The Midnight Library

By: Matt Haig

Narrated by: Carey Mulligan

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

The touching, funny and heart-warming new audiobook from the Sunday Times best-selling author of How to Stop Time and Reasons to Stay Alive.

The Sunday Times number one best-selling worldwide phenomenon and winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for fiction.

Between life and death there is a library.

When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

©2020 Matt Haig (P)2020 Canongate Books Ltd

WHERE IS THE TRIGGER WARNING⚠️

I stopped at Chaptet 2. There should have been a warning. I HATE this! Don't recommend if you even remotely care about animals.

Laugh, cry, read this book!

Really enjoyed this book and the concept of exploring the regrets people have in their life. One of those books that stays in your head long after the final chapter. It’s dark, but funny, sad, but joyful. I couldn’t stop listening it’s compelling. Made me laugh and cry all at once.

Beautiful read

I am sorry I waited so long to read it, loved it !! Would highly recommend

Couldn't stop listening

I loved the idea of the midnight library. It captured me and i was hooked.

Beautiful read

It was easy to anticipate much of the storyline, but in this case that didn't take anything away from the experience.

Carey Mulligan was flawless except for her Newfoundland pronunciation.

Matt Haig is fast becoming one of my favourite authors in both adult and children's fiction. His style is imaginative yet grounded in a wonderful fashion.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

Loved it

Interesting, imaginative, meaningful and gently intriguing.
Carey Mulligan's narration is exquisite, brilliant,
Audible needs more talented narrators like Carey Mulligan, it makes all the difference.
Highly recommended .

easy listening

maybe it was the expectation created around the book, but I didn't think it was brillient. It was entertaining, so happy to give it a 4. The narration was extremely good

Loved the story, lukewarm about the ending.

The book felt exciting & compelling, but the ending felt a bit pat. It was the „nice, expected“ ending. I guess I wanted something more surprising.

I enjoyed the time I spent listening to it.

An interesting and meaningful book

Thoroughly enjoyed every second, couldn’t put the book down- highly recommended, Althpughly NOT for children,

One of the best books I've ever read.

This book is absolutely wonderful. It shook me awake. It made me cry. It reminded me why I'm happy to be alive. (And Carey Mulligan's narration is PERFECT.)

Fantasy may be hard to take if you’re depressed

Please scroll through all of the many reviews on here as there are mixed feelings about this one.
Carey Mulligan is a superb narrator and really enhanced the book.
It seemed more like a young adult read, simplistic and aimed at a young teenage audience perhaps?
If you are positive and value life then you may enjoy the premise of this story and get hope and strength from its message.
If you are struggling and finding life incredibly challenging you may be brought down by the simplistic fantasy and feel bad about yourself because life is not easy.
Matt Haig has his own mental health struggles and I get why he wrote this book, but it won’t be for everyone.
I know this will be made into a film, it is ripe for a Christmas blockbuster.
Most reviewers absolutely love this story, some find it too sickly sweet or are bored with the daft fantasy. Some people will despair that their lives don’t match up.
I am a mixture of all of the above!! Glad I heard it but wouldn’t want to listen again and not happy about the way it was written but realise that it will make a lot of people happy.

An excellent but difficult read if you aren’t perfect.

Disclaimer I only got to Chapter 15 but I couldn’t go on. The book is very well written and a fascinating concept but it just bit too close to the bone for me. The idea that one can change lives and get rid of regrets just had me overthinking my own life and what I would change. This alone made suicide sound quite a good idea (in theory! I’m not about to try it) and in the end it just made me too uncomfortable to continue.

A touching look at depression and regret.

Matt Haig writes beautifully - I didn’t realise how touched I would be by this book. Throughout I found myself considering my own choices - not my past regrets, but the decisions I can make from this point forwards. Carey’s narration is outstanding - a well suited pick.

Delightful and exciting

Purchased this the day it was released and have just finished it. I loved it. Carey Mulligan narrates with great empathy and keeps you enthralled. Who hasnt wondered how their lives would have turned out if they'd made other decisions. This book allows the main character, Nora to see how her life would have turned out if she had said yes, or chose a different path. Worth a listen.

Overly sentimental and became tedious.

Basically, the story went on far too long. Each life was unnecessarily detailed and often trite. The basic idea was excellent and with heavy editing would have been far more enjoyable. Sadly, the ending was entirely predictable and disappointing, although with tighter and less cloyingly sentimental writing, would have been better.

Beautiful story, well read

Such a great idea, well executed and a really wonderful story that flows well and kept me hooked. Matt Haig writes with humour and sadness in equal measure and his core beliefs shine through in this lovely tale. The importance of kindness, love, caring about the planet and not comparing yourself to others. It is read beautifully by Carey. I needed this story, thank you!

Brilliant and interesting.

Interesting look at depression and the regrets we all have. The story takes you on a brilliant journey of Nora’s self discovery through many life times. I found it uplifting and powerful, as someone who struggles with her own mental health the ending was empowering.

Boring

If parallel universes do exist I envy the version of me that did not listen to this book. Tedious and unimaginative.

wonderful

I listened on audible and the narrator was excellent! A lovely tale to make you think about your regrets. Very early on I knew where this book would go but that possibly comes from being a huge Matt Haig fan. It didn’t detract from the story at all and I loved the journey of the protagonist. I feel he really poured himself into this book because it’s beautiful and so delicate in its construction.

Choose this, everyone can and should enjoy it. I’ve recommended it already!

Finished Too Quickly

I really enjoyed this book, so much so I couldn't stop listening to it and I finished it too soon. Cary Mulligan's narration was excellent and perfect for Norma's voice and the concept of the book was brilliant.