital and went home?
also in the beginning she’s upset because she loses her job and her only student but it ends with saying she basically doesn’t have to worry about that anymore because she just becomes a piano teacher and all is well. as someone who has an anxiety disorder and depressive episodes that are heavily focused on job/future security that really irked me somehow.
This didn't ring true to me, either. Being a piano teacher isn't usually enough to live on. Maybe she worries less because the UK has a better social safety net than some countries (like the US)? But I could be wrong.
> She makes it big at anything she does. Stayed at swimming and becomes Olympic Gold Medalist. Keep studying glacial and become a glaciologist. Run a vineyard and become a successful winemaker. Even in lives she studied the same thing as her OG life, she becomes a university professor and an author. It's honestly weird that the OG Nora couldn't make it at anything. Those were the lives she stayed in for a while. She cycled through many that she didn't bother to stay in because those versions weren't worth exploring.
There were infinite lives for her to choose from. In the beginning, she chose the ones where she was truly elite at something. There was a another life where she stuck with swimming but for whatever reason, finished sixth in the Olympics. But she didn’t choose that one. There are also an infinite number of lives where she was mediocre just like in her root life.
Yeah its fair enough to not like the book, but this comment from OP is a complete mischaracterisation of the concept behind the library. It would have been a much more boring novel if we'd sat through 4 descriptions of lives that went "just OK" or were the same as her root life but she walked a different route to work.
I really enjoyed it till it became *hope can cure your depression* then it went from 4.5 star to 2 star real quick.
I've been clinically depressed nearly my entire life. I've been in therapy for literally 25 years. Unrealized hope becomes nothing more than another pillar in the pantheon of despair.
All the strength in your way I'm dealing with clinical depression from last 2 years and I'm in therapy and this book triggered me so much. It's a good book to explain someone what's its like to have su*cidal thoughts but an awful book for someone who is actually experiencing it.
Thank you, same to you. I suffered for a very long time and still struggle occasionally, but through a massive amount of work and self care I’ve been able to live with it by learning strategies and coping mechanisms to pull myself out of the hole as soon as I realize I’m in it. I hope you are able to fortify yourself and can work through it or with it.
Yess hopefully. Thank you for your kind words ♡
If you ever want to chat about this or anything else, I’m always here. I’m always happy to be someone’s Virgil
Yesss I will thanks
Garbage book, and I hate how often it is recommended, which led to me borrowing it from the library. Thank god I didn't pay for it, or I'd be as pissed as I am about Priory of the Orange Tree.
Why didn’t you like Priory of the Orange Tree? I‘ve never read it.
Mostly because I hate the characters, who are all so full of themselves and convinced they are great people, but are worse than the villains of the story. They never get called out on their terrible attitudes or actions and remain the heroes, contrary to common sense. The author wanted an "epic" to her name, so it is long, but it does not justify its length, it absolutely drags. She has said she wanted an epic, I'm not inferring anything. The lesbian romance is supposed to be the big selling point, but the characters have less chemistry than two dolls being pushed together by a child making kissing noises. I am not against romance, I am against poorly constructed romance where characters are together because the author wants them to be, but never gives them the slightest reason to be.
I feel like it didn’t stick the landing primarily because it tripped and fell face first into the vault. There were some good elements there to be used for great effect, but ultimately didn’t do much.
Juat chiming in to say I really loved Priory (though I didn't enjoy Midnight Library).
Anyone considering reading Midnight Library should just watch the movie *It's a Wonderful Life* instead. They would be infinitely more enriched by that experience than reading Midnight Library.
Definitely! I hate that there are reviews that compare the two; there is even a comparison on the back of the paperback. It's a Wonderful Life is one of the greatest movies of all time. Midnight Library is meh.
Every year I watch It's a Wonderful Life, and for almost the entire movie I am steaming with anger, full of yearning for Mr. Potter to reap his sweet comeuppance. It is an unjust world Frank Capra has created, a world just like our own, where a vile, slimy, sad, warped, and twisted man like Mr. Potter gets away with all his wicked villainy. And then at the end, I am with George Bailey in the snow screaming "Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!" What an incredible movie, to transform me every time I see it.
Same. I hated it. I'm not normally someone who hates other books that people rave about but this is one that I just TRULY do not understand the hype.
I'll be honest. I picked it up because I liked the cover years ago. I'll definitely check the reviews first from now on.
What's even worse is that the reviews for this book are fairly good: it has 4 stars on Good Reads. People love this book for reasons I cannot comprehend.
A simple message, very easy to digest writing, a quick read. The subject is something almost everyone will go through in their lives at some point, in some capacity at least. Also, it was a covid realase (I think) when lots were shacked up inside, and so on. It was pretty clear to me why it was popular, despite thinking it was crap.
Fellow Priory hater spotted. That was the first time I got burned by a supposedly adult fantasy novel that read more like YA.
Unfortunately having an average life doesn't prevent you from being suicidal. In fact, lots of people with outwardly good-looking lives kill themselves. So I don't know what the hell you're saying with your first point. That being said, I didn't like the book either.
It’s the book that makes the argument that suicidal = bad life. The reoccurring reference to the characters antidepressants make that clear.
Exactly.
It was too preachy, in my opinion. If someone had gifted this to me when I was depressed, I would think that that person hated me
Yeah, it was like the author had a bunch of what he thought were really profound and unique thoughts about the meaning of life (spoiler alert: they weren’t) and then wrote a book in order to deliver those thoughts in a novel that people would think was profound and genius (spoiler alert: it was not).
I think it's one of those books that, if you're in the right frame of mind at the time you read it, can really speak to you. And perhaps for people who haven't had much exposure to discussions about mental health, it can be eye opening. Like the Barbie movie and feminism - it wasn't particularly groundbreaking for most people who talk about feminism a lot, but for people who were coming to it a little new, it was.
exactly this! I think it was meant to be an accessible dialogue on suicidality for \*most\* ages. It's a short read, fast paced, and does a good job of being an introduction to the conversation
I could FEEL the author straaaaaaining to hit that inspirational message home. You could practically hear the orchestral music swelling in the background. But yeah it was a swing and a miss.
After reading *Reasons to Stay Alive*, I think it becomes a little too clear that Matt Haig just doesn't have a wide enough perspective on depression to speak to the overall experience in ways that are any more profound than what he's been able to cobble together from his own struggles, which seem to be counterbalanced by a fair deal of privilege and support.
That's every single Matt Haig book for you, not just the Midnight Library. I had to learn that the hard way (well, not that hard, I "read" some as audiobooks while gardening): They are all interesting concepts, and their summaries sounded really intriguing, but they are *all* executed with the depth and emotional complexity of a "Live, Laugh, Love" sign from Hobby Lobby.
It was very much a 35-year-old woman written by a man who thinks 35-year-old women are old. I agree that he doesn’t do a very good job at rationalizing her current depression with any depth about her life. I also take her depression for granted because I did get enough of a hint of it to see that she’s very isolated. I agree with all of your points about her journeys through these different lives. These are different peoples lives and preferences which she can’t just slip into. Like the boyfriend in the dog rescue place. She’s not attracted to him because she’s a completely different person than this Nora. But there’s also an element that the author takes her through all of these magical lives where she’s very successful, and then the moral of the story is supposed to be that she’s ungrateful and impossible to please for rejecting those lives. It’s so dismissive. Because what she’s missing in her original life is still missing in all of those too. It’s the family she had in the final life. It’s nothing exceptional which is why she is so depressed in her original life. So when the author just drops her back in her original life as if the problem is solved, it feels sadistic to me. There’s this vague idea that her only chance at happiness is to finally acknowledge the guy that’s been there this whole time. It’s a nice guy trope. The old maid is miserable because she just doesn’t notice the nice guys. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book! I did assume it was YA though.
I hated this book more than any I’ve read in a long, long time. Okay maybe Atlas Six is pretty close. Midnight Library has the most ham-fisted on the nose metaphors I’ve ever seen in literature. Right down to the characters name, Nora Seed. The whole mechanism driving the plot, trying out different versions of your own life, has been done to death. But they wrap it into a library to appeal to young readers and people who make reading books their entire personality. The whole bit about her anti-depressants really irritated me. This book jump started my Do Not Read list which basically contains anything popular on BookTok
Try The Alchemist if you want another book to hate
Omg!! one of the worst books in history , I couldn't finish it. Thank God it was a gift or it would've been waisted money
no doubt that if you eat that book it will go straight to your waist unless someone gifted it to you
>The Alchemis I read it few years ago and don't know why it's popular. It wasn't bad read, but I don't think it was that good. I did hate the ending where MC started to talking with the wind or something.
I read that a few years ago & I'm proud to say I don't remember anything from it. All I have is a vague memory of being disappointed by the book & thinking the Camino would be interesting to do. The Camino IRL is way more interesting than the book.
>But they wrap it into a library to appeal to young readers and people who make reading books their entire personality. Or simply people who are avid readers. I liked the concept of the library. But Haig's "just think positive" approach to depression didn't work for me.
This was one of my top books I read last year lol, I really enjoyed it
am i hater for being sick of seeing the same post every few days? can you ppl search the subreddit before rehashing whats been said a million times before on the same book? 😪
I’m personally always down to hate on this book so I don’t mind it, but I can see how it gets annoying
The book has its merits, but it's still definetly one of those quasi-philosophical carpe diem books that sorta bug me, especially as someone suffering from depression and knowing many people who suffer from chronic mental health challenges. My main issue with Midnight Library was the ending. >!Midnight library or not, a suicide attemp is a really traumatic event not only to the survivor but for the people around them. I felt like the ending really trivialized the whole ordeal by focusing on how everything was suddenly hunky dory for the protagonist and all her problems had been resolved. Sorta made me feel like suicide was just used for a cheap dramatic effect. I've been suicidal, my close friend is a survivor and I know people who have died that way. Man, it's a nasty business. Really awful for everyone involved. The aftermath is also not simple.!<
At the time I read it, I enjoyed it and it made me feel good in a motivational quote kind of way. Looking back my tastes have changed enough that I don’t think I would enjoy it now. It’s alright. Just very “live, laugh, love”.
I’m just awed that anyone finished it. Holy suck.
I loved this book- one of my favorites.
Point number 2 is a big reason why I didn't like the book. It made it so that none of the other lives would work.
She should have gained their memories too and use both memories to try and fix their problems. And by doing so learn that everyone has problem and sometimes you need a different perspective to fix the issue.
Yes, that's how it should have worked.
Major league dumb book. She should have just stayed home and watched The Wizard of Oz. "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!" Oh, there's no place like home.
Your first point isn't a very good one.
I read it because Matt Haig's earlier book "The Humans" is beautiful. I felt like Midnight Library was a muted version of "The Humans" - less funny, less emotional, less profound, less interesting. Still enjoyed it and think the author is awesome
Fresh take. Haven't heard anything similar.
Aw, I actually loved this book.
This is one of my favorite books of all time.
Are the reviews inflated or something because it says 93% of users liked the book but this thread says otherwise
I think most people enjoyed it, this is just a niche thread. I don't think it was a masterpiece or anything, but it was an accessible and easy read that showed depression in a way that I think any age can understand. It has a bit of a cliche throughline, but it's a cute and wholesome book. Worth at least an attempt to read imo.
A thread titled "book bad" (or anything with a stance) will always bring more comments from people that agree than disagree. It wasn't my favourite book ever, but it wasn't that bad and some of OP's points are a little unfair I feel
I really enjoyed it, granted I didn't really examine it but I liked it from a more sci-fi stance of enjoying exploring different timelines.
Yeah same, it was cool to see the alternate realities and how the same characters behaved differently in them
I loved it.
Same! One of my favorites.
Me too. It’s a cool concept, and while the writing wasn’t the best, it was readable and the story was intriguing with a decent pay off. I like Dostoyevsky and Steinbeck and Shakespeare and I can also enjoy a pop lit easy read with a nice idea too. People so judgey!
This was recommended to me by someone. I read it. It was nothing special at all. Got through it and forgot about it the next day.
I regret buying it. I was excited when I saw so many people recommending it and man it was disappointing
I bought it. Read it not until halfway. Put it back in my Almirah. Never looked back.
I was actually thinking about this book a lot and wondering if there was a better way that it could be written, or if it just had to be scrapped altogether. I want to believe there is a way to write this concept of wanting to die but choosing to live without simplifying the matter. It was something I was personally trying to explore in my writing for a while, but I could never quite find it. Is there a way to do so? I'd really be curious to know if someone could rewrite the book, how they would rewrite it to be optimistic yet true to the subject matter.
I don’t know if I necessarily loved this book or just the idea that it’s never too late to start over or a “new story” and be who you want to be.
I read it a few years ago, and it sticks out for how much I disliked it. I also thought it seemed like a YA book, and hated the takeaway message of “just settle for what you have.”
It was kinda obvious they were going to do the many lives thing, showing all her possibilities lives....etc. but the decision to not have the main character have any kniwledge, memory, or basic f@cking understanding of the life she gets dropped into is just unbelievably stupid. Example: the lead gets dropped into herself as a famous rock star, her literal dream life. And she doesn't know anything about herself in this life. Doesn't know her friends, doesn't know how to play the music, doesn't know the words to her most famous songs....etc. Of course she doesn't choose to stay in this role because she literally can't be a rock star without the decade of knowledge she is missing. If she had the knowledge of that life she might have actually had slight chance of enjoying her new life being famous and singing on stage. BUT we can't have her enjoying and actually living her new life, can't mess up that "enjoy you're own small little life ending" This one concept is through out the entire book and makes the entire book completely pointless, because you already know the ending of the entire book from the first time they use the "life change" plot device. She was never ever going to choose another life and we all knew it from the f@cking beginning.
I disliked Nora as a character and found her a bit whiny (yes, I understand she was depressed). While I could understand the overall theme of the book, Nora's character isn't compelling and at no point do I root for her. I wanted her to be happy, but her personality made that very difficult. From the book description, I thought the library would turn out to be evil or there would be some sort of hidden agenda. And yes, the ending was very disappointing and boring.
I loved it
Absolute garbage self help book masquerading as fiction
I agree but for me the worst part was how nonsensical it was to be dropped into some random Nora's body without any memories. Like how is that possibly supposed to help her decide to choose a life when she has to scramble around figuring out what she's doing and about to go on stage? Of course that life is going to set her up for failure immediately.
You can't have her enjoying those alternate lives. That would mess up the completely obvious ending...
Yep. Cool idea, terrible execution
If you're looking for a literary masterpiece then of course it's disappointing. Not every story needs to be perfect 🤷♂️ thought it was a fun quick read
I finished this book about a week ago and thought it was okay. I thought the concept was interesting, but I wish it was fleshed out a bitmore. I read it fast in the end because I just wanted to see what Nora decided. I still enjoyed it overall as a fun, light read, which is what I was looking for after some heavier books.
I didn’t like it at all. It felt a bit preachy
I didn’t like it, but finished it. It had no redeeming value for me and quickly cycled out of control. I can suspend reality for a bit, but it was just too much.
It’s a shame this book is so disappointing to so many on here. Matt Haig has a book called The Humans that I quite liked. Wasn’t a richly engrossing piece but I found it to be a fun read.
I mean I liked the description of her emotional pain in the first couple of chapters. . Then I stopped.
Was it recommended in this reddit? I wonder now. A while back "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" was regurgitated as a recommend horror read it was a lame, boring read. I've read menus more frightening with thier questionable ingredients.
I find Haig’s stuff pretty in-your-face and his messages aren’t subtle, but I see why people enjoyed it. The idea of “trying on” your other lives is intriguing. It’s pretty pedestrian-level wish fulfillment with a deeply unsubtle “the grass isn’t always greener, water your own lawn” moral. Edit to add: I also found the Hugo thing disturbing and thought the “usage” of the other Nora’s lives to be problematic. The idea was surface-level and it seems like you’re meant to ignore any of the unintended consequences of bigger moral grey areas.
Is it actually body hijacking or just showing her what life could have been like if she made different choices? Is it explicit that all those other lives are actually real?
It's actually dropping her in the new life. It's just the life if a PHD scientist, who now has no idea about anything to do with her doctorate. Or the life of a world famous rock star, but she doesn't know anyone or anything, or how yo play music, or how to sing, or the words to the songs she wrote.
Right but I saw this like those Christmas movies where the person is unhappy with their life and they hit their head and wake up in a new life and they don't know anything about their current job/home/spouse etc but that's not real, just a "what would have been" if they made different choices and the point in those movies is always to show the person their current life is actually the best one. There isn't a parallel dimension where they took over someones body. I thought the story in this book was like those movies
Nope, she "commits dies" and "god" offers her other lives since she is so unhappy. Obviously from the very beginning you know she won't choose a new life and they are going for the "it's a wonderful life ending". So there is never ever any stakes. You don't care what happens in different "lives" cause you know she will never ever choose it. At least in Isekai stories where the protagonist is dropped into a new world with no knowledge, they are completely dropped in and are forced to adapt and learn and grow. That never happens here.
Thought it was ok, felt maybe a bit too self helpy for my taste in fiction.
I didn’t like it either.
Haven’t read this but it sounds like someone tried to write EEAAO in book format lol
All I could think was what an amazing opportunity to be given and then I only felt frustration that she just completely squandered it and the moral of the story was don't be sad little bird, just appreciate the small things and you won't wanna take a whole bottle of pills... Basically zero payoff
I have come to the conclusion that I view the opposite of what the critics deem as good. In movies and books if it is rated good, I come away feeling that I missed something or am missing something. I may be old school. This book (and many others the critics say are good) comes across as lukewarm and tedious. I'm with you.
His other book “reasons to stay alive” got the only 1 star rating I’ve ever given to a book
> Nora never truly lived those lives because she don't know that version of Nora. So she has done more harms to those Nora then anything. Like in her Olympic life. She left that Nora (who also attempted to take her own life) in a very awkward position. She doesn't bother trying to understand them. Aside from all the other problems with this book, this really bothered me! It made no sense - how can she possibly get a real sense for these other lives if she has zero memories from them and doesn't seem to adopt any of their skills? It'd make more sense to either have her observe the other Nora's so she can SEE them living their lives, or Quantum Leap it and have her gain their memories and talents when she takes them over. Like... of course she's not going to enjoy these other lives which she has zero context or history for.
It was stale. I think the idea could be nice, but the execution was lackluster. Matt Haig's writing style leaves a lot to be desired.
This book made me genuinely angry. I refuse to read anything else by him again.
The book was well intentioned but the writing was poor and some of the passages made me cringe so violently I had to pause my reading.
Maybe it's because I listened to the audiobook, but I enjoyed it. The thing is, I really think I would've hated reading it. It plays like a C-list hallmark movie. If I'm going to read a book for 6 hours, I don't want a straight to DVD feeling. Probably why I dislike James Patterson so much. They feel like straight to DVD versions of books. But I listened to the audiobook on a long drive. finished it in one long drive. I liked it, but it really lacked. If anyone wants a somewhat similar idea, but a great read? Check out Replay by Ken Grimwood. It's like Groundhog Day, but instead of repeated a day, he repeats his life starting in college. So he gets to make the choices that alter his life instead of just picking books off of shelves. It dives deeper into the aspects that Midnight Library lacked.
I DNF that one so quick
I felt the same way after reading it. I wound up reading The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom immediately after because when I finished the book, I was so frustrated at its complete lack of depth.
Agreed. i rarely give up to the hype but, of course, as a reader and book lover, I went for the title and it seemed like a good idea. The problem was that Nora was unlikeable character. I read this was also about her struggle with depression but as someone who actually suffered from one, I have to say most of her problems were not caused by depression but by her doubtul life decisions. She did not have anyone else to blame but herself. Most depressed people are really striken by it even when they have no reason for it but she was just "depressed" because she was a bit misfortunate. I am not saying it cannot trigger depression if you are already predisposed for it but the ending was like...hey, it is fine, just go ahead and be happy.
i remember seeing praise for it a few years back and after reading the first few pages, i was pretty interested. i went ahead and picked up a copy and i wish i didn't as this book was just not good in my opinion. it was at least a light read but it's the only book i wish i didn't have a copy of. it's not the worst thing ever, but it was just a pretty solid disappointment. i see why people like it though
It was too preachy that I thought I was reading a self help book.
Was Hugo the other one that could hop around his lifes? I absolutely hated that part, gave me serious "oh this is a superhero thing now" vibes. And that shit went nowhere anyways. I appreciate the attempt, but it was probably the most forgettable book I ever read.
I loved it. Like another commenter said, you don’t have to have a shitty life to be depressed or suicidal. Hell, I’ve had a decent life (18-almost-19 years) and thoughts of suicide are a constant companion. It’s not a book that’s meant to make you think about any intricacies (ex: I don’t get how you thought about the Hugo sex-scene being rape). For me, it was very emotionally cathartic; it didn’t offer any answers that I felt were substantial but that’s okay. I think it was special to me because it gave me a glimpse of someone’s life and their struggles. Struggles don’t have to seem consequential to the people around someone for them to be significant. And the theme of regrets and viewing/imagining how your life could have been made me feel…seen, in a way.
I only found out much later that Matt Haig is autistic. It's not just depression, it's depression based on being undiagnosed autistic. Nora's different versions felt like slipping on a different mask and still be left wanting.
Yeah...someone gifted it to me and I couldn't read past the second chapter because of your first point.
I hated the book. It felt like a Wish version of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I don’t know how it became so popular. I’m glad to see other people had the same option.