🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂
The Midnight Train (The Midnight World #2)
Matt Haig
Publication Date: May 26th, 2026
HarperCollins Canada | HarperCollins Publishers
304 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction
The first book in the series is about what could have been; this second installment is about what was. What’s best about Haig’s Midnight World Series is the way he writes about the “what-ifs” of life.
This one is about Wilbur, who is an 81-year-old man who has died. Wilbur thinks the best days of his life were the ones spent with his (ex)wife, Maggie…especially their honeymoon in Venice. He is given the chance to live those moments over and maybe change his past. BUT nothing is ever free of consequence, and trying to rewrite history, even if it is your own, comes with a cost.
I love the way Haig writes about that “your life is flashing before your eyes” moment. Changing the library to a steam train is very nostalgic and reminded me of old noir films I watched with my grandma. (The railway metaphor was not lost on me.) We don’t have a multiverse in this one; it’s about one single, messy life.
Wilbur was a very relatable character. He was very flawed, and reading about him dealing with his younger self was so sad but very touching. I read one review that said this book is a balm for the soul, and it is so true. While it feels a bit familiar and sentimental, the message Haig is trying to put across is very heartwarming. Value your memories, even the hard ones, and don’t focus too much on your regrets as long as you have a life that was well lived. I enjoyed this second book much more than the first, and I can’t recommend it enough. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Leave a Reply