How to Stop Time

I enjoyed 'How to Stop Time' not only for the wonderfully evocative portrait of the many different historical periods, but for the way these are woven together into a believable whole in Tom's life.

Matt Haig does this in so many ways, one example being the close of the main para on p. 325 which takes us "back down the path from where we came...as sycamore seeds spin and fall in this same forest."

I enjoyed the focus on the interior life of the protagonist as much as the exterior events. And the subtle digs at our current crazy political situation.

While he writes stunning prose, Haig is obviously a poet at heart. The two sentences at the bottom of p.313 describing the world that remains after the death of one of the characters took my breath away.

Wonderful book, hugely enjoyable.

Ironically, the author claims not to be aware of Forever: A Novel which would be a fine companion read.

Tom Hazard has a condition which means that he ages very, very slowly. He ages one year for every ten years that pass, giving him a life expectancy of around 950 years. He was born in France in the 1580s. To keep himself safe, he needs to move frequently, re-inventing himself every 8 years, so that no one around him notices how he doesn't age. He also has to avoid close attachments to people, except for the few others that he has found who share his condition.

It's a clever book that's also easy to read, but it kept reminding me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (which had a similar but different premise - in that book, Harry kept being born again rather than having one very long life.) Because I loved Harry August so much, How to Stop Time always felt like a poor me-too. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. Plus, the ending was a bit too sentimental, too much "love is the meaning of life" and "savour every moment you are given" for my taste. But I can absolutely see how someone would love this book and if you're not the cynical Harry August loving reader that I am, by all means give it a go.

3.5 stars but rounded up to 4 because I'm not totally heartless.

This was a fascinating examination of life. The story was more of a character study than a plot driven tale - although there is a bit of mystery in finding out everything that has happened to the main character to make him into the man he is in the present day. I loved the historical detail as well - it felt real, and the tragedies of Tom's life felt more poignant because they are so far removed in his past, but are still affecting his life.

This book is a story of interesting ideas and what if's. The resolution of the present day plot goes very quickly though. For all the buildup I was anticipating something more involved, and I felt like there were some ideas and characters that could have been fleshed out more, but as an examination of the idea of living a long life and how it can affect one person - this was a intriguing read.

What if you discovered that you were going to live to be 900 and that you could love everything except for another human being? Would you want that life? Estienne Thomas Ambroise Christophe Hazard known in the current century as Tom Hazard has lived a very long time. He is in the mid-point of his life and struggling with living in the “now”. He is struggling with all the ghosts and the previous nows. He has been many different people and played many roles. He thinks of himself as a “crowd in one body”. He has met and quotes Shakespeare and actually lives one of those quotes –you know the one “All the world’s a stage……And one man in his time plays many parts.”
This was an engaging story, with interesting characters and circumstances. This book posed so many meaningful questions that resonated and ultimately requires you to question if you found yourself in the identical situation “How would I Live?”

Thank you NetGalley and Viking for an ARC.

I loved the premise from reading the book jacket and felt there was a lot of great potential here. But in my view the book just didn’t deliver. I felt like I was slogging through it rather than racing to finish. The constant introduction of a new setting where Tom lived interfered with my ability to really get into the characters, which were not at all deeply drawn. You had the doomed love with Rose, the cardboard bad guy with Heinrich, etc. And the love story with Camille was just so utterly predictable. That said, the author had some insightful lines that were sprinkled throughout. And like many others I did get a kick out of the encounters with Shakespeare. But ultimately this book was unsatisfying for me and I won’t be seeking out others by this author.

How to Stop Time has interesting elements of science fiction intermingled with important times and figures in history. The result is a timeless novel with an main character who has tremendous depth due to his experiences. How to Stop Time reminded me of Forever, one of my favorite television shows, that combines the same issues of immortality and the need to stay anonymous. Although I am not usually a fan of novels that bounce between time periods, this writing format was absolutely essential in showing Tom's life and experiences. This is not just a book for science fiction fans, as How to Stop Time is a cross-genre book including elements of historical fiction and romance. I would definitely recommend How to Stop Time to readers, as its premise, its smartly developed main character, and its well paced plot made the book a quick and exciting read.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late March.

The first-person narrator, Tom Hazard, is afflicted with anageria, aka eternal life. He works as a school headmaster in England and in service every 8 years to a man named Heinrich, who seeks to recruit people to the Albatross Society to note their activity, recruit others, and keep them safe from modern science projects undertaken by 'mayflies' (regular humans) on artificially prolonging life. Everything is very left-aligned, almost nostalgic and timeless with flashbacks between his 'past lives' (i.e. the birth of his daughter Marion, working with his awesome sailor friend Omai, run-ins with Shakespeare, Mr and Mrs Scott Fitzgerald, and copper rush Bisbee, Arizona) and the present day.

A delicious philosophical and historical cocktail that sums up what it means to be truly alive!

Matt Haig's book, How to Stop Time, made me want to stop time so that I could savor all of this book's important commentaries on the human condition.

Tom Hazard, (one name among many), is a man who has a "condition." He ages slowly, and he is over four hundred years old. Calloused by the loss of his mother and wife due to his inability to age normally, Hazard takes us through a series of flashbacks throughout his history from the time of Shakespeare, Captain Cook, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald up to his present day as a high school history teacher in London.

Part of a secret society of people like him (The Albas), Hazard must change his identity every eight years, so as not to raise suspicion. He must also carry out special missions in between identities in exchange for safety, funds and the promise that his daughter, Marion, who is also like Hazard, will be found. This is to be provided by Hendrich, the society's founder. As an Alba, Hazard is not allowed not share any information about his true self or fall in love; he finds this easy to do until he meets Camille, a fellow teacher, who seems to be convinced they have met in the past. So begins a chapter in Hazard's life where he will have to finally choose what role time will play in his life.

Haig's writing style is colorful and descriptive without having sentences that were overly long. He still maintained succinctness, which I find a difficult skill to master.

Haig sums up the answer for his book title quite simply on the very last page, which brings the reader full circle:

"I understand that the way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it."

P.S. This book has the makings of a great movie...and after some googling, it looks like a movie based on this book is due out this year with Benedict Cumberbatch.

This wasn’t as brilliant and amazing as I hoped it would be. The pace was slow and the style of writing was slightly boring. Several times, I found myself staring blankly at my screen trying to remember what just happened.

This wasn’t as brilliant and amazing as I hoped it would be. The pace was slow and the style of writing was slightly boring. Several times, I found myself staring blankly at my screen trying to remember what just happened.

Okay, I admit I totally chose this book based on the title alone - didn't read the blurb or even opened it to read a sample. Nope. Just bought it without any other input than that title. Who could possibly resist?!

Now, having said that, I admit it took some adjusting to the UK formats. Once that was done - WOW!! The imagery took me on a ride like I haven't experienced in quite a while. To say that I was completely transported through time and into this incredible journey was a serious understatement. This book deftly interleaved extreme sadness, joy and haunting yearning that left me wanting so much more. Thank you for this amazing story!

There's a lot of potential to this novel about a man aging at 1/15 the usual rate, but it's sunk by certain elements that feel barely sketched in. Most glaring is the secret society of people with the narrator's condition, of whom we only ever meet one or two and never even glimpse their supposed enemy. And of course, it doesn't help that other authors like Anne Rice and Claire North have already written such poignant and gripping stories of functional immortals surviving the centuries to which this book must inevitably be compared. It almost rises to that level at times when our hero grapples with the nature of outliving everything familiar, but on the whole the project unfortunately just doesn't hang together.

I received this ARC from Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

“The first rule is that you don’t fall in love,’ .... ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one.
Over the 439 years of his life, Tom Hazard has used many names. "I am not a person. I am a crowd in one body." By 1890, a respected doctor called his rare condition 'anageria'.

The story alternates between past and present, moving around Tom's life. We meet many real historical characters and locations. There are LOADS of quotable quotes in this book! This book has an easy reading pace, never losing momentum. In the end Tom has found who he is, and why.

The creative premise that drives the plot of Matt Haig's novel titled, How to Stop Time, is that a small group of people in the world age at a rate much slower than the rest of us. Protagonist Tom Hazard is one such individual, and he's still around although quite old, given that he was born in 1581. Haig draws readers into Tom's long and interesting life including stints as a musician for Shakespeare, a jazz artist in 1920s Paris, and now as a history teacher at a high school. Readers may never again think about time and aging in the same way as before meeting Tom Hazard.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)

I read this book in one long day while waiting for a red-eye flight, I never wanted to put it down; it was that engaging. It was fascinating to explore how a person would have developed and grown over multiple lifetimes. I enjoyed the history too, although the story was not about the history, but about the struggle for this man to continue to want to live.
Pros: Wild ride through British history. Sort of like four stories within one overarching story. No boring repetition. Well-drawn characters.
Cons: Some plot holes. Why and how did the Albatross Society develop? How was their money procured? The ending seemed rushed after all that build-up with little explanation of the manipulations and deceptions.
In the end, I was a bit disappointed in the main character's lack of wisdom after 439 YEARS!! I kept thinking, "Wouldn't you get smarter or more aware after so many years dealing with people?"

On the one hand, I really loved this book. It was more or less exactly what I wanted it to be. But, I can't help but feel like it tried to do too many things at once or be too many different stories at once, which meant the last 30-odd pages became this chaotic rush to wrap up all the storylines in a neat little bow. The strengths of this book are the anecdotal meetings from the past, entwined with the present: Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, and the like. I think maybe either it should have just tried to do that, or else it would have needed a good couple of hundred pages more to justify the confusing corporation with the the question morals plotline going on on the outskirts.

A truly enjoyable book that is (in a sideways sort of way) part Forrest Gump and part Time Traveler’s Wife. Author Matt Haig presents a four hundred year-old protagonist, Tom Hazard, who is both blessed and cursed to have a genetic condition that causes him to age slowly. Not to spoil Haig’s great tale, but we learn that Tom is not the only one to have this condition. So, in a sense he is a time traveler… or least a time hanger-on. It is also a bit like Gump because Mr. Haig shares interesting insights and philosophy that one would hope to learn in over four centuries of life. Also like Gump, it has Tom Hazard meeting up with a number of famous people (e.g., Shakespeare and others) during the course of his life—unlikely, but fun. I read the book and also enjoyed the terrific Audible version with my wife during a recent trip and, from my perspective, think Matt Haig’s (one of my favorite authors) latest novel easily rates a 4.7 out of 5 points.

Matt Haig is an artist. As such, he has a keen insight into the situation of being human. He suffers along with all of us--thinks and feels deeply about our common pains and delights. I don't know him personally, but his writing is shot through with evidence that these things are true.

Somehow, though, this depth doesn't stop him from writing stories full of humor, mystery, suspense, and love. They are paradoxes, these tales of his. Light and heavy. Calculated and warm. Philosophical but made buoyant with whimsy.

How to Stop Time is another triumph for the art of storytelling and for the hopeful pursuit of living.

2.5 stars raised to 3.

I really tried to like this book. I saw so many 4 and 5 star reviews, I just knew it had to be good. Well, 56% of the way to the end, I said "never mind, I just don't get it". I read two other books while reading this one and they were excellent.

I'm putting this one back on the shelf. I seriously could not get into this book or care about Tom.

Thanks to Penguin Group Viking and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I was settling in to read a funny book since in the search parameters I put humorous fiction and How to Stop Time appeared.
Why did the store classify it as humorous is anybody's guess because it is anything but.
I found it leaping around and while at times it had snippets of good stories it just didn't hold together as a book.

This is an interesting story, wonderfully told.

I did not figure out the ending, although I was certain I would.

What struck me the most was how this extraordinary person was presented as ordinary. I suppose I expected that a 400 year old man would slowly divulge his great intellect, super speed, and ability to fly but, he was a man, experiencing a life, albeit a long life, like any of us might. Who would *I* be if it was me, just me, for 400 years?

A lot of great questions for a group of friends to ponder here. This book will stay with you.

If you've read 50 pages of a book and don't care anything about the characters (especially the main character) or the plot, put it down and find something good to read. That's what is did with this book. Yawn!

When I heard the concept of the book, I thought that sounds great. And for a few chapters it held my interest. I could not wait to see in depth, views of history, from the point of view of someone who is 400+ years old. There were even some insights about time. But then, I realized, this was actually a poorly written script from someone who hopes this is made into a movie (actually, into a TV movie at best), because it is typical Hollywood/television, ridiculous plot twists, complete lack of character development (or cartoon character development), and worse. I only gave it two stars instead of one because of the great premise, and at least a few chapters that held promise for more. I initially gave this a two star rating but because I think of book as a bait and switch-- interesting plot idea completely ruined with shallow writing, I can't bring myself to give it more than one star. After reading this book, I felt like I just ate raw moldy liver. Yechh!

I was particularly looking foward to the flashbacks, but I learned that in history, everyone, including Shakespeare, talks like a 21st American. That's because I think this was written for a low budget TV movie. I am SO glad I got this from the library rather than buy it. I would have felt ripped off.

Overall great concept, very poor execution. I definitely would not go see the movie...

Tom has met William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Captain Cook. He's over four centuries old (but looks like he's only in his 40s) but of course he can't tell anyone that. As far as Tom is concerned, being practically immortal (he's not, but he should live well into his ninth century) isn't all it's cracked up to be. He probably would have done himself in a long time ago, except he has to find his daughter, who's out there somewhere. He thinks. But since he hasn't even had a hint of where she might be in about 350 years, he's decided to go back to his roots, which dredge up a lot of memories. Most of the book alternates between Tom's current life as a history teacher and his reminiscenses as he Forrest Gumps his way through history.

There's not so much plot for most of the book as there is deep, dark philosophical musing on life and time and history. Until suddenly Haig realizes that he has to actually end the book in some way, and several very dramatic things happen, Tom comes to some startling realizations, and they all live happily ever after. For a long time.

Tom is over 400 years old but can pass for one-tenth that age. He's lived many lives, most of them unsatisfactory, because his longevity and love do not mix. At first, the gimmick of this story and the time-hopping was unsettling, but as I got into the rhythm and character development it opened up like a vintage wine given time to breathe. There's a little bit of Zelig here as our hero meets Scott Fitzgerald, Shakespeare and others, and a bit of "Time and Again," but the narrative finds its own level and pages turn quickly. Quirky, charming, readable. Take the time and you won't likely stop.

I read a lot and rarely give 5stars. But this book is cross dimensional and hits sweet spots for several genres...just read it. I truly can't imagine a poor review....also I was inspired to read this because Cunberbach is one of my favorite actors and he will be playing the lead when this movie comes out....I like his taste in scripts and was not dissappointed reading this wonderful book...just read it!

They say that there is nothing new under the sun to write about, but Matt Haig proves them wrong with this book. The plot is fresh and innovative, the main character felt real and easily relatable, and I really don't have any criticisms. This is one I will be happily recommending to my friends.

Won in a goodreads giveaway. My thanks to the publisher.

This book had an interesting concept and story. It brought up a number of ways to look at life that are not something you consider every day.

Three and a half stars.

Content: some profanity, including the f-word and names of Deity. Some violence, not very graphic. Sex is referenced, but I don't remember any sex scenes.

I enjoyed this story very much - although I kept thinking of Lazarus Long's character in Heinlein's ( no pun intended!) immortal stories. A good story, worth reading - although the ending disappointed me: seemed to me that Haig didn't know how to end the book and thus the last few pages seemed "forced" to me.

If you could live almost 1000 years , how would you live, is the theme of this fascinating novel. The key way to live is to try and not fall in love. Easier said than done. Our hero shows us his life ove almost 500 years exploring history from the same vantage point. A parable, a love story, a triop through time. Fun and thought provoking. Recommended.

British writer Matt Haig, writer of myriad genres for readers of diverse age groups, has turned his hand to a time travel novel, How To Stop Time, and carried it off with panache. Tom Hazard, the protagonist, looks like he is in his late thirties/early forties, but he is really 400 years old: “You see, I have a condition,” he tells us at the beginning of the book.. “I am old – old in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old. I was born well over four hundred years ago, on the third of March 1581 …” For every 13 or 14 human years, he ages one year.

As the novel opens the year is 2017, and Hazard’s long life (Don’t you love his name?) has brought him interesting experiences, but only one period of true happiness when he fell in love with an apple seller in London named Rose in the 17th century, and had a daughter named Marion. “I just didn’t like my condition. It made me lonely. And when I say lonely, I mean the kind of loneliness that howls through you like a desert wind. It wasn’t just the loss of people I had known but also the loss of myself. The loss of who I had been when I had been with them.”

Hazard must move every 8 years, so that people don’t get suspicious about the fact that he doesn’t seem to age. In 2017,he moves back to the portion of London that he had lived in with Rose in the 1600s ( and worked for Shakespeare in) to teach 14 year olds history.

His commentary about modern life isn’t flattering: “I look around. Trying to work out where it is that I first saw her. It is beyond impossible. There is nothing recognisable. As with Chapel Street and Well Lane, not a single building that is there now was there then. I see, through a window, a row of people running on treadmills. They are all staring up at what I assume is a row of TV screens above their heads. Some of them are plugged into headphones. One is checking her iPhone as she runs.

Places don’t matter to people any more. Places aren’t the point. People are only ever half present where they are these days. They always have at least one foot in the great digital nowhere.”

Part of the fun of time travel novels is that the characters, of course, cross paths with famous people from times gone by. The following fictional quote from the author F. Scott Fitzgerald is notable: “‘If only we could find a way to stop time...That’s what we need to work on. You know, for when a moment of happiness floats along. We could swing our net and catch it like a butterfly, and have that moment for ever.’”

Part of what makes the novel readable, however, is the fact that Hazard is just an ordinary person who has lived an extraordinarily long life, and that Haig is good at helping the reader identify with his pathos.

I read that the movie rights have already been bought and that it is already in development with Benedict Cumberbatch producing and starring. But, I recommend traveling though time by reading the book.

Thank you Viking and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book and for allowing me to review it.

When I picked up this "bestseller" in the library, I was hoping for a book with a character that would give insight to historical events or people (I enjoy historical fiction). What I got was a story with a shallow character that did nothing but whine (and whine) about headaches on nearly every page. To be fair I quit reading this book after about 150 pages, so my rating is based on those pages. I was just tried of Tom's complaining. Maybe the book gets better in the second half, but I will never know.To add to my disappointment, I thought the writing was sloppy with choppy or incomplete sentences and poor punctuation. This book was a waste of my time.

Such a great book! Definitely one of my new favorites. Thought provoking, extremely well written (need to read some more Matt Haig), and overall, a great story about life and love. The level of detail is astounding, and truly makes you feel like you’re traveling through time alongside the main character. Highly recommend!!

Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time is a beautifully written and captivating story about past and future and love and hate. I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction stories about people who don’t age. How would they survive, and how would they exist? This book is a beautifully imagined possible answer to that question, and a novel that I highly recommend.

The story kinda like Curious Case of Benjamin Button meets Interview with a Vampire meets Siddhartha. Thoughtful passages about how embracing the present is how to stop time. It's creative and easy to read. Not necessarily the book for everyone but I enjoyed it.

This one is hard for me to judge. I read it in many short sessions over a long period of time in the midst of moving chaos. I think I liked it. It was sort of slow, though (much like Tom’s lifespan—he had been alive for over 400 years). And, because I often put it aside for long periods of time, it was hard for me to keep up with all the time jumping. I had trouble indexing the situations within the overall timeframe sometimes. But, I tried to not stress about it (since everything else in my life was stressful). The author didn’t give the reader time to really get to know the characters, other than the main character. And the overall situation was a bit uncertain…the plot seemed fuzzy at times. But, I guess, the main point was that Tom was trying to find his daughter. That seemed to be the main thread throughout time. It isn’t really the sort of conflict that normally compels this reader forward, so I'm not sure I would have liked it if I were reading it at a normal pace. But it was fine considering the amount of attention I was able to give to the novel.

I tend to gravitate towards books that others find odd, especially books about time travel or focused on time, itself. I enjoyed this book immensely. It reminded me of the book Forever by Pete Hamill, one of my favorite books that I reread occasionally.

Matt Haig, a most excellent observer of the human condition, once again weaves a timeless tale of romance, history, and the mystery of the moment.

“The progress of humanity seems to be measured in the distance we place between ourselves and nature."

I saw a poster for this book at a local bookstore and was curious about it. I loved it. All the characters were really interesting. It's one of the books that you are sad when you finish it because you want the story to continue.

An avid reader, I think this might be the second review I’ve ever left, that should give a clue as to how I feel about this book! I’m so thankful to have found it - one of those rare books that has the perfect balance of being thought-provoking without being heavy. I honestly can’t remember the last time I highlighted so many passages in a book just so I knew I could find them again when I need some succinct and inspirational wisdom. Well done!

I really enjoyed this book. I got so involved in the story that I started thinking in the manner that the book is written.

I’m so overwhelmed by this book I’m not ready to write a review lol.

I loved it and 100% recommend it.

I enjoyed this story very much - although I kept thinking of Lazarus Long's character in Heinlein's ( no pun intended!) immortal stories. A good story, worth reading - although the ending disappointed me: seemed to me that Haig didn't know how to end the book and thus the last few pages seemed "forced" to me.

If you could live almost 1000 years , how would you live, is the theme of this fascinating novel. The key way to live is to try and not fall in love. Easier said than done. Our hero shows us his life ove almost 500 years exploring history from the same vantage point. A parable, a love story, a triop through time. Fun and thought provoking. Recommended.

British writer Matt Haig, writer of myriad genres for readers of diverse age groups, has turned his hand to a time travel novel, How To Stop Time, and carried it off with panache. Tom Hazard, the protagonist, looks like he is in his late thirties/early forties, but he is really 400 years old: “You see, I have a condition,” he tells us at the beginning of the book.. “I am old – old in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old. I was born well over four hundred years ago, on the third of March 1581 …” For every 13 or 14 human years, he ages one year.

As the novel opens the year is 2017, and Hazard’s long life (Don’t you love his name?) has brought him interesting experiences, but only one period of true happiness when he fell in love with an apple seller in London named Rose in the 17th century, and had a daughter named Marion. “I just didn’t like my condition. It made me lonely. And when I say lonely, I mean the kind of loneliness that howls through you like a desert wind. It wasn’t just the loss of people I had known but also the loss of myself. The loss of who I had been when I had been with them.”

Hazard must move every 8 years, so that people don’t get suspicious about the fact that he doesn’t seem to age. In 2017,he moves back to the portion of London that he had lived in with Rose in the 1600s ( and worked for Shakespeare in) to teach 14 year olds history.

His commentary about modern life isn’t flattering: “I look around. Trying to work out where it is that I first saw her. It is beyond impossible. There is nothing recognisable. As with Chapel Street and Well Lane, not a single building that is there now was there then. I see, through a window, a row of people running on treadmills. They are all staring up at what I assume is a row of TV screens above their heads. Some of them are plugged into headphones. One is checking her iPhone as she runs.

Places don’t matter to people any more. Places aren’t the point. People are only ever half present where they are these days. They always have at least one foot in the great digital nowhere.”

Part of the fun of time travel novels is that the characters, of course, cross paths with famous people from times gone by. The following fictional quote from the author F. Scott Fitzgerald is notable: “‘If only we could find a way to stop time...That’s what we need to work on. You know, for when a moment of happiness floats along. We could swing our net and catch it like a butterfly, and have that moment for ever.’”

Part of what makes the novel readable, however, is the fact that Hazard is just an ordinary person who has lived an extraordinarily long life, and that Haig is good at helping the reader identify with his pathos.

I read that the movie rights have already been bought and that it is already in development with Benedict Cumberbatch producing and starring. But, I recommend traveling though time by reading the book.

Thank you Viking and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book and for allowing me to review it.

When I picked up this "bestseller" in the library, I was hoping for a book with a character that would give insight to historical events or people (I enjoy historical fiction). What I got was a story with a shallow character that did nothing but whine (and whine) about headaches on nearly every page. To be fair I quit reading this book after about 150 pages, so my rating is based on those pages. I was just tried of Tom's complaining. Maybe the book gets better in the second half, but I will never know.To add to my disappointment, I thought the writing was sloppy with choppy or incomplete sentences and poor punctuation. This book was a waste of my time.

Such a great book! Definitely one of my new favorites. Thought provoking, extremely well written (need to read some more Matt Haig), and overall, a great story about life and love. The level of detail is astounding, and truly makes you feel like you’re traveling through time alongside the main character. Highly recommend!!

Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time is a beautifully written and captivating story about past and future and love and hate. I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction stories about people who don’t age. How would they survive, and how would they exist? This book is a beautifully imagined possible answer to that question, and a novel that I highly recommend.

The story kinda like Curious Case of Benjamin Button meets Interview with a Vampire meets Siddhartha. Thoughtful passages about how embracing the present is how to stop time. It's creative and easy to read. Not necessarily the book for everyone but I enjoyed it.

This one is hard for me to judge. I read it in many short sessions over a long period of time in the midst of moving chaos. I think I liked it. It was sort of slow, though (much like Tom’s lifespan—he had been alive for over 400 years). And, because I often put it aside for long periods of time, it was hard for me to keep up with all the time jumping. I had trouble indexing the situations within the overall timeframe sometimes. But, I tried to not stress about it (since everything else in my life was stressful). The author didn’t give the reader time to really get to know the characters, other than the main character. And the overall situation was a bit uncertain…the plot seemed fuzzy at times. But, I guess, the main point was that Tom was trying to find his daughter. That seemed to be the main thread throughout time. It isn’t really the sort of conflict that normally compels this reader forward, so I'm not sure I would have liked it if I were reading it at a normal pace. But it was fine considering the amount of attention I was able to give to the novel.

I tend to gravitate towards books that others find odd, especially books about time travel or focused on time, itself. I enjoyed this book immensely. It reminded me of the book Forever by Pete Hamill, one of my favorite books that I reread occasionally.

Matt Haig, a most excellent observer of the human condition, once again weaves a timeless tale of romance, history, and the mystery of the moment.

“The progress of humanity seems to be measured in the distance we place between ourselves and nature."

I saw a poster for this book at a local bookstore and was curious about it. I loved it. All the characters were really interesting. It's one of the books that you are sad when you finish it because you want the story to continue.

An avid reader, I think this might be the second review I’ve ever left, that should give a clue as to how I feel about this book! I’m so thankful to have found it - one of those rare books that has the perfect balance of being thought-provoking without being heavy. I honestly can’t remember the last time I highlighted so many passages in a book just so I knew I could find them again when I need some succinct and inspirational wisdom. Well done!

I really enjoyed this book. I got so involved in the story that I started thinking in the manner that the book is written.

I’m so overwhelmed by this book I’m not ready to write a review lol.

I loved it and 100% recommend it.

Interesting concept, but moved way too slow. Hard to keep flipping back & forth in time. Listened to the first 16 chapters then skipped ahead to chapter 50 and listened to the end. It's for book club & wanted to know how it ended.

Imagine having a condition which is the exact opposite of Progeria. Living up to a thousand years and the problems that might occur. Tom has that problem and the hunters are hunting him and many others. Can they stay safe?

Really like this author. The book could read a bit slow at times and then wrapped up very quickly but overall I'm a huge fan of the author. This book was a good, quick read. Would be ideal for relaxing time off, if that's what you need in a book!

This is a really fun fantasy about a man who ages much more slowly than other humans. He's in his fifth century when he breaks the rules and falls in love with a normal human. Dangerous events follow...

Loved it! Beautifully written. You experience Tom’s life through his memories which do jump around but they’re tied to what is happening in his present life so it all flows seamlessly. Some of the other reviews said people had trouble following the story but I didn’t feel that way at all. Adding it to my favorites list and I will definitely read it again.

Matt Haig writes depression so well that sometimes reading him makes me depressed, so I was hesitant to start this book, but actually I found it really uplifting and poignant. Also, Shakespeare shows up, and that was really cool.

The author has a mature comfortable style sometimes mimicking how we think in short sentences or thoughts. This book also includes several thought provoking philiosophical phrases that took me by surprise and made this a much more enjoyable read. Great storytelling.

The whole premise behind the novel is excellent..and one that has not yet been overused. Certain people who live for hundreds of years, yet remain in the shadows for their own safety. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but am only giving it 2 stars due the the authors need to throw politics into the story. I am so tired of everything we see and here having something to do with Trump and whether we hate him or love him...just sick of it. Can't we have a decent show on TV or a novel that doesnt have to throw the writers political ideology in the mix? And just the crudeness of calling ANY president a "MF'er" is enough to ruin an otherwise great read.

If I could give the book negative stars or rotten tomatoes I would! There is nothing I trospe five, insightful, or even aesthetically beautiful in this book. It would make a good movie with its shallow review of moments and celebrities in history. Completely without soul or depth. If it were written for children maybe it would be ok. Matt King should stick to writing children’s books.

I walked in Books a Million the other day and this book was everywhere. I figured if the publisher was willing to put so much money into marketing, this had to be a good book. WRONG. But what do they care, I bought the book, and they got their money. Not in my case, I returned the thing not even halfway through. I adore time travel books, and am always curious how the author handles the time travel system. This author does something simple and logical, it’s really brilliant. The character, Tom, (I think) doesn't actually travel in time, he just has an incredibly long lifespan. He has a disease that is just the opposite of the disorder that children get that makes them age so rapidly that most don't make it to their teens. This makes sense, I like it, but that is it, meaning the concept of the book is all you get, the rest is just bad short stories sort of knitted together! The guy was born in 1580 something, has a daughter that probably has the same disease, but he doesn’t know because she has disappeared, and oh, he is not allowed to fall in love. The love part is supposed to catch you, but I was halfway through before I stopped, and they had just found each other’s Facebook page. I'm not a big fan romance, but I can take it with big doses of GOOD history. However, this author got something crucial wrong in the first twenty pages. He says that in Tudor times people were just waking up to the fact that the world was round…not flat. That is a ridiculous statement a nineteenth century writer made to make the blubbering, obstinate, and murderous Columbus look good. Columbus got lucky he found land as his estimation of the circumference of the world was terribly wrong, and despite much evidence to the contrary, he was convinced that he had found India to the day he died, hence we are stuck with Indians. Humans have known the world was round since ancient times, Grecian to be more exact. Back to the book, so once I read the world was flat bit, I couldn’t trust anything historical he said. It’s a lazy mistake, and tells me the man has read very little history, academic or even popular. I shudder at the thought of the people who proofed it. What on earth have they been reading? He dedicates a few sentences to the subject, so it’s not easily overlooked. I want to believe that like me, they were just bored and skimming, but….
I am not sure how he found the chutzpah to call this book a historical romance. Being an author, I know that you have to get the history right, or people like me will review you to death. I do not usually write bad reviews as I am author too. We have to stick together and all that, but when I saw the marketing money that went into this terrible book, I got angry. I am not certain when the publishing idiots in New York will wake up to the fact that the publishing world is changing. People want enjoyable books, not Oprah dramas with lots of beautiful sentences and no story. Time Travel is a big seller, yes, Outlander and many others. Even though the Outlander series could be half the size it is, the TV production shows that, there is still a story in there! I am an avid reader, I have no television and don’t do social media, I READ. I go through twenty to thirty books a month, I am not sure I’ve never counted, but this has to be in the top ten of the most boring books I have ever attempted to read. That’s the other thing, I make it a point to always finish a book once I start it, or at least bookmark and come back later, but not this one, it’s gone. I couldn’t trudge through it one more second. I learned something, the marketing gimmicks mean nothing, and wait a few months before looking at the reviews for a book because the 100 or so people who reviewed it must have been the friends and family of the author and the publishing peeps, otherwise, they read a different book than the one I tried to read.

"How to Stop Time" is not a page turner for sure, but it is a slow well thought out story that you will likely remember. I am not typically a reader of the time travel genre, therefore I was hesitant about what to expect from Matt Haig's newest novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the storyline is to follow and how normal Tom, Thomas Hazard the main character, comes across (even though he is supposed to be centuries old).

Tom does not age like a normal person and instead ages so slowly that a normal persons life will pass and he will not have aged more than a few years. Lives and history passes Tom by and he is forced to change and move along with it so he does not raise suspicion about his non-aging appearance. When Tom realizes that he is not the only individual with his condition, he agrees to be a part of a group called the Albatross Society who offer him protection. The Albatross Society is headed by a wealthy man named Hendrich who is as much of a bully as he is a protector. Hendrich instills a fear of the outside world in Tom while at the same time giving him the finances and connections to allow him to change his identity as required. From the very beginning of their partnership, Hendrich warns Tom against relationship and especially falling in love. Relationships and friendships can only lead to questions about Tom's appearance and will raise suspicion about his condition. Unfortunately living a long life without true love or relationship has taken its toll on Tom and left him felling empty and unfulfilled. "How to Stop Time" is a story about finding one's self and realizing the immaterial value of being in relationship with others.

My personal impressions of this novel were mixed. I enjoyed the story but didn't find it intriguing enough to read quickly in one sitting. I found the threads of Tom's interaction with historical figures a bit unnecessary and overworked. I could see through Hendrich's scheme a mile away and wished that Tom was not so trusting and naive after all his years of life. I also found myself wishing that Tom was more dashing and less regular. He is portrayed as an unremarkable History teacher when his many years of life should have made him a fascinating person.

Overall, I have given "How to Stop Time" a 4/5 because I did enjoy the story and felt the writing style and creativity deserved high marks. If you are on the fence about this book I would recommend giving it a shot. It is a unique tale about life and relationship. It focuses on the true nature of people and how history can impact us all.

I also want to thank Goodreads and the Publisher for a free copy of this book to read and review.

Tom Hazard isn't like ordinary people no matter how desperately he wishes he was. For Tom has a rare condition which means for every fifteen years of his life he ages just one, so when we see a forty-one-year-old man he is in fact over four hundred years old. While initially, this may sound like an exciting and adventurous life to lead but as we delve into Tom's many pasts and lives we begin to realise how lonely and heartbreaking this existence is for him. 'Protected' by a secret society who demand obedience, Tom must never connect with anyone or have any close relationships and time has shown Tom how cruel it can be taking those he loved away from him. But in 2017 as Tom tries to find some semblance of a normal life working as a school teacher, he cannot help but feel something for a fellow teacher who is determined to figure him out.

Moving seamlessly from past to present HOW TO STOP TIME by Matt Haig is a truly special book that makes you feel, really feel, every emotion as you turn each page. The beautiful prose is so eloquent that you are carried along with the flow of the story and even as so many parts of Tom's life will make your heart ache for him, you cannot stop admiring the words that describe his despair.

​HOW TO STOP TIME by Matt Haig shows us how the past can often be repeated in all of its beauty and horror, that an ordinary life is one to be cherished and appreciated, and for all intents and purposes we need to live now, love now, cry now, and be whoever we wish to be now, for nobody knows what tomorrow may bring - a truly stunning novel that will make you a Matt Haig fan for life.

*I voluntarily reviewed this book from Edelweiss

A truly wonderful book about a man who lives for centuries and about his encounters along the way. He presently only looks about 40 years old but has lived over four centuries due to a condition that must be kept secret to keep those like him safe. It's about his long life, his mother and her life and death, his loves, his daughter, his love of history and all the many characters he meets along the way over the centuries, Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Captain Cook and the everyday people like Mary Peters, Rose and Grace, Camille, and Omai and others like him that live for centuries and so many more. It was amazing writing and reading. I loved the history that was intertwined in this great story. I couldn't put it down. We think about how we wish we would live forever or at least longer, yet for Tom Hazard that was almost a curse at times, because people died around him, people he loved, he missed, people he could never forget. Enjoy every minute of your life and try not to look back but keep your good memories alive. I loved this book. A must read.

The whole premise behind the novel is excellent..and one that has not yet been overused. Certain people who live for hundreds of years, yet remain in the shadows for their own safety. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but am only giving it 2 stars due the the authors need to throw politics into the story. I am so tired of everything we see and here having something to do with Trump and whether we hate him or love him...just sick of it. Can't we have a decent show on TV or a novel that doesnt have to throw the writers political ideology in the mix? And just the crudeness of calling ANY president a "MF'er" is enough to ruin an otherwise great read.

DNF at 24%.

I love a time travel story, The Time Traveler's Wife, Marking Time, Just One Damned Thing After Another, Doomsday Book, Crossing in Time, and Out of Time 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:
'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.

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.

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review,

If I could give the book negative stars or rotten tomatoes I would! There is nothing I trospe five, insightful, or even aesthetically beautiful in this book. It would make a good movie with its shallow review of moments and celebrities in history. Completely without soul or depth. If it were written for children maybe it would be ok. Matt King should stick to writing children’s books.

I walked in Books a Million the other day and this book was everywhere. I figured if the publisher was willing to put so much money into marketing, this had to be a good book. WRONG. But what do they care, I bought the book, and they got their money. Not in my case, I returned the thing not even halfway through. I adore time travel books, and am always curious how the author handles the time travel system. This author does something simple and logical, it’s really brilliant. The character, Tom, (I think) doesn't actually travel in time, he just has an incredibly long lifespan. He has a disease that is just the opposite of the disorder that children get that makes them age so rapidly that most don't make it to their teens. This makes sense, I like it, but that is it, meaning the concept of the book is all you get, the rest is just bad short stories sort of knitted together! The guy was born in 1580 something, has a daughter that probably has the same disease, but he doesn’t know because she has disappeared, and oh, he is not allowed to fall in love. The love part is supposed to catch you, but I was halfway through before I stopped, and they had just found each other’s Facebook page. I'm not a big fan romance, but I can take it with big doses of GOOD history. However, this author got something crucial wrong in the first twenty pages. He says that in Tudor times people were just waking up to the fact that the world was round…not flat. That is a ridiculous statement a nineteenth century writer made to make the blubbering, obstinate, and murderous Columbus look good. Columbus got lucky he found land as his estimation of the circumference of the world was terribly wrong, and despite much evidence to the contrary, he was convinced that he had found India to the day he died, hence we are stuck with Indians. Humans have known the world was round since ancient times, Grecian to be more exact. Back to the book, so once I read the world was flat bit, I couldn’t trust anything historical he said. It’s a lazy mistake, and tells me the man has read very little history, academic or even popular. I shudder at the thought of the people who proofed it. What on earth have they been reading? He dedicates a few sentences to the subject, so it’s not easily overlooked. I want to believe that like me, they were just bored and skimming, but….
I am not sure how he found the chutzpah to call this book a historical romance. Being an author, I know that you have to get the history right, or people like me will review you to death. I do not usually write bad reviews as I am author too. We have to stick together and all that, but when I saw the marketing money that went into this terrible book, I got angry. I am not certain when the publishing idiots in New York will wake up to the fact that the publishing world is changing. People want enjoyable books, not Oprah dramas with lots of beautiful sentences and no story. Time Travel is a big seller, yes, Outlander and many others. Even though the Outlander series could be half the size it is, the TV production shows that, there is still a story in there! I am an avid reader, I have no television and don’t do social media, I READ. I go through twenty to thirty books a month, I am not sure I’ve never counted, but this has to be in the top ten of the most boring books I have ever attempted to read. That’s the other thing, I make it a point to always finish a book once I start it, or at least bookmark and come back later, but not this one, it’s gone. I couldn’t trudge through it one more second. I learned something, the marketing gimmicks mean nothing, and wait a few months before looking at the reviews for a book because the 100 or so people who reviewed it must have been the friends and family of the author and the publishing peeps, otherwise, they read a different book than the one I tried to read.