"The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig

I have been curious about Matt Haig's books for a while now. In fact, I own three novels by this author. So I was really excited when the book club I am a member of picked this novel as our next read. 

This book was equal parts surprising and heart-wrenching. I'll explain. The main character Nora is struggling with depression and on a particularly bad night, she resolves to end her life. She ends up in a sort of coma as her mind travels to a place called the Midnight Library. There, a librarian explains to her that each book on the shelf is a version of Nora's life and she can pick and choose them in order to glimpse what a different life could feel/look like. So for most of this book we follow our main character as she explores different versions of herself/her life story. This part was a bit unsettling because in these alternate lives, Nora just sort of takes over the consciousness of her other ego and her other personality is just sort of dormant for that period of time that Nora overtakes the body.

As Nora travels from lifetime to lifetime, she does learn a lot about herself and the people who surround her. She also gets to see how minute decisions not only could alter the course of a single day but have a much bigger impact on the entire course of one's life. The ending of this book is ultimately filled with hope. In fact, the novel felt almost therapeutic and at times read like a self-help book. I definitely think that folks with depression might need to be aware of the subject matter before picking up the novel. The beginning of the story is pretty bleak. But in the end, I found it hopeful and charged with positive energy. 5 out of 5 stars.