February 2024
The Midnight Library
This is a story about Nora, who finds herself in between life and death. In this space she is offered the opportunity to undo her regrets. To choose differently. To give people, places, things a second chance.
The theme of the book is what drew me in from the start. The 'what if..' parts of life have the ability to hold a lot of power over us. What if I had chosen A over B? Would I have landed on my writing journey sooner? Would I never have landed there at all? Every once in a while one does wonder.
"Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"
Nora rarely grasps an opportunity when one is presented to her. These missed opportunities have been collected for her in her very own 'Book of Regrets'. She can choose any of these regrets and gets one shot at doing them over. When a feeling of profound disappointment arises, she is automatically transported back to the libary. She tries on many different lives. Each having consequences not only for herself, but those around her. And yet, not everything is entirely within her control. Which I find a comforting thought to be honest.
I loved that on her first try it is immediately established that sometimes what you imagined life could be, isn't actually what it will be, should you choose it. You can convince yourself of things that may not even be true had they played out the way you wished they would have. One can easily romanticise people and situations and overlook the downsides. Essentially, fooling yourself into thinking you would have been better off if you had made 'better' choices.
"Sometimes the only way to learn is to live."
I believe most books come into our lives at the exact moment we need them. The Midnight Library was one of those books for me.
Even though the themes in this book are somber, it still manages to be funny at precisely the right moments. I really enjoyed exploring lives with Nora. Many times I found myself rooting for her to find the right one.
This book made me feel pretty much all the emotions in existence. At one point I had to remind myself that I wasn't actually in a Midnight Library, trying on different lives. I was sitting on the sofa reading a book.
No regrets there.
"Never underestimate the big importance of small things."
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