As Wattpaders, I think we all have one thing in common. Our love for books. This is a place where I'll recommend my favorite books to you guys, and you can also recommend yours to me. Each chapter will contain a non spoiler and spoiler section so yo...
My favorite quote from thebook : 'You're overthinking this.' 'I have anxiety. I have no other type of thinking available.'
Description :
'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?'
A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
NON-SPOILER SECTION
I read this book right after it came out because the idea of the plot really intrigued me. And it became one of my favorite books of 2020.
This book got me thinking about my own regrets and what my life would've been like if I hadn't made those decisions. What if I could go back in time and change those moments only to realize the outcome is different than what I expected? And this really helped me let go of some of my regrets because I started thinking that maybe all those moments I wish I could change were for the best.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I liked the main character Nora and I wanted her to find happiness. She has decided to end her life, and although the book is short we get to see these different versions of her reality and what kind of life she would be living if she could undo her regrets. I enjoyed reading about each of those versions and comparing them to her real life that she's been living and trying to guess if she would like it better or not. I highly recommend you to read it.
The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because even though I love the premise of the book, some things were lacking when it came to the execution. Matt Haig is used to writing non fiction (they're awesome btw) so I think he's not really used to writing realistic dialogue. I heard he rushed through this book which means there's not much editing and revising, and it shows.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
His other book The Humans is one of my favorite books of all time and definitely his best work (I'll talk about it next chapter) he explored the characters deeply in that book but not in this one. And the writing style in this book was too straightforward and non poetic for my liking. It made it a little dull and plain. I think another writing approach would've suited this story much better.
SPOILER SECTION
I enjoyed reading about the version of the life she would've had if she'd married her fiance rather than walking out two days before the wedding. And the version if she'd stuck with the band she and her brother and their friend Ravi had started rather than bailing just when they were about to get big was my favorite one. I was wondering what it would be like and it wasn't that bad but the fact that her brother is dead in that version is awful.
If she'd stuck with competitive swimming, been a better cat owner, been nicer to her parents, followed her best friend to Australia or become a glaciologist... All these versions were interesting to read about, but what surprised me the most is the last one where she's married to that guy from her neighborhood (I forgot his name, sorry) and has a daughter. I didn't expect her to love any of the versions but she wanted to stay in that one and I kind of started hoping she could.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
But I liked the way it ended and it holds a very important message to everyone.
