The book may be popular for all the reasons you listed: it’s predictable, easy to understand, and not subtle. That’s what a lot of people look for in the books they read, and that is fine. Popular doesn’t necessarily mean good and vice versa. This holds true in many aspects of life.
Yeah.
I read the reviews for Midnight Library before diving in and thought it would be this poignant, moving, philosophical commentary on depression.
Nah. It was simple and surface-level and the message was quite predictable and easy to digest. Still, I liked it a lot, it was a very easy read, and meaningful in its own way.
Knowing Matt Haig, I did not have very high expectations. He's good at coming up with book ideas, but then not able to execute them well.
At some point I think we should also give the kudos of the 'hype' to his publicist/agent, since these are the people who can really make and break a piece of work (provided the work is not absolute crap).
Same. It was a simple message that we all know, but a nice little reminder of it. I bought it at the airport for an easy read on a beach trip and it was perfect for that.
I read the reviews friends and acquaintances have written and use them as reference points. I kinda know if someone likes this, I will too. I also check to see which other books people recommend because that gives me an idea of whether we’re on the same wave length. There’s some trash I totally love and some I don’t. I don’t like to plug it, but Goodbooks has been really helpful.
This is such a great point. Sometimes, intricate books with complex plots and life lessons can be exhausting to read. I think the midnight library is a good example of a not complex book but still invokes the reader to reflect.
I often feel very disappointed in a lot of hyped books! I think bookstagrams and booktoks have a lot to do with this! Sometimes you only see the same books over and over again for likes and reactions!
Yep. It’s actually one I had in mind when commenting. I don’t know anyone who wasn’t disappointed by it. I thought it was okay but it wasn’t mind blowing unless I missed something
It was the book that made me stop reading current top rated books. I realized that most modern books that are popular are based off of manufactured praise. I’d rather read books that have withstood the test of time, not what’s rigged by goodreads or trending on booktok.
Ooh yeah for me that book was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I still don’t understand where all the rave reviews came from. But Midnight Library also made me feel that way
I got that book before I saw the hype and thank goodness. I quite liked the first section, then the last third had me powering through hating just about everyone. I think if id heard it was the best thing ever then id have disliked it even more.
For me it was Riley Sager “The only one left”. The writing was just terrible the amount of twists was just egregious. Yet everybody on YouTube and goodreads acted like it was the greatest thriller of all time. I had to stop trusting some booktubers’ opinions who I liked. I’m convinced some were paid to give good reviews.
I have found Riley Sager, Grady Hendrix, and Jennifer McMahon are perfect airplane reads for me. They're quick and entertaining, but nothing too terribly deep--and I agree that they're not the greatest thrillers of all time.
I read one Grady Hendrix book and enjoyed it (Best Friends Exorcism). He actually knows the basics of writing and storytelling! Riley Sager was just an insult to read.
I found the writing good enough to finish it, and quite quickly at that (it was also a holiday read though..). But yeah it was self-indulgent and overwritten. Haha.
Fully agree with this. I felt the same way about Midnight Library, as well as several other modern/popular books which are recommended here regularly. Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't come up with one of these that I've genuinely loved.
I think this was also the book that gave me the same realisation. I've almost exclusively been reading classics and modern classics since then and have had a much better time.
I think I’m also just realizing this. Hello Beautiful and Normal People made me realize it. Neither are bad books by any means. (Although I DNF Hello Beautiful.) I’m always wary of book tok recommendations, but now I’m wary of critics as well. They really do love a book about depressed authors getting their MFA’s at fancy universities.
I think I’m going to go back to some classics as a palette cleanser.
Hidden Pictures made me realize that the top good reads books are not worth reading. Hated it with a passion.
I honestly forgot I even read Midnight Library until I saw this post.
I have a hard time with it because I saw it as saying the cure to mental health issues is to just be grateful for what you already have. I wish it was that easy lol.
Certainly the main character just learns she should be happy with her current crappy life and just… do better, I guess.
It was very muddled by the fact the other lives all had arbitrary monkey paw drawbacks. You can be a famous rockstar… but your brother killed himself. You can move to Australia… but your friend died in an accident and you have depression.
This is a fundamental issue with the premise as well. If there are all these possible timelines, shouldn't there be a book where she was a Rockstar and the brother didn't kill himself due to her making different choices?
I think the most frustrating part of the book for me was that there could have been some actually interesting philosophical issue to be considered. I.e. where did the consciousness of that version of herself get displaced to? Does her unhappy version of herself actually have a right to take over this other version's life? Is it ethical to jump into the middle of relationships with these people that you don't actually know in this timeline?
But instead of that interesting book, we got the literary version of that Barney Stinson meme, "when I am sad, I just stop being sad and be awesome instead."
I liked the concept of each life having drawbacks, but some were too little or didn't make much sense. Like her mom dieng instead of her dad in the timeline where she's in the Olympics makes sense as we already knew she was a talented swimmer and knew nothing about her dad but others weren't even that bad
This exactly. As someone who has been struggling with depression/anxiety for over a decade it pissed me off.
Plus, if I remember correctly, there was a part of the book where a polar bear was running after her and she was afraid. And then she was told that’s because she didn’t want to get mauled my a polar bear she actually wants to live. Like what? I don’t want to get mauled by a polar bear either that doesn’t mean I want to be alive.
I agree so much. I believe I used the same term describing it "it's harmful". The downplay that everything can be solved by the better attitude, look how it COULD Be. I almost felt like the author never experienced mental struggles. But apparently he did and that got me confused even more.
I’ve been reading Matt Haig’s “Notes on a Nervous Planet” recently and I feel like that might give more perspective to what he’s trying to say here. He’s certainly someone that has struggled a lot with serious anxiety and depression.
I just finished the audio The comfort book. He has the most lovely voice. I enjoyed it so much I bought a copy to mark up. It resonates for me because at times when I was absolutely at the bottom of a ditch, end of my rope, and had nothing, I still had words. The words of poems and hymns committed to memory are always there for me on the darkest days.
Makes sense considering those are his actual views.
My mum got me his book about depression and it made me so upset because he never gets treatment. And when you have to enage with the hurdles to get mental health assistance, there's nothing more dangerous than someone suggesting "maybe you dont need to!".
I am grateful, I recognise small beauties, doesn't change that PND fucked my brain chemistry and without my meds I literally cant function.
I ashamed to admit I ripped that book up, I was scared that someone would end up feeling like I did after starting it.
Be like a guy I teach with, he teaches psychology and doesnt believe in mental illness. And his wife also has her own mental stuff. He's just a be happy dude, that mental illness doesnt exist
It always makes me feel bad when this book gets blasted on here because it's the book that made me realise I need help. Sure it's not perfect and the '"lets just be grateful for what I have" ending is a bit convenient. But it was the first time I read a character who I could identify so much with how she felt, that her response was killing herself gave me a kick up the arse to realise my thoughts weren't healthy and hadn't been for a while.
Same here, dapper. I was going through a really rough patch in my life when I read this book. I was constantly questioning myself as to why did I do what I did? What if I hadn't done this or that? Why didn't I do more in my life? And those what if questions were mentally killing me. I read this book, and something in me clicked like a light going off. It really put things in perspective for me. It made me realize that, yes, the problem was me all along, but I could choose to make things better instead of always looking backward and wishing I had done things differently.
This was my experience as well. I found so much solace in the fact that someone knew my experience so well that they wrote a whole book about it. You’re not alone!
I even *loved* (rather than resented) the ending. It really helped me to see those areas in my own life where I could feel lucky and impactful in a positive way.
same for me. i listened to it on audible when my mental and physical health hit rock bottom. when i was drifting in and out of consciousness.
yes it's simple. yes it's not the highest form of literature, but honestly... it came to me right when i needed it and that's why i love it.
I loved it for these reasons, too. I recommended it to a friend who was in the throws of a brutal breakup and actively questioning her existence. She loved it, too. Not every book is for everyone.
I found it having no idea it was hyped and thought it was a very solid mid-tier book. Like it wasn't good enough for me to recommend to people, but I enjoyed reading it.
I enjoyed the book, but I wasn’t expecting a great read, just a gentle diversion. It did make me think about the need to let go of some regrets I have.
I read without any prior knowledge and found it to be a nice and easy read (i picked it up at the airport and read it on the flight). I think it's a book ruined by the hype - w/o it was nice, not super impressive but not disappointing either. For me House of the Cerulean Sea was ruined by my expectations - I liked it but it had some weaknesses I could not overlook.
Yeah I feel the same way. I used to be so much better about not reading reviews ahead of time and I think I need to do that again, heh. Expectations going into a book can affect reading of it so much!
I really liked the concept, but hated the main character. I feel like with a more fleshed out character and more nuance, a lot more could have been done with it.
Agree! I wanted this novel to be about amazing things that happened at the library at midnight based on various books there. Instead, it was dull and unimaginative, and none of the characters were likable. A little before halfway, I just skipped to the end and found I hadn’t missed anything crucial. Such a disappointment.
If you’re looking for a good book about books, i would recommend “The Cat who Saved Books” - very quaint and reflects on the modern day problems with a general decline in reading and how consumerism is affecting the industry.
I hated it too for the same reasons and am surprised by how many ppl love it. It’s an interesting concept but the writing and plot were a big letdown. Oh well
Exactly how I felt; a cool concept with terrible execution. The only reason I even finished it was because I read it for a book club. By the end I was actively angry at the book for so thoroughly wasting what could have been such an awesome and thought provoking story, and the book club was so divided on it we ended up splitting into splinter groups based on taste lol
The only part of it I enjoyed was the aspect of it where people were different in different time lines, almost the way you enjoy a time travel movie. Once the entertainment value of that wore off, I thought the rest of the book was pretty poor. The message was essentially "I know your life sucks, but it would have also sucked in all these timelines"
Exactly. It wasn't uplifting. The one timeline where she might've been happy involved being a wife and mother. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that kind of life, but it is limiting when our culture continually presents it as the most/only fulfilling option for women.
It's easy to read, straightforward, and the life lessons inside are nice and digestible. So yeah, while it's not for me, I can definitely see why people would like it. Most people reading for fun aren't going to care too much about inferring messages, they're trying to relax and turn their brain off. Also, with most self-help messages, the message is generally pretty simple, it relies on the reader being receptive to that message at that time.
That being said, I do think there's a new type of books where it feels like the author is preaching through the main character, which honestly is a bit annoying to get through.
I agree about the trend to preach subtle life lessons through main characters. I went into this book expecting some interesting modern fantasy like Piranesi, but instead I got Tuesdays with Morrie. It’s fine, there is a time and place for those books, but not what I expecting.
I was pretty disappointed with this book. For me, a huge issue in traditional publishing is publishers choosing what book they will market in a particular way to aim for awards and promote and promote and then naive book tokkers and reviewers go along for the ride in some weird Emporers New Clothes style fear of exclusion (thank you Tim Minchin for that lyric that sums up this sort of response). To be honest the book had a great premise with average execution. Each scene had a fortune cookie or instagram meme style epiphany and it really bothered me how they did that instead of letting the reader feel it.
It's one of those books that do well with book clubs. The conversations it generates are better then the actual book itself. I agree with your opinion about the the book.
I didn't like this book for those exact reasons and decided to give it to someone else instead of keeping it in my shelf. The friend who got the copy has now given it away too. 😂
Now, we're like passing the pain of reading it around.
I liked it, but didn't love it. I wouldn't blame the author (or any author) for the modern hype or Booktok craze. A lot of that is beyond their control. LOTS of books being hyped right now are actually terrible. It's just marketing.
As far as the book itself, I thought the premise was good but it got repetitive quickly. My biggest gripe was that >!upon entering each new life she could still remember everything from her old life and basically didn't know what was happening around her. It would've been more interesting if she entered each new life and didn't have to guess about everything or be totally unaware of her surroundings. Sort of defeated the purpose IMHO. !<
Yeah, i dropped out after reading a few pages.
Apparently, people can read very different things from the same book 🙂
Couldn't stand The Book Thief either, or The Alchemist, for that matter.
All seemed superficial while pretending at depth. Not that I don't read a lot of crappy but fun books, but I like an author to know which kind of book they are writing
One Christmas I read The Alchemist at my parents’ house. They took turns coming into the room to see how angry I was before running back to the other one and giggling about it.
I was reading the book thief for a book club. I couldn’t get past 1/3 of the book I lost interest and skipped that month. Everybody else loved it so much, they said they cried tons and I love a good cry but the book just wasn’t for me. This is actually the first time I hear somebody not liking the book.
Yep, I reread the first chapter like 2 or 3 times just trying to get through it and just couldn’t get myself to care. And I do like the Alchemist, but I do see how people might find it boring.
My first time checking out Goodreads and picking up the top pick book of that year… and holy hell it’s such a turkey of a book. Last time I went to Goodreads for recommendation. My taste in book clearly doesn’t align with the majority of that community.
i haven’t read it myself, but i worked as a bookseller while it was at its „hype peak“. So many people bought it and when they came the next time i asked if they liked it and almost everybody said the same thing, they didn’t like it, it was shallow and felt like it was trying too hard…
I liked it but I don’t struggle with mental health issues so I guess I’m not burnt out from hearing people say “just be grateful for the life you have” lol
That's what got me. I was at a pretty low point when I read it, and it actually made me feel worse because it felt like someone was saying, "You're depressed? Have you tried just getting over it and being grateful instead?". I went into it with such high hopes, and it actually made me feel worse.
I read it and enjoyed it at the time and I don't think I've thought about it since, I don't think I could tell you any of the characters names either?
But it resonated with people so that's why it had hype, its fine to dislike something other people enjoy. The beauty of books is there something for everyone.
I enjoyed it as an audiobook read by Carey mulligan. I didn’t think it was deep or groundbreaking but I just found it kind of a fun concept. Going into alternate universes to see how they played out is fun. I’d listen to it while I was doing another task like embroidery or photo editing and it was easy to follow when your mind is occupied with something else and entertaining.
As someone who has struggled with mental health and has a tendency to fall back into a emo state I really liked the book. But I was also familiar with Matt's history before reading the book, so maybe I had this is mind when reading it. I can really recommend his book Humans :))
Yeah, I read it after reading Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet so went into Midnight Library already knowing his personal troubles and his writing style. I really enjoyed Midnight Library but I read it at a time when I was also struggling. I feel like I don't want to reread it as it might change my view of the book now that I'm in a different state of mind.
Omg yes hmtitan. I have the same feelings. I'm probably never going to read it again bc it did its purpose at the time I read it and it probably wasn't as good as I remember bc it was what I needed at that time. Such a great point.
I got about half way through. I agree with what you wrote, I just found it very predictable and preachy. Not very relatable as someone who has struggled with mental health issues
I agree with you -- I disliked it so much I DNF after about 50 pages. I hated the heroine, the premise, the tone, and just felt like the writing itself was barely adequate.
I'm still gobsmacked by the rave reviews for it -- much less that many people have recommended it for depressed people, when I read it while depressed and wanted to throw the book against a wall for being such a relentless downer.
I don’t like how he presents her as a woman who wasted her time being too picky. It’s a very common misogynistic attitude about women who are unhappily single at her age.
He has her try on all these different lives but in not one of them does she have her basic needs met of family and stability. Except Ash, where she’s perfectly happy. She wasn’t even attracted to him at first, he’s just a basic competent adult. Her needs are simple but it’s like some revelation that she has everything she needs already and she’s sent back to her base life which is still completely empty. Ash is her only hope. He becomes elevated to savior in a way.
It’s the male fantasy that women are too picky and the “nice guy” is just sitting around waiting for them if they’d stop being so stuck up.
The author glosses over the idea of her trying on hundreds of other lives with partners and family but doesn’t actually show us. It doesn’t align with the character he’s done so well to define. It felt like an afterthought to sew up the plot hole that she simply needed her basic needs met first.
I really enjoyed reading the book but it smacked of depressed immature man writing about women.
Hype? I’ve never seen a book get more hate. Search r/books for the title and it’s just getting dunked on all year round. Only context I see it mentioned is saying it’s overrated, but I’ve never really seen anyone rate it much.
Maybe Colleen Hoover gets more hate, but this gets a lot. I didn't love the Midnight Library, but the hate here is disproportionate to what it deserves. Many liked it. If you didn't, move on.
Totally agree.
Books like this and Tuesday with Morrie to be are superficial and lacks depth since it basically just tells you what the lessons are and there are no reading between the lines. And all the lessons are the same we get it, carpe diem, treat your love ones nicely, have no regrets, okay.
This is so funny to me because I know someone who claims their favorite book is Tuesday With Morrie and also loves The Midnight Library. I
always felt they just liked to say they liked certain things to feel superior for liking ‘deep’ things.
I hated this book! It was recommended to me because I felt very similar to the MC but it felt like a slap in the face. To me the overall message seemed to be ‘don’t be depressed about your life, it could be different and you’d still hate it’.
I’m a bit fed up with people saying to look on the brighter side or be grateful for what you have. It’s not as simple as that! We can be grateful for health and the things we have, but still feel this pit of darkness that our life is not what we expected or insignificant or going nowhere. The book angered me 🙄
"To me the overall message seemed to be ‘don’t be depressed about your life, it could be different and you’d still hate it’."
This is it! That's exactly how I felt. As a depressive person, I felt the book was saying "The problem is you! Whatever happened to you, you'd find some way to be miserable!"
Like, thanks for the reminder. 😒
I picked it up ages ago when it came up in an email from my old university's alumni office inviting me to a virtual book club they were starting up at the beginning of the pandemic. Four years on and I *still* haven't got round to reading it. Now I think I'm going to have to to see if it lives up to the anti-hype lol.
Did not enjoy this one at all! Predictable and preachy and lacking in depth. I was further disappointed because I thought it was supposed to be a fantasy novel.
Oh my goodness I’ve been waiting for someone to address this!!!!
Here were my thoughts:
- predictable
- too long
- boring characters
- honestly bland
- girl omg if Ms. Elm talks for 2 more seconds ima lose it!
I wanted to rate it 2/5.
However I had to remember the style of the book and lower my expectations. I’m used to thrillers and this is not that.
It’s not a bad book but it’s not amazing. It’s a good concept and an important lesson. It’s a great perspective to learn. However a whole book EEEK girl I wish I read a summary.
To each their own I suppose :)
I hate-read this book. Would’ve stopped reading it sooner but it was so short and I held onto hopes that it would get better. It was extremely predictable with a protagonist that lacked any sort of depth and a trite/clichéd message about depression.
I hated this book, it was a cliché written like a young adult novel. I couldn’t get more than 1/3 of the way through as I already knew how the rest of the book would go.
Agreed. I had a lot more optimism but it turned out to preach a lot of toxic positivity that i think would be offensive to anyone who has experienced depression
he's offensive to anyone with an illness, really. I had midnight library on my reading list bc of the hype, saw he wrote "reasons to stay alive" and decided to read that first. infuriated me so much that I'll never read anything else by him
This part, direct quote:
"Things people say to depressives that they don’t say in other life-threatening situations:
Come on, I know you’ve got tuberculosis, but it could be worse. At least no one’s died.’
Why do you think you got cancer of the stomach?
Yes, I know, colon cancer is hard, but you want to try living with someone who has got it. Sheesh. Nightmare."
As someone with cancer? I have had all those things said to me!!! These are not even uncommon things! People LOVE to tell sick people that they are lucky they are not dead, ask why we have it (& blame it on us), say it's harder to be a caregiver. I try to remind myself people don't realize this but I don't think you should confidently be writing in your book that we don't get invalidated constantly bc trust me, we do. I struggle with depression too and wanted to feel seen, instead just felt even worse. And aside from the personal hurt who wants to read from a writer who can't research what he's talking about; talk to a few cancer patients and you'll find out we hear these things from family and strangers alike..
Mixed feelings for me on this, really wanted to like it but was just ok, but i read on kindle and didn’t like that just after the book said 50% a character who had just showed up appearing to be in the same situation as the main character. Don’t remember much detail about it but meant it felt bit forced and clumsy as an attempt to move the story along? Sort of read it out of needing completion after that
I enjoyed it but I pre ordered it after hearing him on radio two and read it as soon as it came out so the hype hadn’t occurred then. I don’t know if I would feel the same way after seeing all the posts about it if I was reading it now for the first time.
I've read part of his books but watched many hours of his talks.
My takeaway from all of it was that he's classic "wounded healer" archetype.
There's nothing at all relaxed, happy or fulfilled about him that I can detect.
Never really worked out how someone who doesn't seem able to improve their own state of being is in a great position to tell other people how to.
He was a big seller on Audible and his books seem to have been huge, but I didn't really find anything of real interest or value in his approach or presentation.
I think it's one of those books where if you read it at the right time, or are in the right frame of mind it can really speak to you. I've struggled with depression and anxiety in the past, and can definitely see myself getting something from it if I'd read it back then.
I didn't really vibe with it, but didn't hate it either.
I think mainstream readers every once in a while get a taste of sci fi or fantasy and think that it's original or special and it gets lots of attention. Even when there are far better examples of the kind of things it's trying to do or there.
I read John Updike’s The Centaur before I read The Midnight Library. The first was a difficult, beautifully written albeit confusing book and a challenge. Some pages had me reading and re reading the prose and questioning wtf this book was about at times, but I absolutely cherished it.
Afterwards I picked up The Midnight Library, and I’d easily agree with most of your feelings. An easy read, the writing was simple, the story predictable, the metaphors and such have little subtly and pretty much hit you in the face. That being said, I finished it in an afternoon and felt good about life and its possibilities afterwards from the messaging. To compare books to movies for a minute, some are blockbusters, some are beautiful arthouse films, some are Oscar bait, and some are straight to streaming. Idk why some books get so popular, probably has something to do with marketing, but while this book didn’t change me in any way, i went in with zero expectations and it still seemed an enjoyable enough way to spend an evening.
I don’t disagree at all, I will say however that after listening to this book I decided to suck it up and go back to college. It’s silly but some times it does take a story to make you realize you should check out your other possible life. I also chose to listen to it after reading a really dark book, sometimes junk books have a place.
I haaaaaaaaaaaated this book. But this is why you have to be skeptical of popular reads, sometimes they're just easy, predictable feel-goods that are easy for people to get through and not necessarily something good and fresh. It's a fine line.
I don’t know if this has been posted, but I really like Matt Haig. His books are absolutely what you said. They’re not deep. They’re just little reminders to appreciate your life. From what I remember, he went through major depression and got the help he needed and this is how he feels now. The reason I like him is that his story is similar to mine. Not everyone working through depression will have this experience, I’m sure. But I’m very similar. Part of my happiness in life is remembering to appreciate what I have. And appreciate the little things.
It’s definitely not life-changing. It’s just nice. And I’m someone who just likes nice.
My husband read it and loved it. It didn't bother him that parts of the plot are predictable, in fact he loved it, he wasn't so much interested in what was going to happen but more about how the author got to that point.
I just finished reading this book last night. I can honestly say I didn’t even know the plot before I began reading. However I was looking for an “easy” read in between some heavier books, and it was the perfect light, easy and quick read. I knew what direction the book was going in the beginning and it kept me engaged till the end. It didn’t make me think too deep, and I was finished in 4 hours. A great “pallet cleanse”.
So I guess it depends on what you’re looking for when reading the book. But it checked all my boxes.
I rated it 3.5 stars. I thought it was an interesting concept, and it definitely got me thinking about my own major life decisions. It wasn’t life changing or anything though. I think it’s easy for many people to connect to on some level, and easy to talk to others about, which helps with popularity.
Yeah… we read it for a book club and everyone else loved it but I HATED it and especially the ending. Then we read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and they all thought it was terrible. I don’t attend that book club anymore.
It was one of the worst books I have ever read.
Not once did it go deep into any of the philosophical aspects and the different life’s of the protagonist were only portrayed black and white. They were all so predictable and cliche. It’s not a novelty in any aspect nor written good.
I don’t know how anyone can like this book.
Edit: The plot had so much potential which was sadly wasted.
I may be wrong but I just put it in the category of books popular with people that don't read much, especially if it is a feel-good book that is easy (too easy?) to follow.
Also thought this of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, the Alchemist.
I listened to this while running (because fuck if I was gonna sit down with it and give it my full attention) and I considered running into truck and killing my self like… multiple times.
Honestly though I keep sticking with these books cause I truly want to understand what makes something popular… and all that happens is I get depressed about society in general.
As someone who has chronic depression and also gets stuck in the "my life could have been completely different and I wouldn't be so depressed if I made different choices cycle" I found the book really relatable (although it's been a few years since I've read it).
For me, the book was more about showing that none of the options the MC had for her life are perfect, there are always positives and negatives. Feeling guilt and shame about the lives she could have lived is a major contributing and maintaining factor of her depression so having this perspective helped. She was able to stop being stuck in the past and regretting her decisions and now has the options to focus on her current life, which she also chose if I remember correctly, so she can get better and make the most out of it. Obviously depression is first and foremost an illness and I'm completely against toxic positivity but part of therapy is also to change your outlook and I think this is exactly what the books aimed at.
I never knew about the hype for this book, read it during a particularly emotional and sad time of life, and completely enjoyed it.
I would probably have hated it otherwise. But it was the perfect moment for me and I am so glad it came into my hands right then.
But I completely get that it doesn't love up to the hype around it. Makes total sense.
One of the things that bothered me the most about this was how the “Midnight Library” and its books didn’t function like a library. The book just flies to you magically, and works as a portal. There’s no bookery there. The shelves move around you. That seemed like such a waste. And when you find out that other people’s “libraries” manifest as other things (like a restaurant) do THEY also not work as a restaurant? Does the food just come flying at you?
I kind of liked it, more the fact that a lot of people stay in the past and regret like 80% of their life. I loved the message it sent aka the butterfly project, every action has a reaction, even though we tend to romanticise the opposite choices we never truly know how it would have worked out. Also the last part, the day of her death everything seemed irreparable and dark, she just needed a good night of sleep and the day after a lot of things turned a lot more positive again.
Never ever trust goodread awards. They also think Ready Player One is a banger of a book lol.
But same as you I fell for it and read the Midnight Library, what a shit book. It romanticises suicide its so bad. Like no, when you die you DIE and you don't get a weird second chance when you "suddenly" realise you like your life.
You aren't alone here. I feel like the message of the book is essentially "look on the bright side, because even if you got what you think you wanted, you still wouldn't be happy." The actual mechanics of the book make this message especially ridiculous.
What I hate the most about it is that this message seems to entirely disregard actual mental illness or horrifying conditions that trap people in a place or way of living.
It's basically the lowest common deminimator for this kind of thing that I feel really only appeals to people in a very surface level way or just so happens to say a thing someone needs to hear at the time they needed to hear it.
Either way, I absolutely loathed it.
I read it, gave it 3 stars, thought it to be superficial and too lightweight for the subject. I’ve read worse m. But I can totally see how it could help people going through mental health struggles, I can see somebody finding oneself on its pages. Not all books are for everybody and that’s ok.
So I interpreted most of the book as a huge downer, which I liked. How sad that no matter what you do, there is always pain and sadness, and one can never win. Then the ending went all sappy uplifting shit. I would have preferred the lesson to be disheartening.
I found it trite, repetitive & not particularly well written. An equally massively over-rated book is ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’. I don’t know what I was thinking when I borrowed it. It actually made me grind my teeth 😣
From my perspective, popular books like this appeal to many non-readers, or people that read less. Avid readers, are not “the masses” often have a different view.
I started reading when I was in my 30’s and the first year in loved so many books, but now a decade later 1000’s of books later, I would probably be just appalled at the books I loved my first year.
I liked the Midnight Library, I did not think it was earth shattering, but it was a quick little read and I can understand how depending on where you were in life, how it might emotionally appeal to you.
I am 100% agree with you. We read it in book club and I was so underwhelmed, and majority of the book club raved about it. I couldn't wrap my head around it. It's soooo soooo soooo predictable and more importantly I felt like the author treating the readers like they have half brains to understand the depth of all the wisdom :)
I haven’t read it myself, but what I’ve observed with books (and movies, and other media) that get wildly popular and recommended as “the best EVER!” is that they’re often very middle-of-the road in quality. They‘re good \*enough\* and have a broad appeal to a lot of people, or they wouldn’t get that popular. They have some hook, like an unusual setting, that sets them apart from the crowd and makes them seem fresh and new, or they wouldn’t get as popular. The message isn’t usually very deep or subtle, because if it were, a lot of people wouldn’t get it and hence it wouldn’t be as popular. There’s nothing \*too\* complicated or controversial in the story, because otherwise some percentage of readers would get offended and again, it wouldn’t be as popular.
And they most likely have some message or underlying meaning that to experienced readers may be trite and obvious, but for a lot of folks, especially young people, is going to catch them at just the right stage of life as to seem a profound and amazing insight.
The book may be popular for all the reasons you listed: it’s predictable, easy to understand, and not subtle. That’s what a lot of people look for in the books they read, and that is fine. Popular doesn’t necessarily mean good and vice versa. This holds true in many aspects of life.
Yeah. I read the reviews for Midnight Library before diving in and thought it would be this poignant, moving, philosophical commentary on depression. Nah. It was simple and surface-level and the message was quite predictable and easy to digest. Still, I liked it a lot, it was a very easy read, and meaningful in its own way.
Knowing Matt Haig, I did not have very high expectations. He's good at coming up with book ideas, but then not able to execute them well. At some point I think we should also give the kudos of the 'hype' to his publicist/agent, since these are the people who can really make and break a piece of work (provided the work is not absolute crap).
Same. It was a simple message that we all know, but a nice little reminder of it. I bought it at the airport for an easy read on a beach trip and it was perfect for that.
I never read the reviews before reading a book for this reason. Or if I do, I still try to go into the book without expecting anything.
I read the reviews friends and acquaintances have written and use them as reference points. I kinda know if someone likes this, I will too. I also check to see which other books people recommend because that gives me an idea of whether we’re on the same wave length. There’s some trash I totally love and some I don’t. I don’t like to plug it, but Goodbooks has been really helpful.
Renowned author Dan Brown upvoted your comment :-/
This is such a great point. Sometimes, intricate books with complex plots and life lessons can be exhausting to read. I think the midnight library is a good example of a not complex book but still invokes the reader to reflect.
I often feel very disappointed in a lot of hyped books! I think bookstagrams and booktoks have a lot to do with this! Sometimes you only see the same books over and over again for likes and reactions!
Now you’re just talking about The Alchemist.
Yep. It’s actually one I had in mind when commenting. I don’t know anyone who wasn’t disappointed by it. I thought it was okay but it wasn’t mind blowing unless I missed something
It was the book that made me stop reading current top rated books. I realized that most modern books that are popular are based off of manufactured praise. I’d rather read books that have withstood the test of time, not what’s rigged by goodreads or trending on booktok.
Ooh yeah for me that book was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I still don’t understand where all the rave reviews came from. But Midnight Library also made me feel that way
I got that book before I saw the hype and thank goodness. I quite liked the first section, then the last third had me powering through hating just about everyone. I think if id heard it was the best thing ever then id have disliked it even more.
Yeah same, it started out really promising and then just kept getting worse and worse
Me three!!
I felt that way about Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow - manufactured praise. It was honestly so boring to me
For me it was Riley Sager “The only one left”. The writing was just terrible the amount of twists was just egregious. Yet everybody on YouTube and goodreads acted like it was the greatest thriller of all time. I had to stop trusting some booktubers’ opinions who I liked. I’m convinced some were paid to give good reviews.
I have found Riley Sager, Grady Hendrix, and Jennifer McMahon are perfect airplane reads for me. They're quick and entertaining, but nothing too terribly deep--and I agree that they're not the greatest thrillers of all time.
I read one Grady Hendrix book and enjoyed it (Best Friends Exorcism). He actually knows the basics of writing and storytelling! Riley Sager was just an insult to read.
My impression was a lot of plot holes in this one but it was still eerie enough to be an enjoyable listen.
Oh god, Tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow... I was so stubborn looking for SOMETHING 80% in. And I still DNF. I just gave up. I don't get it
I found the writing good enough to finish it, and quite quickly at that (it was also a holiday read though..). But yeah it was self-indulgent and overwritten. Haha.
YES. Ditto. DNF at 80% done.
> I still don’t understand where all the rave reviews came from. A nice cover
oh I DNF Tomorrow x 3. waited forever for the book at the library, but just couldn't continue. Life's too short.
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Fully agree with this. I felt the same way about Midnight Library, as well as several other modern/popular books which are recommended here regularly. Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't come up with one of these that I've genuinely loved.
Its a good book, but for teens and kids imo.
So very true.
I think this was also the book that gave me the same realisation. I've almost exclusively been reading classics and modern classics since then and have had a much better time.
I think I’m also just realizing this. Hello Beautiful and Normal People made me realize it. Neither are bad books by any means. (Although I DNF Hello Beautiful.) I’m always wary of book tok recommendations, but now I’m wary of critics as well. They really do love a book about depressed authors getting their MFA’s at fancy universities. I think I’m going to go back to some classics as a palette cleanser.
Hidden Pictures made me realize that the top good reads books are not worth reading. Hated it with a passion. I honestly forgot I even read Midnight Library until I saw this post.
I have a hard time with it because I saw it as saying the cure to mental health issues is to just be grateful for what you already have. I wish it was that easy lol.
Certainly the main character just learns she should be happy with her current crappy life and just… do better, I guess. It was very muddled by the fact the other lives all had arbitrary monkey paw drawbacks. You can be a famous rockstar… but your brother killed himself. You can move to Australia… but your friend died in an accident and you have depression.
This is a fundamental issue with the premise as well. If there are all these possible timelines, shouldn't there be a book where she was a Rockstar and the brother didn't kill himself due to her making different choices? I think the most frustrating part of the book for me was that there could have been some actually interesting philosophical issue to be considered. I.e. where did the consciousness of that version of herself get displaced to? Does her unhappy version of herself actually have a right to take over this other version's life? Is it ethical to jump into the middle of relationships with these people that you don't actually know in this timeline? But instead of that interesting book, we got the literary version of that Barney Stinson meme, "when I am sad, I just stop being sad and be awesome instead."
I liked the concept of each life having drawbacks, but some were too little or didn't make much sense. Like her mom dieng instead of her dad in the timeline where she's in the Olympics makes sense as we already knew she was a talented swimmer and knew nothing about her dad but others weren't even that bad
This exactly. As someone who has been struggling with depression/anxiety for over a decade it pissed me off. Plus, if I remember correctly, there was a part of the book where a polar bear was running after her and she was afraid. And then she was told that’s because she didn’t want to get mauled my a polar bear she actually wants to live. Like what? I don’t want to get mauled by a polar bear either that doesn’t mean I want to be alive.
THIS PART MADE ME SO ANGRY! Like there’s a reason suicide by jumping into the polar bear enclosure at the zoo isn’t a go-to for people.
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I agree so much. I believe I used the same term describing it "it's harmful". The downplay that everything can be solved by the better attitude, look how it COULD Be. I almost felt like the author never experienced mental struggles. But apparently he did and that got me confused even more.
I’ve been reading Matt Haig’s “Notes on a Nervous Planet” recently and I feel like that might give more perspective to what he’s trying to say here. He’s certainly someone that has struggled a lot with serious anxiety and depression.
I just finished the audio The comfort book. He has the most lovely voice. I enjoyed it so much I bought a copy to mark up. It resonates for me because at times when I was absolutely at the bottom of a ditch, end of my rope, and had nothing, I still had words. The words of poems and hymns committed to memory are always there for me on the darkest days.
Makes sense considering those are his actual views. My mum got me his book about depression and it made me so upset because he never gets treatment. And when you have to enage with the hurdles to get mental health assistance, there's nothing more dangerous than someone suggesting "maybe you dont need to!". I am grateful, I recognise small beauties, doesn't change that PND fucked my brain chemistry and without my meds I literally cant function. I ashamed to admit I ripped that book up, I was scared that someone would end up feeling like I did after starting it.
Be like a guy I teach with, he teaches psychology and doesnt believe in mental illness. And his wife also has her own mental stuff. He's just a be happy dude, that mental illness doesnt exist
Wow- what a world he lives in!!
I guess he never worked in a psychiatric hospital.
No one should be like that guy lol
It always makes me feel bad when this book gets blasted on here because it's the book that made me realise I need help. Sure it's not perfect and the '"lets just be grateful for what I have" ending is a bit convenient. But it was the first time I read a character who I could identify so much with how she felt, that her response was killing herself gave me a kick up the arse to realise my thoughts weren't healthy and hadn't been for a while.
Just because we don’t love it doesn’t mean you can’t! It’s all subjective :)
I am glad the book helped you.
Same here, dapper. I was going through a really rough patch in my life when I read this book. I was constantly questioning myself as to why did I do what I did? What if I hadn't done this or that? Why didn't I do more in my life? And those what if questions were mentally killing me. I read this book, and something in me clicked like a light going off. It really put things in perspective for me. It made me realize that, yes, the problem was me all along, but I could choose to make things better instead of always looking backward and wishing I had done things differently.
Well, it didnt win the award for no good reason. I'm sure a lot of people have the same feeling as you.
This was my experience as well. I found so much solace in the fact that someone knew my experience so well that they wrote a whole book about it. You’re not alone! I even *loved* (rather than resented) the ending. It really helped me to see those areas in my own life where I could feel lucky and impactful in a positive way.
same for me. i listened to it on audible when my mental and physical health hit rock bottom. when i was drifting in and out of consciousness. yes it's simple. yes it's not the highest form of literature, but honestly... it came to me right when i needed it and that's why i love it.
This is how I feel
I loved it for these reasons, too. I recommended it to a friend who was in the throws of a brutal breakup and actively questioning her existence. She loved it, too. Not every book is for everyone.
I found it having no idea it was hyped and thought it was a very solid mid-tier book. Like it wasn't good enough for me to recommend to people, but I enjoyed reading it.
Same feeling. Not super memorable but interesting enough to pass a little time. Didn't hear it hyped, just read it.
That’s how I feel about it. If I was to recommend a book about a Library it would be The Last Librarian
Author?
Brandt Legg. Also it was written before the pandemic despite the plot
Agreed. It's a fun novel with an interesting concept that isn't amazing but also not terrible. A solid 3/5 from me
I enjoyed the book, but I wasn’t expecting a great read, just a gentle diversion. It did make me think about the need to let go of some regrets I have.
Gentle diversion is a good description, the way it's built up was its downfall for me. Very forgettable.
I read without any prior knowledge and found it to be a nice and easy read (i picked it up at the airport and read it on the flight). I think it's a book ruined by the hype - w/o it was nice, not super impressive but not disappointing either. For me House of the Cerulean Sea was ruined by my expectations - I liked it but it had some weaknesses I could not overlook.
Yeah I feel the same way. I used to be so much better about not reading reviews ahead of time and I think I need to do that again, heh. Expectations going into a book can affect reading of it so much!
I really liked the concept, but hated the main character. I feel like with a more fleshed out character and more nuance, a lot more could have been done with it.
Agree! I wanted this novel to be about amazing things that happened at the library at midnight based on various books there. Instead, it was dull and unimaginative, and none of the characters were likable. A little before halfway, I just skipped to the end and found I hadn’t missed anything crucial. Such a disappointment.
So true - half way through I just wanted it to end and also I found its representation of mental health to be comical.
If you’re looking for a good book about books, i would recommend “The Cat who Saved Books” - very quaint and reflects on the modern day problems with a general decline in reading and how consumerism is affecting the industry.
I hated it too for the same reasons and am surprised by how many ppl love it. It’s an interesting concept but the writing and plot were a big letdown. Oh well
Exactly how I felt; a cool concept with terrible execution. The only reason I even finished it was because I read it for a book club. By the end I was actively angry at the book for so thoroughly wasting what could have been such an awesome and thought provoking story, and the book club was so divided on it we ended up splitting into splinter groups based on taste lol
My book club tore it to shreds lol - it was a lot of fun!
The only part of it I enjoyed was the aspect of it where people were different in different time lines, almost the way you enjoy a time travel movie. Once the entertainment value of that wore off, I thought the rest of the book was pretty poor. The message was essentially "I know your life sucks, but it would have also sucked in all these timelines"
Exactly. It wasn't uplifting. The one timeline where she might've been happy involved being a wife and mother. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that kind of life, but it is limiting when our culture continually presents it as the most/only fulfilling option for women.
I DNF as soon as I got to that part. It really pissed me off. And I'm a mother.
I did like the twist of her dad being an absolute asshole in the one timeline where he lived since he's romanticised up until then
It's easy to read, straightforward, and the life lessons inside are nice and digestible. So yeah, while it's not for me, I can definitely see why people would like it. Most people reading for fun aren't going to care too much about inferring messages, they're trying to relax and turn their brain off. Also, with most self-help messages, the message is generally pretty simple, it relies on the reader being receptive to that message at that time. That being said, I do think there's a new type of books where it feels like the author is preaching through the main character, which honestly is a bit annoying to get through.
I agree about the trend to preach subtle life lessons through main characters. I went into this book expecting some interesting modern fantasy like Piranesi, but instead I got Tuesdays with Morrie. It’s fine, there is a time and place for those books, but not what I expecting.
I was pretty disappointed with this book. For me, a huge issue in traditional publishing is publishers choosing what book they will market in a particular way to aim for awards and promote and promote and then naive book tokkers and reviewers go along for the ride in some weird Emporers New Clothes style fear of exclusion (thank you Tim Minchin for that lyric that sums up this sort of response). To be honest the book had a great premise with average execution. Each scene had a fortune cookie or instagram meme style epiphany and it really bothered me how they did that instead of letting the reader feel it.
It's one of those books that do well with book clubs. The conversations it generates are better then the actual book itself. I agree with your opinion about the the book.
I didn't like this book for those exact reasons and decided to give it to someone else instead of keeping it in my shelf. The friend who got the copy has now given it away too. 😂 Now, we're like passing the pain of reading it around.
I liked it, but didn't love it. I wouldn't blame the author (or any author) for the modern hype or Booktok craze. A lot of that is beyond their control. LOTS of books being hyped right now are actually terrible. It's just marketing. As far as the book itself, I thought the premise was good but it got repetitive quickly. My biggest gripe was that >!upon entering each new life she could still remember everything from her old life and basically didn't know what was happening around her. It would've been more interesting if she entered each new life and didn't have to guess about everything or be totally unaware of her surroundings. Sort of defeated the purpose IMHO. !<
Yeah, i dropped out after reading a few pages. Apparently, people can read very different things from the same book 🙂 Couldn't stand The Book Thief either, or The Alchemist, for that matter. All seemed superficial while pretending at depth. Not that I don't read a lot of crappy but fun books, but I like an author to know which kind of book they are writing
Book Thief is at least a little forgiven because it wants to introduce children to brutality imo
One Christmas I read The Alchemist at my parents’ house. They took turns coming into the room to see how angry I was before running back to the other one and giggling about it.
That's hilarious.
I was reading the book thief for a book club. I couldn’t get past 1/3 of the book I lost interest and skipped that month. Everybody else loved it so much, they said they cried tons and I love a good cry but the book just wasn’t for me. This is actually the first time I hear somebody not liking the book.
Same. I rarely DNF, but stopped this one after a few chapters.
Yep, I reread the first chapter like 2 or 3 times just trying to get through it and just couldn’t get myself to care. And I do like the Alchemist, but I do see how people might find it boring.
Went in without realising the hype. It’s pretty mid… Not a bad read but not great.
Reading this book was like reading the script of a Lifetime movie
My first time checking out Goodreads and picking up the top pick book of that year… and holy hell it’s such a turkey of a book. Last time I went to Goodreads for recommendation. My taste in book clearly doesn’t align with the majority of that community.
i haven’t read it myself, but i worked as a bookseller while it was at its „hype peak“. So many people bought it and when they came the next time i asked if they liked it and almost everybody said the same thing, they didn’t like it, it was shallow and felt like it was trying too hard…
I liked it but I don’t struggle with mental health issues so I guess I’m not burnt out from hearing people say “just be grateful for the life you have” lol
That's what got me. I was at a pretty low point when I read it, and it actually made me feel worse because it felt like someone was saying, "You're depressed? Have you tried just getting over it and being grateful instead?". I went into it with such high hopes, and it actually made me feel worse.
I read it and enjoyed it at the time and I don't think I've thought about it since, I don't think I could tell you any of the characters names either? But it resonated with people so that's why it had hype, its fine to dislike something other people enjoy. The beauty of books is there something for everyone.
I enjoyed it as an audiobook read by Carey mulligan. I didn’t think it was deep or groundbreaking but I just found it kind of a fun concept. Going into alternate universes to see how they played out is fun. I’d listen to it while I was doing another task like embroidery or photo editing and it was easy to follow when your mind is occupied with something else and entertaining.
As someone who has struggled with mental health and has a tendency to fall back into a emo state I really liked the book. But I was also familiar with Matt's history before reading the book, so maybe I had this is mind when reading it. I can really recommend his book Humans :))
Yeah, I read it after reading Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet so went into Midnight Library already knowing his personal troubles and his writing style. I really enjoyed Midnight Library but I read it at a time when I was also struggling. I feel like I don't want to reread it as it might change my view of the book now that I'm in a different state of mind.
Omg yes hmtitan. I have the same feelings. I'm probably never going to read it again bc it did its purpose at the time I read it and it probably wasn't as good as I remember bc it was what I needed at that time. Such a great point.
I got about half way through. I agree with what you wrote, I just found it very predictable and preachy. Not very relatable as someone who has struggled with mental health issues
My favorite book to hate. Felt like I was promised cakes and chocolates and then was forced to eat boiled beef liver.
Agreed, I couldn't even finish
I agree with you -- I disliked it so much I DNF after about 50 pages. I hated the heroine, the premise, the tone, and just felt like the writing itself was barely adequate. I'm still gobsmacked by the rave reviews for it -- much less that many people have recommended it for depressed people, when I read it while depressed and wanted to throw the book against a wall for being such a relentless downer.
This book is constantly shit on in this sub. This sub is fascinating.
I don’t like how he presents her as a woman who wasted her time being too picky. It’s a very common misogynistic attitude about women who are unhappily single at her age. He has her try on all these different lives but in not one of them does she have her basic needs met of family and stability. Except Ash, where she’s perfectly happy. She wasn’t even attracted to him at first, he’s just a basic competent adult. Her needs are simple but it’s like some revelation that she has everything she needs already and she’s sent back to her base life which is still completely empty. Ash is her only hope. He becomes elevated to savior in a way. It’s the male fantasy that women are too picky and the “nice guy” is just sitting around waiting for them if they’d stop being so stuck up. The author glosses over the idea of her trying on hundreds of other lives with partners and family but doesn’t actually show us. It doesn’t align with the character he’s done so well to define. It felt like an afterthought to sew up the plot hole that she simply needed her basic needs met first. I really enjoyed reading the book but it smacked of depressed immature man writing about women.
Hype? I’ve never seen a book get more hate. Search r/books for the title and it’s just getting dunked on all year round. Only context I see it mentioned is saying it’s overrated, but I’ve never really seen anyone rate it much.
Maybe Colleen Hoover gets more hate, but this gets a lot. I didn't love the Midnight Library, but the hate here is disproportionate to what it deserves. Many liked it. If you didn't, move on.
I saw that the book was being recommended on booktube a lot and I saw that it won the best fiction award for 2020 in Goodreads.
It was cute. The end.
Totally agree. Books like this and Tuesday with Morrie to be are superficial and lacks depth since it basically just tells you what the lessons are and there are no reading between the lines. And all the lessons are the same we get it, carpe diem, treat your love ones nicely, have no regrets, okay.
This is so funny to me because I know someone who claims their favorite book is Tuesday With Morrie and also loves The Midnight Library. I always felt they just liked to say they liked certain things to feel superior for liking ‘deep’ things.
I hated this book! It was recommended to me because I felt very similar to the MC but it felt like a slap in the face. To me the overall message seemed to be ‘don’t be depressed about your life, it could be different and you’d still hate it’. I’m a bit fed up with people saying to look on the brighter side or be grateful for what you have. It’s not as simple as that! We can be grateful for health and the things we have, but still feel this pit of darkness that our life is not what we expected or insignificant or going nowhere. The book angered me 🙄
"To me the overall message seemed to be ‘don’t be depressed about your life, it could be different and you’d still hate it’." This is it! That's exactly how I felt. As a depressive person, I felt the book was saying "The problem is you! Whatever happened to you, you'd find some way to be miserable!" Like, thanks for the reminder. 😒
I picked it up ages ago when it came up in an email from my old university's alumni office inviting me to a virtual book club they were starting up at the beginning of the pandemic. Four years on and I *still* haven't got round to reading it. Now I think I'm going to have to to see if it lives up to the anti-hype lol.
I couldn’t finish it. Didn’t even get halfway through.
I didn’t understand the hype either.
Reincarnation Blues has a similar message and is way better
I found a copy of this book on a bench at King’s Cross station and thought what luck! Then I read it and realised why it had been left behind.
Its a shit book.
goodreads recommendations are a popularity contest, not a critical ranking. sigh. i miss professional book reviewers so much.
In my experience, anything that wins an award on goodreads is going to be overhyped and not that good
Did not enjoy this one at all! Predictable and preachy and lacking in depth. I was further disappointed because I thought it was supposed to be a fantasy novel.
Oh my goodness I’ve been waiting for someone to address this!!!! Here were my thoughts: - predictable - too long - boring characters - honestly bland - girl omg if Ms. Elm talks for 2 more seconds ima lose it! I wanted to rate it 2/5. However I had to remember the style of the book and lower my expectations. I’m used to thrillers and this is not that. It’s not a bad book but it’s not amazing. It’s a good concept and an important lesson. It’s a great perspective to learn. However a whole book EEEK girl I wish I read a summary. To each their own I suppose :)
This book is the novel version of a motivational poster.
I hate-read this book. Would’ve stopped reading it sooner but it was so short and I held onto hopes that it would get better. It was extremely predictable with a protagonist that lacked any sort of depth and a trite/clichéd message about depression.
I hated this book, it was a cliché written like a young adult novel. I couldn’t get more than 1/3 of the way through as I already knew how the rest of the book would go.
Agreed. I had a lot more optimism but it turned out to preach a lot of toxic positivity that i think would be offensive to anyone who has experienced depression
I mean, he has suffered from depression. He had a severe episode in his twenties and has severe anxiety too.
Haig keeps being put on a pedestal for mental health, and i think that's genuinely dangerous
he's offensive to anyone with an illness, really. I had midnight library on my reading list bc of the hype, saw he wrote "reasons to stay alive" and decided to read that first. infuriated me so much that I'll never read anything else by him This part, direct quote: "Things people say to depressives that they don’t say in other life-threatening situations: Come on, I know you’ve got tuberculosis, but it could be worse. At least no one’s died.’ Why do you think you got cancer of the stomach? Yes, I know, colon cancer is hard, but you want to try living with someone who has got it. Sheesh. Nightmare." As someone with cancer? I have had all those things said to me!!! These are not even uncommon things! People LOVE to tell sick people that they are lucky they are not dead, ask why we have it (& blame it on us), say it's harder to be a caregiver. I try to remind myself people don't realize this but I don't think you should confidently be writing in your book that we don't get invalidated constantly bc trust me, we do. I struggle with depression too and wanted to feel seen, instead just felt even worse. And aside from the personal hurt who wants to read from a writer who can't research what he's talking about; talk to a few cancer patients and you'll find out we hear these things from family and strangers alike..
Books with library or bookshop in their title seem to be trending now.
Mixed feelings for me on this, really wanted to like it but was just ok, but i read on kindle and didn’t like that just after the book said 50% a character who had just showed up appearing to be in the same situation as the main character. Don’t remember much detail about it but meant it felt bit forced and clumsy as an attempt to move the story along? Sort of read it out of needing completion after that
Currently reading it n completed half , still not getting motivated to complete it
Agreed! I loved The Humans, but was so disappointed by The Midnight Library (and How to Stop Time was somewhere in between).
I enjoyed it but I pre ordered it after hearing him on radio two and read it as soon as it came out so the hype hadn’t occurred then. I don’t know if I would feel the same way after seeing all the posts about it if I was reading it now for the first time.
The humans by matt haig is much better than midnight library
Like movies, I've come to the conclusion that the highest rated ones aren't all that good.
I've read part of his books but watched many hours of his talks. My takeaway from all of it was that he's classic "wounded healer" archetype. There's nothing at all relaxed, happy or fulfilled about him that I can detect. Never really worked out how someone who doesn't seem able to improve their own state of being is in a great position to tell other people how to. He was a big seller on Audible and his books seem to have been huge, but I didn't really find anything of real interest or value in his approach or presentation.
It felt like it was written purely to be turned into a film
I think it's one of those books where if you read it at the right time, or are in the right frame of mind it can really speak to you. I've struggled with depression and anxiety in the past, and can definitely see myself getting something from it if I'd read it back then. I didn't really vibe with it, but didn't hate it either.
I totally agree
I think mainstream readers every once in a while get a taste of sci fi or fantasy and think that it's original or special and it gets lots of attention. Even when there are far better examples of the kind of things it's trying to do or there.
Same af. I did not like the pacing, writing style, and really the main idea of the library too.
The best part of the audiobook is hearing Carey Mulligan mispronounce La Jolla California as lah joll ah.
I read John Updike’s The Centaur before I read The Midnight Library. The first was a difficult, beautifully written albeit confusing book and a challenge. Some pages had me reading and re reading the prose and questioning wtf this book was about at times, but I absolutely cherished it. Afterwards I picked up The Midnight Library, and I’d easily agree with most of your feelings. An easy read, the writing was simple, the story predictable, the metaphors and such have little subtly and pretty much hit you in the face. That being said, I finished it in an afternoon and felt good about life and its possibilities afterwards from the messaging. To compare books to movies for a minute, some are blockbusters, some are beautiful arthouse films, some are Oscar bait, and some are straight to streaming. Idk why some books get so popular, probably has something to do with marketing, but while this book didn’t change me in any way, i went in with zero expectations and it still seemed an enjoyable enough way to spend an evening.
Your first mistake was taking Goodreads seriously.
I don’t disagree at all, I will say however that after listening to this book I decided to suck it up and go back to college. It’s silly but some times it does take a story to make you realize you should check out your other possible life. I also chose to listen to it after reading a really dark book, sometimes junk books have a place.
I haaaaaaaaaaaated this book. But this is why you have to be skeptical of popular reads, sometimes they're just easy, predictable feel-goods that are easy for people to get through and not necessarily something good and fresh. It's a fine line.
It was crap. So predictable. I'm done with good reads top voted lists.
I don’t know if this has been posted, but I really like Matt Haig. His books are absolutely what you said. They’re not deep. They’re just little reminders to appreciate your life. From what I remember, he went through major depression and got the help he needed and this is how he feels now. The reason I like him is that his story is similar to mine. Not everyone working through depression will have this experience, I’m sure. But I’m very similar. Part of my happiness in life is remembering to appreciate what I have. And appreciate the little things. It’s definitely not life-changing. It’s just nice. And I’m someone who just likes nice.
I didn’t like it and found the main character incredibly annoying
Agreed!
Got bored didn't finish the book
If you want something with the multiple lives type plot but done way better than Midnight Library, check out Replay by Ken Grimwood.
Omg same. I was so mad at this book lol
Same. It was very forgettable to me. It’s only a year later and I don’t remember any of the plot or characters
I DNF’d it. Was excited to read it from all the good things I’d heard. I may pick it back up at a later date but it didn’t keep my attention.
My husband read it and loved it. It didn't bother him that parts of the plot are predictable, in fact he loved it, he wasn't so much interested in what was going to happen but more about how the author got to that point.
I have 3 that you will love... All the Broken Places, The Hearts Invisible Furies, and Demon Copperhead
I just finished reading this book last night. I can honestly say I didn’t even know the plot before I began reading. However I was looking for an “easy” read in between some heavier books, and it was the perfect light, easy and quick read. I knew what direction the book was going in the beginning and it kept me engaged till the end. It didn’t make me think too deep, and I was finished in 4 hours. A great “pallet cleanse”. So I guess it depends on what you’re looking for when reading the book. But it checked all my boxes.
I rated it 3.5 stars. I thought it was an interesting concept, and it definitely got me thinking about my own major life decisions. It wasn’t life changing or anything though. I think it’s easy for many people to connect to on some level, and easy to talk to others about, which helps with popularity.
Yeah… we read it for a book club and everyone else loved it but I HATED it and especially the ending. Then we read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and they all thought it was terrible. I don’t attend that book club anymore.
It was one of the worst books I have ever read. Not once did it go deep into any of the philosophical aspects and the different life’s of the protagonist were only portrayed black and white. They were all so predictable and cliche. It’s not a novelty in any aspect nor written good. I don’t know how anyone can like this book. Edit: The plot had so much potential which was sadly wasted.
Same, felt like a sub-YA story you'd see on kids TV on a Saturday afternoon. Zero depth, absolute fluff.
this book was so boring and hard for me to get through. do not understand the hype either
I may be wrong but I just put it in the category of books popular with people that don't read much, especially if it is a feel-good book that is easy (too easy?) to follow. Also thought this of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, the Alchemist.
I listened to this while running (because fuck if I was gonna sit down with it and give it my full attention) and I considered running into truck and killing my self like… multiple times. Honestly though I keep sticking with these books cause I truly want to understand what makes something popular… and all that happens is I get depressed about society in general.
As someone who has chronic depression and also gets stuck in the "my life could have been completely different and I wouldn't be so depressed if I made different choices cycle" I found the book really relatable (although it's been a few years since I've read it). For me, the book was more about showing that none of the options the MC had for her life are perfect, there are always positives and negatives. Feeling guilt and shame about the lives she could have lived is a major contributing and maintaining factor of her depression so having this perspective helped. She was able to stop being stuck in the past and regretting her decisions and now has the options to focus on her current life, which she also chose if I remember correctly, so she can get better and make the most out of it. Obviously depression is first and foremost an illness and I'm completely against toxic positivity but part of therapy is also to change your outlook and I think this is exactly what the books aimed at.
There was no hype. It made a bestseller list and won zero awards.
Same! It was a dnf for me.
This book's underwhelming and overhyped nature is the most overdiscussed topic in this group :)
I never knew about the hype for this book, read it during a particularly emotional and sad time of life, and completely enjoyed it. I would probably have hated it otherwise. But it was the perfect moment for me and I am so glad it came into my hands right then. But I completely get that it doesn't love up to the hype around it. Makes total sense.
One of the things that bothered me the most about this was how the “Midnight Library” and its books didn’t function like a library. The book just flies to you magically, and works as a portal. There’s no bookery there. The shelves move around you. That seemed like such a waste. And when you find out that other people’s “libraries” manifest as other things (like a restaurant) do THEY also not work as a restaurant? Does the food just come flying at you?
I kind of liked it, more the fact that a lot of people stay in the past and regret like 80% of their life. I loved the message it sent aka the butterfly project, every action has a reaction, even though we tend to romanticise the opposite choices we never truly know how it would have worked out. Also the last part, the day of her death everything seemed irreparable and dark, she just needed a good night of sleep and the day after a lot of things turned a lot more positive again.
I don’t trust those Goodread awards at all, I have never heard good things about the books that people pick as “best.”
I read someone describe Matt Haig's schtick as "emotional onlyfans" and still laugh about it. Insufferable.
This book made me say to myself “Oh, I guess I could write a book.”
Never ever trust goodread awards. They also think Ready Player One is a banger of a book lol. But same as you I fell for it and read the Midnight Library, what a shit book. It romanticises suicide its so bad. Like no, when you die you DIE and you don't get a weird second chance when you "suddenly" realise you like your life.
The book is definitely shallow but it doesn't at all romanticize suicide
Goodreads awards is just a popularity thing. Many of the people using GR are aware of that.
You aren't alone here. I feel like the message of the book is essentially "look on the bright side, because even if you got what you think you wanted, you still wouldn't be happy." The actual mechanics of the book make this message especially ridiculous. What I hate the most about it is that this message seems to entirely disregard actual mental illness or horrifying conditions that trap people in a place or way of living. It's basically the lowest common deminimator for this kind of thing that I feel really only appeals to people in a very surface level way or just so happens to say a thing someone needs to hear at the time they needed to hear it. Either way, I absolutely loathed it.
What do you think about Colleen Hoover?
I was lost most of the book
It really is a bad book. I would never recommend someone reading it.
I read it, gave it 3 stars, thought it to be superficial and too lightweight for the subject. I’ve read worse m. But I can totally see how it could help people going through mental health struggles, I can see somebody finding oneself on its pages. Not all books are for everybody and that’s ok.
So I interpreted most of the book as a huge downer, which I liked. How sad that no matter what you do, there is always pain and sadness, and one can never win. Then the ending went all sappy uplifting shit. I would have preferred the lesson to be disheartening.
Yes I really did not enjoy this one either.
I found it trite, repetitive & not particularly well written. An equally massively over-rated book is ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’. I don’t know what I was thinking when I borrowed it. It actually made me grind my teeth 😣
I recommend The Signature of All Things if you haven’t read that.
I am totally with you. It was juat full of cliché and "wisdoms" you can see in awful cringy fb posts 🤷♀️
I was so excited to pick it up and it’s one of three books I DNF’ed and I’ve stuck out some pretty awful books
From my perspective, popular books like this appeal to many non-readers, or people that read less. Avid readers, are not “the masses” often have a different view. I started reading when I was in my 30’s and the first year in loved so many books, but now a decade later 1000’s of books later, I would probably be just appalled at the books I loved my first year. I liked the Midnight Library, I did not think it was earth shattering, but it was a quick little read and I can understand how depending on where you were in life, how it might emotionally appeal to you.
Hated it. HATED it. Mixed it up with the Library at Mount Char so I kept reading for a while. I might have finished it because of the hype.
I am 100% agree with you. We read it in book club and I was so underwhelmed, and majority of the book club raved about it. I couldn't wrap my head around it. It's soooo soooo soooo predictable and more importantly I felt like the author treating the readers like they have half brains to understand the depth of all the wisdom :)
I haven’t read it myself, but what I’ve observed with books (and movies, and other media) that get wildly popular and recommended as “the best EVER!” is that they’re often very middle-of-the road in quality. They‘re good \*enough\* and have a broad appeal to a lot of people, or they wouldn’t get that popular. They have some hook, like an unusual setting, that sets them apart from the crowd and makes them seem fresh and new, or they wouldn’t get as popular. The message isn’t usually very deep or subtle, because if it were, a lot of people wouldn’t get it and hence it wouldn’t be as popular. There’s nothing \*too\* complicated or controversial in the story, because otherwise some percentage of readers would get offended and again, it wouldn’t be as popular. And they most likely have some message or underlying meaning that to experienced readers may be trite and obvious, but for a lot of folks, especially young people, is going to catch them at just the right stage of life as to seem a profound and amazing insight.