How to Stop Time

Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time tells the story of Thomas Hazard, a four-hundred year old history teacher working in London. Because of a rare medical condition he ages very very slowly; he’s not immortal, the passage of time just affects him at a much slower rate than the average human. He was born in the 16th century and has lived in Elizabethan England (yes, he’s met Shakespeare), worked as a pianist in Jazz Age Paris, sailed the high seas with Captain Cook, and spent the Second World War as an asthmatic librarian in America. His centuries of experience mean than he’s very well suited to being a history teacher and Haig, whilst marginally ignoring that unfortunately a lot of history teaching involves teaching to the curriculum and teaching students how to jump through particular hoops to gain marks, provides snippets of a masterclass in how to make students think about history as lived events not just dates on the page of a textbook.

Tom has spent most of his extended life in mourning for his first love, Rose, who he met in Elizabethan England, and their daughter, Marion. He left the family for their own safety; he’d already survived one witch hunt and another was brewing. Unlike Rose, however, Marion is another ‘alba’ (named for being a member of the Albatross Club, or a club of people with the same genetic anomaly as Tom, and named thus because of the popular superstition that albatrosses had very lengthy lifespans) and Tom has been searching for her for centuries to no avail.

The shadowy nature of the Albatross Club is creepy, with its hints of medical testing and secretive research institutes, and the idea of switching lives every eight years to avoid suspicion is sad. Eight years isn’t very long even in a regular human lifespan, let alone in one which can last hundreds and hundreds of years. The impetus to move on is even greater in modern life – we photograph our lives much more, and the lack of any change in appearance is even more visible. Ultimately Tom has to decide if he can act on having fallen in love, if he can trust his new love with his secret, and if he is going to stand up to the leader of the Albatross Club, all whilst hoping his students pass their exams. This novel is a complete page-turner – there’s a mystery plot and tons of historical detail and there’s romance – so it’s no surprise that it’s already had the film rights purchased. I don’t think I’d have gone with Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom, personally, but he’ll sell tickets. (I’d have gone for Tom Hollander, but ho hum.)

Tom Hazard is old, really old. A rare condition means he ages incredibly slowly; he has been alive for centuries. He lives by a set of rules including not staying in one place for too long and never getting to close to us 'mayflies'. But can you really live your life in isolation? I love Matt Haig's books and this didn't disappoint. How to Stop Time will stay with me for a while. I raced through it and was sad to reach the end. Haig draws such human, sympathetic characters that, despite the fantastical element to the story, you can't help but identify with them. I often found myself highlighting passages when his words resonated with me; T0m's struggles are my struggles, his hopes are mine. It's as if Haig can see into my soul. I'm sure other readers will feel the same way. With a touch of mystery and drama, the narrative flows well as we move back and forth from the present to the past, garnering clues as to how Tom has come to be the man he is over 400 years of existence. Ultimately, it is a book about finding and accepting yourself, and allowing others to accept you too. I hope I can follow in Tom Hazard's footsteps.

This is one for fans of The Time Travellers' Wife, or anyone who enjoys fiction without a linear story. Part reflection on what it is to be human, part love story, How To Stop Time is a reminder that despite the horrors that humanity likes to inflict upon itself, there is still hope and beauty to be found in love, in life, and in friendship.

Calling a book life-affirming is an overused cliché. In How To Stop Time, Matt Haig once again creates a novel that holds up a mirror up to life and mental health issues to show a character dealing with their problems and coping with being different. He doesn’t so much affirm life as offer up a story about the freedom to live and to really feel like you are living.

Tom Hazard looks like he is a forty-one year old History teacher in a London comprehensive. Actually, he is older - a lot older - due to a rare condition that slows down aging. He was born in the sixteenth century and played lute for Shakespeare and piano amongst the Roaring Twenties, but now he is hiding from the past, trying to stop memories from catching up with him and not daring to think about having a future. For preservation, he is not allowed to fall in love. However, the past, the present, and the future have all decided that they have a date with him and Tom finds himself facing up to who he is and what he wants from his very long life.

Haig writes with a kind of honest straightforwardness that is similar to his other books, a style which brings the character’s insecurities and thoughts right to the surface and creates an emotional book. It is from Tom’s point of view and jumps between the present and his long past in a memory style. This means that much of the book is more focused on thoughts, introspection, and inaction than events occurring (perhaps Tom should’ve had a few words with Shakespeare about Hamlet). The narrative is simple and not particularly original - person alive for centuries runs into famous people, meditates on lost love, looks for others with similar longevity - but the real selling point is the way that Haig makes it more about learning to actually live life and not being fixated on the past or panicked about the future.

There are a number of particularly endearing details and characters, such as the Tahitian Omai becoming a modern surfing star who believes in living your life to the full. Haig’s descriptions of the Roaring Twenties stand out as getting across both the all-consuming feel of the period and poking slight fun at it appearing as an epitome in a similar vein to the opening of A Tale of Two Cities. The extended appearance of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, with witchhunting and Shakespeare and the plague, are less exciting, but give a good base for Tom and his views of the world.

By the ending, Haig answers his promising title and shows a character learning to reclaim the chance to live his own life how he wants to, with less fear of the future or the past. The book’s messages will resonate with overthinkers and anxious individuals wanting to escape their own headspace and live, but also anybody who enjoys a character-focused tale of love, life, and history.

This is an engrossing and easy read, tackling an ambitious premise with an ease and simplicity that is beguiling. A novel which spans centuries and locations across the world from Arizona to Tahiti, Tom Hazard's search for the things he's lost over his long life is complicated by his membership of a secret society whose aims and intentions become ever more sinister as the story progresses.

I have been in love only once in my life. I suppose that makes me a romantic, in a sense. The idea that you have one true love, that no one else will compare after they have gone. It’s a sweet idea , but the reality is terror itself. To be faced with all those lonely years after. To exist when the point of you has gone.'
The Humans by Matt Haig is the first book I reviewed on Hair Past a Freckle and pretty much the reason why this blog exists. It remains my most recommended book and the one that means the most to me. It was the book I needed when I most needed books.
Four years on and How To Stop Time is Haig's first adult fiction book since The Humans. He's not been quiet in the meantime having written a young adult novel, Echo Boy, a self-help memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive, and two books for children, A Boy Called Christmas and The Girl Who Saved Christmas. Having read them all (as well as his previous novels The Radleys, The Last Family in England, Shadow Forest and The Runaway Troll.) I know a little of what to expect from his books. I don't know if there's an author writing today who is better than Haig at making it seem as if his book is written with you in mind. He has a deep understanding of the human condition and writes with such honesty and clarity that his books become more than just stories, they are beacons of hope in what are troubled times.
How To Stop Time continues this theme, again Haig's principal character - in this case Tom Hazard - needs to learn what it means to live. Tom doesn't have any problem staying alive, in fact he's over 400 years old, but forced to move every few years before people become suspicious by his much slower ageing rate ('The speed of ageing among those with anageria fluctuates a little, but generally it is a 1: 15 ratio') and the knowledge that his condition means he is dangerous to become close to has led to a lonely existence. Despite leading what many would consider an extraordinary life, born in 1581, he has spent time with Shakespeare, had a drink with F. Scott Fitzgerald, sailed to the South Sea Islands and watched as mayflies (humans who age naturally, Tom and others like him are albas - short for albatrosses, once thought to live to a great age) have invented bicycles, cars, the telephone, television and the internet, he craves an ordinary life. Now working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive he finds himself drawn to Camille, the French teacher but he knows he should heed the warning from Hendrich, leader of The Albatross Society and facilitator of his new lives every few years - in return for certain 'favours'...
‘The first rule is that you don’t fall in love,’ he said. ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love . No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay.’
Living in London means Tom is surrounded by memories from his long past. How to Stop Time isn't written chronologically, something in Tom's present will remind him of past events and we're transported there. Haig writes so vividly that these scenes are always far more than distant memories. His evocation of the sights, smells and sounds bring Tom's past to life;
'It was an area, essentially, of freedom. And the first thing I discovered about freedom was that it smelled of shit. Of course, compared to now, everywhere in or out of London smelled of shit. But Bankside, in particular, was the shittiest . That was because of the tanneries dotted about the place . There were five tanneries all in close proximity, just after you crossed the bridge. And the reason they stank, I would later learn, was because tanners steeped the leather in faeces.
As I walked on, the smell fused into others. The animal fat and bones from the makers of glue and soap. And the stale sweat of the crowd. It was a whole new world of stench.'
By having a plot with a meandering timeline we are reminded that history isn't just something that happened long ago, we are history too. Tom may use social media now but he recognises how we are linked to the past, how the conflicts, superstitions and oppressive regimes from previous centuries are lessons we never really learn from. He has seen people repeat the same mistakes over and over, the contemporary setting providing a sharp reminder that we still haven't learnt and still allow our differences to divide us.
How to Stop Time is a beautiful book, it's not a word I would use often to describe a novel but it's completely charming. From the simple wish to prepare breakfast for a loved one ('Toast. Blackcurrant jam. Pink grapefruit juice. Maybe some watermelon. Sliced. On a plate.') to the description of 19th century New York ('But I looked at the New York skyline and felt like the world was dreaming bigger. Clearing its throat. Getting some confidence.'), to the heartbreaking despair of loss ('I did not know how to be me, my strange and unusual self, without her. I had tried it, of course. I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been.') I fell in love with it within the first few pages, it's a book that celebrates the things we all need to make us feel human - music, art, food, love. Haig's writing of what happens inside heads though gives How to Stop Time its heart. He writes with his soul which gives the book a touching honesty and although it may be a fantastical story of a 400 year old man, it's actually telling a universal truth, that life needs to be lived. For all the hurt, the losses along the way, we can't allow fear of grief to prevent us from experiencing the joys of living, to allow ourselves to hope and to love and be loved.

There's so much to say about this book, and yet it all comes down to one simple sentence: Go read How to Stop Time by the amazing Matt Haig as soon as it is released.

Tom Hazard suffers from a condition which means he ages at a remarkably slow rate. His story follows a dual narrative strand, a modern day storyline where he is working as a history teacher in London, and various scenes from his past, from Elizabethan England to exploration in the South Seas to jazz age Paris. How does a person cope with living that long? What happens when Tom lives a normal lifetime, then another, and another? When most people are aging at a normal pace and he isn't?

Reading this book was a remarkable experience. I both wanted to keep reading avidly until the end, but also to savour each sentence and make the journey of reading the story last. Even now I've finished, though, the reading voyage resonates. The book as a whole explores the profoundness of being human, and the story and thoughts of Tom are written in such a way as to provide the reader with an accessible insight into the range of human emotions.

There's a tenderness about How To Stop Time, a tolerance and acceptance of the frailty of the human mind, the different stages of growth and learning that individuals undergo.

And it's a damn good story! Haig's writing distils Tom's story down in a style that is beautifully simple, and resonates with the reader, tapping into the hidden and not-so secret emotions that fill the lives of humans.

How To Stop Time is a beautiful work of fiction – you know I read a lot of books (this is actually book 120 for me of 2017) and I don’t think I have ever read an author that just grasps and conveys the vagaries of human nature quite like Matt Haig does – in a way that makes you feel like he is writing just for you. The emotional sense of his writing is enduring and never anything less than compelling no matter the story being told or the premise that starts it.

So there is that – and How To Stop Time falls firmly under page turner, with a dash of passionate prose, a smattering of emotional trauma and a big hit of poignant insightful commentary on the human race. Pretty much what this author does in a nutshell.

Tom is one of those characters that will stay with you long after you have finished reading his story – and what a story it is. He is old, plagued (or blessed maybe that will be subjective) with a condition that means he ages at a much slower rate. Not immortal but feeling that way, he is part of history and an observer of it – we see him over time, at his best and his worst, this is a love story with a touch of mystery and is hugely gripping from the very first page until the tear inducing poignant finale.

I won’t give away much, this is one of those books that everyone will come to in their own way and will take from it different things – but Matt Haig manages to bring history alive on the page here through Tom and what he experiences, it almost feels as if you are living it with him. The characters he and we meet along the way all come with their own peculiarities and sense of self, the story weaves somewhat of a magic spell on the reader, or it did on me at least I was totally immersed into this one all the way.

The thing about stories is that they transport you to other places, make you think about other things. When you have a master storyteller at work it becomes so much less about construction and literary merit and all of those bookish things that as a reviewer I’m supposed to be perhaps commenting on – and just becomes about you, as a reader, in those few short moments of time you are living in that other world. Matt Haig is simply, when you remove the white noise, a master storyteller.

I loved this book. Just that.

Highly Recommended.

Quirky, atmospheric, original. An ongoing history lesson..

I absolutely loved this novel which will stay with me a long time. So beautifully written and atmospheric. I lived every moment of Tom's journey through life and didn't want it to end.

Thank you Matt Haig for bringing history to life for me.

Tom Hazard is a History teacher in London. He's a pretty good teacher because to him it isn't History - Tom has been alive for centuries. Marion is Tom's daughter. She's also still alive. Tom had to leave her and her mother to keep them safe but it's the greatest regret of his life and Tom will do anything to find Marion alive. After all, there's no point to life if he can't find her. Is there?

This is yet another lovely, thought provoking story by the brilliant Matt Haig who, once again, goes right down to the essence of humanity and pulls out what living is "all about". Tom has had a long and fascinating life but it isn't enough; he lost the woman he loved and was then scared to put himself in that position again. The lovely scenes with Camille are what remind us all that the important thing to do is not to spend those times worrying about what will happen in the future and instead to concentrate on what we have right now. Living in the present is the only way.

Once again, Matt Haig reminds us what is is to be human. Once again, he's right!

I simply adored this book. I was a little worried that it might be time-travelly, a bit scifi, but its not. Tom Hazard, to give him one of his names, has a condition that means his body only ages by 1 year for every 15 years of being alive, a condition that started in puberty and he is not the only one blessed or afflicted. It means that when we meet him today he has been alive for over 400 years but has aged to only a forty-something. The only time travelling we do is through his memories as he relates episodes from his life including meeting Shakespeare, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, falling in love and having a child and accompanying Captain Cook on a voyage of discovery. It is an amazing life in which his mother was drowned as a witch, he plays piano in Harry's Bar and now teaches history in an inner-London comprehensive. But there are great dangers and shadowy characters and difficult questions and Tom realizes that in the end only love is the answer. Great story, amazing characters, lots to think about but so readable.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a playful fantasy that's grounded in a very profound narrative about the meaning of life.

The book is founded on a fantastic premise - that some people age slower and can live for hundreds of years - but is delivered with such practicality that you truly believe the events could be fact. Haig's uses the premise to explore his favourite periods in history and literature (Shakespearean England and F Scott Fitzgerald-occupied 1920s Paris) and provides some of the book's most entertaining and intriguing chapters.

There's also a serious narrative that underpins the book, which I imagine has been informed substantially by Haig's experiences of ill health. Albas - characters with the unusual ageing genes - search for meaning, belonging and connection in a lifetime in which love is found and lost more regularly than normal.

Overall, I found the book to be a well-written, entertaining story that left me feeling uplifted and ready to appreciate the smaller things in life.

I loved the idea of this book and for a while it had me gripped but then the conincidences of who Tom met started to drive me mad and the ending left me a little cold. Lots to talk about however and a book that isn't universally loved makes the best book group choice

This was a great read. It felt fresh, it felt new - the premise drew me in, and I stayed hooked, as the saying goes, 'you had me at hello'.

Tom Hazard might look like a normal forty something, but he's old, unfeasibly old. He suffers from a condition that prevents, or slows down (a lot), his ageing. Instead of this allowing him to live life fearlessly and with abandon, the exact opposite has happened, in order to protect his secret he is insular, lonely and haunted by his past. He is also inextricably linked with The Albatross Society, a foundation that caters for the needs and security of Tom and other Alba's in exchange for certain 'tasks' completed in the name of further protecting the alba's secret.

Matt Haig has produced a quirky, thought provoking, absorbing novel that's full of heart. I loved it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A really charming tale. Tom Hazard is old... REALLY old. Due to a rogue genetic mutation, he ages incredibly slowly at the rate of approximately 1 year for every 15 lived. This means that he has seen things, been places, met people down the centuries that make this a very evocative tour of world history. He also knows that he is dangerous to know. The elusive 'alba society' protect their members, people who share Tom's condition, from being discovered and Tom knows only too well that once people realise his secret it can cost dearly, even cost the lives of those he loves. He has to keep moving, never laying down roots, never falling in love. Tom had known true love once, but it was fleeting and he had to move on as 15th century suspicions and gossip circulated about him and endangered his family. The rule to live by now, is don't fall in love, but landing in present day London, Tom is captivated by French teacher Camille, who is sure she recognises him from somewhere. He has also spent centuries hunting for his daughter, Marion, who inherited his condition and the alba society keep promising they are getting closer, but can Tom trust them?

This is a really lovely tale that moves backwards and forwards through time and across the world. There is poetic licence at play here as Tom mixes with the main players of each time in history, but after all, this is a tale of a 400 year old man, so suspend your disbelief and just let yourself get swept away in this charming tale.

It is easy to see why How To Stop Time is being developed into a film, everything about the book screams that it is ideal for that purpose.
This is the first Matt Haig book I have read and I was pleasantly surprised. How To Stop Time was a real page turner and despite being very busy I found myself finishing it in a day.
Tom Hazard has a deadly secret.
Despite appearing to be a history teacher in his early 40s, Tom is actually several centuries older than that. He has a rare condition which means he ages much slower than other humans. He has seen some extraordinary things and also lived through some heartbreak.
Tom is finding it increasingly difficult to keep memories of the past at bay and he is in danger of breaking the cardinal rule: Don’t Fall In Love.
‘I am old.
That is the main 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 was born more than 400 years earlier in March 1581 in a chateau in France. The condition he has develops around puberty and causes him to age only one year for every fifteen or so that pass. In addition it helps protect him from most viral and bacterial infections.
One of the main rules Tom lives by is this:
‘The first rule is that you don’t fall in love,’ he said. ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be ok.’
Tom receives this advice from a man named Hendrich. Hendrich has the same condition as Tom and has founded a group for others like him called The Albatross Society. Hendrich picked the name because at the time the Albatross was believed to have a long life-span. He calls himself and others like him ‘albas’ for short and offers them protection and new identities every eight years but in order to receive this he must carry out a task for Hendrich in between each new placement.
Hendrich says they need to follow the rule on falling in love to avoid falling prey to a shadowy company in Berlin that wants to use them for anti-ageing testing.
Tom has thought about leaving the Albatross society many times but has been searching for someone for centuries without any luck and knows that Hendrich will probably have better luck than him at finding her. That is what keeps him involved with this man who deep down he feels contempt for.
“That was the depressing thing about knowing other albas. You realised that we weren’t superheroes. We were just old. And that, in cases such as Hendrich, it didn’t really matter how many years or decades or centuries had passed, because you were always living within the parameters of your personality. No expanse of time or place could change that. You could never escape yourself.”
Tom’s latest identity sees him returning to London as a history teacher. Whilst there he fights to keep the past at bay and to stop himself from breaking Hendrich’s rule and falling in love.
Matt Haig takes the reader on a journey to times when people believed in witchcraft, a meeting with Shakespeare, and a journey to America. His writing really manages to bring the past to life.
How to Stop Time reminded me of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and also elements of The Green Mile. I enjoyed reading it and following Tom Hazard’s journey through time.

As always, it is is Matt Haig's incredible empathy (and his skill at expressing that empathy) which leaps from every page of this astonishing book. The story is beautiful, mind-bending and truly engrossing, but it also conjures that wonderful feeling which brings me back to literature time and time again - it makes me feel less alone in the world.

Ever wanted more time? Wouldn't it be useful to live longer, learn more, have more experience, travel... How about 600-700 years?
This is the premise of Matt Haig's new book - some people, referred to as Albas, live for hundreds of years, and age imperceptibly. The story is narrated by Tom very much in the present day, despite being born in the 1500s. Tom is a member of The Albatross Society, led by mysterious millionaire Heinrich, who help and protect albas when they run into trouble. And Tom knows about trouble, with a mother put to death for being a witch, ostracised from his wife by rumour and gossip before she died of the Great Plague, and always searching for his daughter alba daughter Miranda.
The past haunts Tom, as he walks down streets he remembers them from years before, but the future and the possibility of finding Miranda is the only thing that keeps him from doing himself harm.
This has a lot to say about the present, about human nature, of the dangers of separating people because they are different, and how we can so easily be sucked into hatred and fear. There are moments when you fear he's got too preachy, that the book is a front for an essay. But on the whole, these moments can be forgiven because essentially it's also a book about love, about the spell it holds over us. I enjoyed it.

There's something about Matt Haig's writing that instantly appeals; it's vital without being convoluted, poetic without being pretentious, sentimental without being saccharine. How To Stop Time is no different: here we have a tale of heartache and hope, of the frailty of human existence, and of what it means to truly be alive.

Time is something that Tom Hazard (or Smith, or Winters, or Edward Cribs, or any other name he might have gone by) has plenty of. In over four hundred years, he's lived and run and lived again, always afraid of the future and plagued by his past and always pursued by the desperate longing to find his daughter, Marion. For over a century, he's been part of the underground Albatross Society. Headed by Hendrich, a man just like Tom - a man who ages far slower than everybody else and who is certain that this must be kept secret - who, in return for deeds done, arranges new lives once suspicion rises (as it always does), advises against personal attachments, and promises Tom that he will be reunited with Marion. After all, she is just like him, too. But does Hendrich really have Tom's best interests at heart? Can any of the fleeting lives Tom touches truly be trusted?

And there are plenty of those: from the fun to the repugnant to the enchanting, Matt Haig crafts people as deftly as he does an age. They are all dimensional, flawed, human, and they are all memorable. Each historical and geographical setting is rich and believable, each emotion beautifully wrought.

This big heart will come as no surprise if you are familiar with Matt Haig's work, yet will delight all the same. Written as a series of memories interlocking with present events, Tom's story is revealed through shifts in century and scene. Rather than confusing or disengaging, this is engrossing; the truth unfolds in an ever-swelling crescendo that explodes in the astonishing climax. The title itself is taken from Reasons To Stay Alive, but there are parallels beyond that alone: Tom's detachment and loneliness, his racing mind and heart, the relentlessness of his roaring thoughts are suggestive of struggles with mental health. Although he fears it, ultimately it is emotion that brings Tom alive; here we reach the crux of this book and even of human existence itself.

Like that title, and indeed, Matt's other work, the text is laced with hope. The secret to stopping time, it seems, is not to try to stop it at all, not to cling to the past or cower from the unknowable future, but simply to live. A most timely message in the digital age, and also an echo of Tom's brief mentor-of-sorts: to be or not to be? The solution is to be.

Were the question to read or not to read this book, the answer would always be to read.

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.

This was fantastic. It's about a man who, at present, is calling himself Tom Hazard. He looks like he's about 41, but really he's 439. He has a rare condition which means that, from the age of 13, he has aged about 1 year for every 15 that every else has. He was born during the Elizabethan period, and has lived in many different countries using many different names ever since, even meeting a number of famous literary and musical figures. Having lived 'history' himself, he's decided that he would make a pretty good history teacher and so at the beginning of the book, has just started work in London. He tells us the story of his life so far and how his past is starting to catch up with him...

I was immediately drawn in by the concept of this book. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, but given that the rest of the world remains the same, was quite happy to believe that there are a few people walking around who are centuries old! I absolutely loved how I was transported between the centuries in London, with the odd trip to France, America and Australia in between. I also really liked how Tom would also occasionally reflect on how his surroundings had changed over the years since he had last visited them.

The storyline is quite fast paced, it's definitely a page turner, but this doesn't detract from the quality of the characters at all - there's some pretty insightful commentary on life, loss and the human race. He manages to get across the idea so well that we are all part of history; it's not just a series of unconnected stories that happened a long time ago.

The writing itself is also beautiful; this is the second book by Matt Haig that I've read and I love his writing style, it's very thoughtful and intelligent but also really readable. It's quite emotional and definitely makes Tom a more realistic character and one that, despite the (minor!) age difference, you feel like you can empathise with.

All in all, I adored this book and will definitely re-read it. My only criticism would be that I felt like the last 20% or so felt a bit more rushed than the rest of the book, but, on other hand, this definitely helped to build up suspense for the finale.

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 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

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!