Warning: That popular book club pick 'The Midnight Library' is way darker than people say

I went in thinking it was a feel-good story about second chances. But after 200 pages, it hit me that the whole premise is basically her trying to off herself in different timelines. My whole group was split on it at our meeting in Chicago last month. Anyone else catch how dark the suicide themes actually are compared to the book jacket description?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.thea10d ago

oh man @hill.margaret you totally nailed it. I had the exact same experience where I kept waiting for the "happy" part and it just never really came in the way I expected. what worked for me was actually treating it more like a serious depression memoir than a novel. once i stopped looking for the cozy magic vibe and accepted it was about someone in deep pain, the whole thing clicked better. i actually ended up liking it a lot more on a second read when i knew what i was getting into. that book jacket is straight up misleading though, they should be way more upfront about the content.

hill.margaret10d ago

Yeah, it's like 'The Midnight Library' is just her trying to off herself in different timelines" - that line hit me hard. I read it last year and had the same gut punch. The book jacket made it sound like some cozy magic realism thing. But by page 150 I was like, wait, this is about suicide attempts, not some fun choose-your-own-adventure. What worked for me was putting it down for a few days, then coming back with the right mindset. It's not a feel-good story, it's a raw look at regret and depression, and I had to stop expecting it to cheer me up.

mary_west7d ago

Oh honey, that's exactly where I was with it too. I picked it up on a whim thinking it'd be some light quirky story and I remember sitting there on my couch feeling like I got hit by a truck around page 120. I had to put it down for a full week because it was just too close to some stuff I'd been through myself. When I came back to it I decided to treat it like I was sitting with a friend who needed to talk about their darkest moments rather than reading for entertainment. It changed the whole experience for me and I actually cried at the end but in a good way. The marketing really did that book a disservice.