Love Matt Haig and loved this book. It was a great storyline - I do also love a time travel story as well so everything was in place and it didn't fail to deliver. Recommended.

A thought-provoking gripping read that takes you on a journey through time, yet consistently looks at the age-,old issues of love, grief & acceptance.
A genetic condition means that whilst everyone around him grows up and grows old, Tom Hazard ages much more slowly and had been alive for centuries.
The dangers of being different in society doesn't seem to ease over the decades; haunted by tragedy Tom tries to survive each present by moving about, avoiding personal ties and working for a secret society that protects others with the same condition. But Tom learns along his journey that you're never too old to learn the real truth about love and life.
Cleverly written with such captivating prose and a brilliance that stays with you even after you finish.

DNF at 24%.

I love a time travel story, [book:The Time Traveler's Wife|14050], [book:Marking Time|27401657], [book:Just One Damned Thing After Another|29661618], [book:Doomsday Book|24983], [book:Crossing in Time|24934981], and [book:Out of Time|8122928] to name just a few, I love them all. So when I saw this book on NetGalley I was very excited.

I really liked the blurb: <blockquote>I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.'
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life.
Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try and tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom mustn't do is fall in love. </blockquote>

Unfortunately, I found the writing very stilted and it read more like an oral witness statement than a novel, not assisted by the first person POV style of writing. There was a lot of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. Tom appears to be a four hundred year old man who is still being pushed around by some mysterious society and its henchman Hendrich, he seems to be one of life's victims and doesn't seem to have wised up despite his longevity. The novel flits around present day, three weeks ago, two weeks ago, now, 1623 etc but we aren't there for more than a page or two before we go elsewhere - I just can't keep the characters and the story straight in my head.

So, a quarter of the way into the book, I'm bailing, I have no idea what is going on and Tom isn't that engaging a protagonist.

It's Matt Haig so of course my expectations were sky high and as usual Matt met and exceeded them. This is a beautiful, poignant and slightly whimsical story about a man who ages far more slowly than most people and has been alive for centuries. Tom is an engaging character and as a tour guide on our tourist trip through time I think you could scarce have a better narrator. Haig has a way of giving you the world, quietly and without ceremony, but somehow differenly in every one of his books. He manages to convey the vaguries of human nature with beautiful clean prose and just a toucb of pathos. This is one not to be missed.

Absolutely loved every second of this. It is so beautiful, poetic and emotive.

I liked this book. I didn't LOVE it, but I certainly liked it. It was nice. Pleasant. Inoffensive. An enjoyable way to pass a few hours. I would recommend this to anyone who ..., well, anyone actually. I think this book would have a really wide appeal.

This is a time shifting novel which is a cross between Interview With A Vampire and The TIme Traveller's Wife. Slightly over-hyped which for me detracted from my enjoyment but otherwise this mix of love story and history, populated by real life figures, works very well.

I loved this book; the perfect mix of imagination and profundity. Another brilliant read from Matt Haig.

Ok, so fair warning because I’m nice like that: I’m about to go CAPSLOCKING italicising fangirling CRAZY. If that’s not your thing, if you want me to sit here and sedately say ‘oh yas, that book was rather good’ well, now be the time to close your browser and go and do something else and I promise I won’t be offended because you see, the thing is, is that I just read Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time and I don’t know what to do really, other than keysmash a little bit about the beauty that is this book.

Seriously.

IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD.

Book love. I am totes in book love. This book is book of the year for me so far. I want more stars. If Goodreads would let me give a book ten stars then I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK TEN STARS. I love it that much.

& I don’t know much about Matt Haig. I have How To Stay Alive and A Boy Called Christmas on my bookshelf but I haven’t read either of them (why have I not read either of them what is my life what are my choices) and I made grabby hands at this book purely because I follow Matt on Twitter where he’s pretty excellent and also because the blurb.

This is the blurb, actually. It’s a good one.


'I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.'
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom must not do is fall in love. How to Stop Time is a wild and bittersweet story about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change and about the lifetimes it can take to really learn how to live.

Anyhow. Yes. I read the blurb and was a a bit like YES I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS and now here I am, I’ve read it and I loved it and #seducemewithprettywords. This book, I suspect, will be shoved down the thoughts of all the people I know ever except not actually all because that would be ridiculous and I’ve already pre-ordered an actual copy because some books are too special to just live on my Kindle and LEMME TALK AT YOU ABOUT IT A LITTLE BIT PLEASE.

It’s so beautiful.

That’s the first thing and you know how I’m a total sucker for the pretty words used prettily. Haig does that. His writing is lush.

It’s more than that though, it’s more than just excellent prose, it’s….I dunno. He knows his subject. I mean if we assume that what his subject is, is human nature obvs and not you know, a person who has been alive for all of time. Human nature. He knows that.
& he knows me.
Which, well, that might be the weirdest thing I have ever written on this blog because obviously there is no way that Matt Haig sitting wherever Matt Haig sits, and I know not where that is except it’s not here, knows a single thing about me. He doesn’t know me. That’s ridiculous. SO HOW THEN? Tell me, HOW DOES HE WORDS. HOW DO YOU DO IT MATT HAIG?! How do I feel, truly, like he knows me; I feel better for having read this book, I honestly do.

Anyway. I wash my hands of my own weirdness. I don’t think I’m making sense, much. Back to the point that seemed to make a little sense: Human nature. He seems to know it in the way that suggests he sees things, like if you were in a room with him, he’d be taking all in, aware of actions and reactions and interactions and gestures and tone of voice that let him see far beyond whatever’s on the surface. This book goes deep, like, this book is not about me, oh I’m back to that again. I’m sorry, I think we’re just going to have to go with it. This book is not about me. There is nothing about this book that resembles my life and yet, and yet, somehow I feel like Matt Haig has taken a look into my very soul and ain’t that just something?

It’s compelling writing also, writing that gets under your skin and draws you in and it’s absolutely 100% definitely what is known as A Page Turner. I could not stop doing the page turning. I did not want to do anything other than inhabit this world. These worlds I guess because this book spans hundreds of years. I was hoping the title was literal actually because how to stop time, that’s a thing I definitely wanted to know. I wanted time to stop whilst I read. I wanted nothing but what was going on in those pages.

Also the history. I love history. This is a book that brings history to life and I loved that and it made me laugh and actually I don’t know if it was supposed to but it did, it made me laugh and it made me teary and it made me lose sight of myself for a little while and it’s…it’s incredible storytelling is what it is. Storytelling the way storytelling should be: the taking of the impossible and making it entirely convincing and believable and wonderful.

It’s escapism.

It’s a fucking treat and I loved it.

How To Stop Time will be published in July. Read it, please please please read it.

If you haven't seen the books, How to Stay Alive or The Humans by Matt Haig floating around BookTube, the blogosphere or just anywhere, where have you been? I have not read either books, but I know that Matt Haig is an author who is greatly admired within the book community. When I was given the opportunity to read How to Stop Time, I jumped at the chance to read this book, and oh what a wonderful book it was!

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret.

He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try and tame the past that is fast catching up with him.

The only thing Tom mustn't do is fall in love.

I didn't think that I would like this book at first. The novel starts off by introducing us to the character of Tom, a man who is over four-hundred years old. From the synopsis, it gives off the feel of a romance novel... It is and it isn't. The main focus - for me - wasn't romance; it was travelling through time and experiencing different periods of history. It was just absolutely fascinating to be able to read about the jazz age, meeting Shakespeare and Scott Fitzgerald... Who wouldn't want to read about those times? Of course, the romance was adorable to read and I really felt the heartbreak that Tom would feel over the years.

The characters were also brilliantly written. There were characters that I loved and characters that I loved to hate, that of Hendrich. He was awful! I get that he was just trying to keep the Albas safe, and make sure that they were never found out, but jeez... He was just horrible, and especially at the end! He finally shows his true colours and I just wanted to punch him in the face. He angered me so much! Just let Tom live in peace, let him live how he wants to; I just wanted him to be okay...





"The longer you live, the more you realise that nothing is fixed. Everyone will become a refugee if they live long enough. Everyone would realise their nationality means little in the long run. Everyone would see their worldviews challenged and disproved. Everyone would realise that the thing that defines a human is being a human."

- Matt Haig, How to Stop Time





I feel like this is a book that will give something different to each reader. For me, this book told me that I should do things for me, and not anyone else. I shouldn't have to do certain things just to please someone. If they don't like the way that I live, then that doesn't matter. This was an important lesson for me to learn through this book because I am always doing things to please other people and not myself.

Matt Haig is an absolutely brilliant author who captures what it's like to be human perfectly. He conveys the beauty and the horror of living, how nasty humans can be, but also how understanding and beautiful they are; how accepting they are and I feel like this is the perfect novel to read during the difficulty of the present day world. This is a book that explores the beauty of human life and the things that we take for granted: music, art, love, family, and most of all, the world.

I cried when I finished this book. I cried at the beauty of it. And when I finished reading the last word, I turned back to the first page and started to read it again.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Released 6th July

This was easy to read, but (for me) dissatisfying. I loved the concept...a man who ages so very, very slowly that he has lived through multiple centuries - brilliant! But I felt it fell flat in the execution. I previously read 'The Humans' by Matt Haig, which I enjoyed, though it sometimes felt clunky. This book was sort of okay, and this time the writing often felt clunky, which was frustrating because sometimes Haig's turn of phrase is really beautiful, and crafted, and wonderful. So when whole chapters just chug by it's frustrating, as you want it to be better.

My biggest bugbear, which has been mentioned by other reviewers, was the meeting of all the famous people. Really? Really? The character ages slowly, and has lived through all this history, and he just so happened to run into Shakespeare and get given a job, and his just happened to end up on Captain Cook's ship? Was he just magnetically drawn to all these people who were on the cusp of making history? Those parts made me groan the way you do when someone starts talking about her past life and she was, guaranteed, Cleopatra. It messed things up too much for me, as a reader. I can see why it was helpful, as it made him a super teacher, having all those experiences, but it just made the story less believable.

I enjoyed Rose's character, as she would brook no nonsense. I also liked the current day parts of the book more than the historical moments. It's a fast read, and I can see many others who have enjoyed it, which is good, but it was too frustrating for me.

Was a slow read. I liked the premise and the idea of the story.

Like the Time Traveller's Wife, the reader needs to concentrate, but an amazing book. Tom is old - a few hundred years. He views this as a curse, not a blessing. After seeing his Mother suffer because of his condition, Tom eventually discovers he is not alone and is grateful to the grand master of the society. But is he being manipulated? Tom has an awful lot of lifetimes to meet friends (and enemies), and he learns that he needs to trust these real friends even if it means surrendering some of his deep secrets.

What a brilliant and original book. Really captures what humanity is about, I love the timescales jumping back in time and then back to current time, just fascinating book and really would recommend!

Who wants to live forever?

I love a good time travel book, and although I realise this technically isn't one - it does feature the same character in several different time periods; kind of like Highlander, but without the sword fights and decapitations.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I have to say I thought the ending changed the pace too much compared to the rest of the story - the story flowing nicely at a leisurely pace, when ALL OF A SUDDEN WE ALL DIED WITHOUT WARNING!!!! (Spoiler: that doesn't happen). I felt as though the story could have gone on longer, with more to tell from the different periods of time, and would have happily read a second book had it needed one.

The ending aside - which wasn't bad, just quick - I did enjoy the book very much; the characters are easy to like, and the book is written in a style that keeps you intrigued and entertained. Go read this for yourself.

At a time when it seems that every subject which could be written about has been, when every concept seems to have been explored, Matt Haig cones up with this. Tom Hazard is 439 years old; he doesn't age and is condemned to live on as friends and family out-age him and he endures centuries of wars, inventions, and discoveries.

The freedom this subject matter could allow an author doesn't turn Haig's head, and - apart from one or two brushes with famous historical characters - he resists the temptation to make Tom's journey too fantastical. It is a human story, despite the science-fiction base, and provides a well written tale, sympathetic and believable characters in a rounded and well thought out plot

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I might and it well deserved my 5 stars.

I give this a 5*

How would you feel if you lived longer than anyone else ? Not just a few years older, but, centuries older. This is what has happened to Tom Hazard. He has a genetic condition that causes him to age slower than most people. He is over 400 years old yet looks 41. He has only loved one person in his life, apart from his mother, and that is Rose.

This story follows Tom as he re-lives, through flashbacks and memories, his childhood, growing up and falling in love with Rose, his hunt for the elusive Marion, his role within a secret society up to present day. We soon learn that Tom is not alone with this condition, there are several others and some older than Tom.

Tom has lived through wars, the plague, loss, betrayal and new beginnings many times. He is not allowed to fall in love, that is the number one rule the secret society has placed on him. He is not allowed to make his condition known, another rule. While he is with the society they will protect him, they will help him start a new life, in a different place. He starts a new life often because as people around him age, it would become suspicious if he didn't.

This is a great book that makes you think about not taking time for granted. There are several things I have taken from this book. It is a book that makes you think. The characters have been well written, and the main story line, I think, is a great idea. So many times when we are given centuries old persons, they are then linked with vampires and the like. This story is so far away from that type of plot, it makes it a refreshing read. I would recommend this book to readers of historical as well general fiction.

Time is what you make of it. You cannot live in the past, though you can learn from it. Once you realise time is what it is and that you have no control over it, then it no longer rules you. The future is what you make it.

Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.

I’ve read a few books recently where the tone or the style changes partway through, and typically when this happens, those changes aren’t for the better. Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time falls into this category.

The first two-thirds were excellent. The story, a historical romance with a science-fiction twist, was written so perfectly that everything was credible. The writing was crisp, the dialogue natural and the themes thought provoking. The historical sections were beautiful, little details made those eras come alive. Very few books have made me well-up, a notable other is a good comparison for this novel - Audrey Niffenegger’s Time Traveller’s Wife, one of my favourite books. Both deal with time, and both deal with far-fetched themes, but the writing in both is so good and so well delivered, that only the hard-hearted would shine a light on their faults.

The only trouble with How To Stop Time is that the final third appears rushed. The buildup was slow and masterful, hooks were placed and characters formed, but the climax didn’t fit the rest of the story. I felt like I was reading the screen adaption of the book, where details are omitted for brevity, where loose-ends are tolerated because limited screen time requires tidy endings, and where characters behave in different ways. This is a shame, since with a bit more planning and care, with the finesse shown in the first part, this could’ve been a classic on the scale of the Time Traveller’s Wife.

Because of the weak ending, this doesn’t deserve a 5/5 rating, though it deserves better than a 4. So 4.5, and I’m generous and always round up!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. It tickled my interest at the London Book Fair and I wasn't disappointed. It is a fast-paced, well researched and well-written novel which is unlike anything I have ever read before. I think it will make a fantastic movie - having been optioned by Benedict Cumberbatch's production company at LBF - I read it in only a few seconds and was really gripped. The ending was weaker in my opinion and it felt fairly rushed and confused at points. With the big pull of the character being finding a particular person I felt the revelation was almost written in. But I did still really enjoy it!

How to Stop Time is the latest novel from Matt Haig, bestselling author of Humans and The Boy Who Saved Christmas.

It tells the story of Tom Hazard, whose life is the very opposite of the saying, ‘we’re here for a good time, not a long time’. Tom has been around for a long time, centuries in fact, and mostly, he hasn’t had a very good time. A rare condition means Tom ages dramatically slower than most humans, which isn’t as great as it initially sounds. For him, time is not a gift, it’s a dangerous burden.

From playing the lute for Shakespeare to setting sail on the high seas with Captain Cook, Tom has lived a million lives in his lifetime. Controlled by a secret, sinister society which claims to protect those with the condition, Tom is given a new identity and made to start a new life every eight years in order avoid suspicion.

Falling in love can be a risky business, but in Tom’s case, it can be fatal. Warned by the society not to disclose his secret and still heartbroken from death of the love of his life 400 years ago, Tom is unable to get close to anyone, and is lonely and deeply unhappy. It is only his determination to find his daughter, who he was separated from centuries ago, which keeps him going.

In his latest guise, Tom has become history teacher in a London secondary school, where he meets Camille, a free spirit who slowly encourages him not to fear the future.

A real masterpiece from Haig, How to Stop Time is funny and thought-provoking. It is a captivating cocktail of history, science and the supernatural, exploring the complex nature of humans. Haig’s characters and settings are beautifully defined and his insight into human emotion is heart-rending.

It explores themes of loss, love and pain, highlighting how, as humans, we torture ourselves with the past, letting it define our future. Haig’s message is clear – letting go can set you free.

So good is the premise that the film rights have been snapped up by Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company, with him rumoured to star in the film adaptation.

How to Save Time is one of those stories that stays with you long after you have finished reading. Deeply moving, witty and utterly compelling - a must-read.

Clare