The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Review

 

* This review is spoiler-free *

3.5/5 ⭐

Tropes

➮ Multiple timelines

➮ String theory

➮ Book about books

Synopsis

The Midnight Library is a place between life and death. In this place, you have the chance to try out different lives that you could've had if you had made different choices in life. Nora finds herself in this library. Nora then gets to experiment with who she could've been. 

Best Quote From the Book

“ If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it. And don't give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Most gossip is envy in disguise."

LGBTQ+ Representation

2/5 🌈

I was very surprised to find that there was any LGBTQ+ representation in this book at all. Nora's brother is gay. In the story, Nora ends up encouraging him to be out and proud. She also helps set him up with a guy he would be happy with. Overall I appreciate the acceptance but she still has some initial surprise about finding out about her brother. I can say as an LGBTQ+ person if someone comes out to me, I may still be a bit initially surprised but of course, end up accepting them fully. It felt very real yet not overly focused on. 

My Thoughts

This book gives so much to think about yet I don't actually have all that much to say. I can admit it feels like I am back in my philosophy classes again just trying to wrap my head around all this book has done. In the end, it teaches a very valuable life lesson about appreciating the life you currently have and making the most of it. With the power to be anyone you could've been, it would be highly tempting to go for fortune, success, infamy, or a simple life. It then becomes a difficult decision about what you actually want and living a life with minimal regrets. No matter where you end up, you will probably have regrets. The challenge then becomes to decide how much regret and what ifs can you tolerate and what can you do to minimize them. 

Other than not being the biggest fan of fantasy in general, I did find the book to be confusing at times. First of all, there were so many different lives Nora endured it all started to blend together. That said, I have a feeling this was a purposeful choice by Matt Haig. The reader gets confused and muddied along with Nora's desire to keep exploring the library. That said, I still had a lot of trouble identifying the roles of people in the various lives compared to who Nora knew them as in her original life. So by about the halfway point of the book, I was just sort of letting the words wash over me with minimal comprehension. 

Overall I enjoyed the questions and contemplation this book elicits more than the actual experience of reading the book. I feel much more appreciative of the life I have and what I can do to make the most of it. I highly recommend this book if you have someone you can discuss it with. I think it would be highly beneficial to jot down your thoughts about this book as you read it to see how your thinking and perspective shift. 

Also, this book is written by an autistic author, so it is an amazing story to support!

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry Review

 

* This review is spoiler-free *

4.25/5 ⭐

Tropes

➮ Best friends to lovers

➮ Vacation read

➮ Timeskipping

➮ Travel

Synopsis

Poppy and Alex are a duo that loves to travel and experience the world together. As they have grown up, Poppy has stayed traveling for work while Alex became a teacher. While Poppy misses the past, she tries to devise a way to get Alex back in her life. Perhaps a trip would bring them back together?

Best Quote From the Book

“Maybe things can get better when people want to do a good job loving each other. Maybe that's all it takes."

LGBTQ+ Representation

2/5 🌈

This story has a brief bit of representation during Alex's brother's wedding. His brother is gay and Poppy and Alex attend the wedding. The wedding was very normalized and showed how a family can be supportive of an LGBTQ+ family member. That said, the representation was only used as a turning point in the plot of Alex and Poppy's story so I cannot rate it higher. It is also the only form of LGBTQ+ representation I noticed in the book. 

My Thoughts

The flashbacks to previous trips Alex and Poppy have taken together were wonderfully timed and sprinkled throughout the story wonderfully. As we watch Alex and Poppy become reacquainted with each other, we get to see how they once were. This building felt very natural and was the greatest strength of this book. 

The same classic comfortable but realistic relationship that is a staple of Emily Henry's writing. As I have made clear in some of my other reviews, I am a sucker for a duo that has good back-and-forth. Alex and Poppy aren't afraid to give each other a bit of a hard time. It shows the trust they share is strong. 

As I'm reading this book and getting to see glimpses of Poppy's family, they truly remind me of my own. They are wacky, silly, trusting, and entertaining. It can be a bit much to be thrown into the goofiness of it all, but that is how I see my own family. It's nice to see characters that are unafraid to be silly and different. It was also nice to see how Poppy's family never changed no matter who they were meeting. They stayed authentically themselves. It was a wonderful reminder that some of the best families are those who can have fun together. 

Without revealing spoilers I do want to take a brief moment to mention my favorite scene in the entire book. At one point there is a scene involving Tinder. I can say that it genuinely made me laugh out loud and was the easiest part of the book to visualize actually happening. This book was worth reading for that scene alone if you ask me. 

The reason this book is rated a bit on the low side for how much I enjoyed it is because of the last 20% of the book. At that point, it was incredibly obvious where the story was going, and the ending was inevitable. It took forever for it to actually get there. It was frustrating to have to sit through the characters simply being stubborn. This book would've been much better if the ending portion was greatly reduced. As a result, I knocked it down to 4.25 instead of 4.75. 

As a small note, there is a bit of spice in this book. It is not at the forefront but if that kind of scene makes you uncomfortable you might want to skip this book. 

Overall this was an excellent book. If the ending were reduced significantly, that would've made it nearly perfect. It is an excellent vacation (or I miss my vacation already) read. It has a very natural progression and doesn't fall into the instalove trap or a "perfect couple" who never has issues.