How to Stop Time: A Novel Kindle Edition

This was my second book by Matt Haig, the first being “The Midnight Library”. Not gonna lie, that one struck a much bigger chord with me, but this one was pretty good too. You really feel for the main character, & easily empathize with his anguish & struggle. The timeline does jump back-and-forth a lot, but it’s still easy to keep track of everything. The (main) side characters are also pretty interesting in their own right.There were two negatives that I could think of:1) there were times where I wasn’t sure where the pot was headed, times where the novel felt more like a personal diary. Though I suppose this could be a good thing, depending on how “raw” of a story you’re looking for.2) this kind of follows the previous point, but the climax kind of came out of nowhere, and was over real fast. Though I suppose the gradual build-up to the climax was decent.All in all though, I’m glad I read this. It didn’t have the punch like Midnight Library, but still definitely worth checking out if your the introspective type.

It is rather slow going. It takes a while to get to the plot. But it is beautiful! It wraps up so well! I will say that it is very British. A lot of reviews say that Tom is a snob, but it is really more of a British thing. I can’t really explain it. You kind of have to have studied Elizabethan history to get it. Or maybe you have to have watched Doctor Who enough. My point is, don’t get too caught up in the personalities, just read and let it be.

Imagine living for centuries! This first person account of this very thing is beautiful. And thought-provoking. Jumping between places and millenia isn't hard with this well-written book. Matt Haig is a gifted writer and I love his books. This one leaves me feeling good, even though the ending seems short. All this building towards it, then boom. The denouement and then it's done. That said it is indeed a superb read.

This book fed my soul and lifted my consciousness. Full of literary, musical, artistic and philosophic allusions, I relaxed into the book and loved it more and more with each page. I am grateful to Matt Haig for bringing such beauty to his readers. I will now search for every book he has written and read them all.

I enjoyed time traveling through history and seeing that it’s made of people and not just facts…living is about choosing to love.

No idea how such a far-fetched concept was made so completely believable … must be the great characters and fun historical references. I will miss this book, and will carry it inside me, as Haig intended!

Such an exceptional thought provoking read! Very philosophical.Many lives and many centuries and many changes. Yet with great advancements people really don't change much.A great read. Follow Tom through the years and imagine aging little and living many lives in one.

This is currently my favorite book I have ever read. This book is historical fiction with a gentle touch of sci-fi, and just enough romance woven throughout it's pages, enough to make you feel something but not enough to make it feel like a true romance novel (which is a huge plus for me - I do not like strictly romance novels but I enjoy some romance along the way if it helps build the story). My favorite thing about this book is the witty, relatable, poetic writing style, with a fresh story from a quirky perspective. This book is witty, poetic, relatable and truly captivating. I could not put this book down. The character development was done very well, the story was very captivating, and the insights from the main character make you really stop and think about your own life and things you probably have never thought about.SPOILER FREE - The only reason I did not rate this book 5 stars is in regard to the end. The end was satisfying and I wouldn't say it was bad, but it certainly felt very rushed, forced, and a bit of a stretch even within the realm of the reality within the universe of the book. The ending was wrapped up within about 30 pages, so to me the book felt like it went from a really good pace to 500 miles an hour in the last 30 pages, and while it did wrap up pretty much everything you want it to wrap up, it does so in such a quick way that is feels like whiplash. This book still remains my favorite story I've ever read, despite there being other books I have rated 5 stars, but with the very rushed ending I just couldn't give it the perfect score as much as I so badly wanted to.Overall this book is AMAZING and my favorite read so far. I highly recommend it!!

Wow! Wow! Wow!If ever a book deserved 5 stars it's this one. I devoured this book and struggled to tear myself away from it but the kids needed feeding, the boyfriend needs attention & I suppose I had to sleep 😒This book was so well written that I had to keep reminding myself I was reading a work of fiction and not an autobiography. I got completely caught up in Tom and his story. The author effortlessly took the story from present day to varying times in Tom's life but it never felt confusing or strange. You totally believed it.The voice and atmosphere of each point in history was captured vividly and I could really see Tom there doing those things. Those little details, minute touches of information about things that actually happened, made it all the more real.I loved this book so much I was genuinely sad for it to end. I could've kept reading about Tom's life for much longer. This is one of those rare books that changes your perception, makes you think about life in a different and stays with you long after you've read it. I know this is a book I'll read many times over.

As an initial disclaimer - I gave up on this book at around the half way point. I know many people think this means I shouldn't write a review - and maybe they're right - but I think the fact that this hadn't engaged me by the half way point says something.Parts I liked:First - the good stuff. The historical sections were really interesting and opened up worlds I didn't know about; the part about the witch hunts and his mother were especially haunting and engaging. The premise is interesting and novel, almost like time-travel but without the narrative problems often encountered in time travel stories. It's an effective but simple concept that really makes you want to read it to find out what happens. Some of the writing is very beautiful and touching and there were parts which genuinely moved me - I found the part towards the beginning where Rose dies really heartbreaking.The not so much parts:Despite the good points, I often found it a chore to read. I can't really put my finger on exactly why - I just didn't really care about most of the characters (aside from what I've mentioned above). The main character in particular is exceptionally whiny. The premise is a good one but I don't think it has been executed in a very engaging way. I find with Matt Haig's writing I am often very aware of the authorial voice, which slips into ponderous/pretentious at numerous points. He is determined to tell the reader how to approach life, and he does this in quite a clunky way. Some of the lines are clearly meant to be breathtaking "oh I never thought of it like that" type lines, but I think this just takes the reader out of the story. All these added up to me giving up on the book - not really deliberately, but I just picked it up more and more infrequently and found it a chore whenever I did so, until eventually I just stopped picking it up. I like Matt Haig and I like some of his other books (in particular "Reasons to Stay Alive" which is wonderful). This just didn't do it for me, sorry.

This is my second book by Matt Haig, after The Midnight Library. He has an enjoyable style of storytelling which is quite ambitious in its scope. The chapters are short and travel back and forward in time along with the protagonist of the tale. Haig really paints scenes and settings that happened hundreds of years ago with deft skill. Never has Shakespeare seemed so three dimensional and real to me. The story always felt fresh because there was so much flux, to and fro, between the past and present. If I had a small complaint it's just that the ending felt a little rushed and, hence, unsatisfying. Almost as if the tale just toppled over the edge of a cliff. Could have been five stars bar the way Haig wrapped it up.

I love books that play around with time, whether that’s through time-travel, reincarnation or whatever. So I was quite excited at the concept of this book about extraordinarily long-lived and slow ageing people.In parts, it was quite fun for its depictions of different historical periods, its worldbuilding around the concept of these “albatrosses” as the long-lived ones call themselves, and its meditations on what he practical and psychological effects of a life like that would be.But I thought it was pretty flawed in several ways. Firstly, it couldn’t resist the obvious trap of having the hero participate in far too many famous historical events and meet far too many famous historical people than was remotely believable. I was much more interested – and much more able to suspend belief – when it came to scenes of him living a normal life in medieval or Tudor times.Secondly, after centuries of forsaking love, partly to avoid being hurt, partly due to the rules of his society, it was hard to see what suddenly attracted him to his modern day love interest. It felt rather sudden and forced. And thirdly, I found both her and modern day him so over-exaggeratedly right on in their interactions with each other and with the students at their school.Overall, this had an interesting premise which it partially delivered on, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it.

I've previously read a few books by this author - love some of them and really like the others. This one had passed by me though and I picked it up now having recently read The Midnight Library (not my favourite but loved the premise). This book was first published in 2017.The book is 325 pages in 5 parts, each containing multiple chapters which jump about in time, always going back from the present day.I've read several books that have time travel at their core and structure/rules are always the key to their success. Matt Haig manages these impossibilities very strongly and I quickly forgot that this was not a reality.On starting the book, I did get the feeling that I had read it before although definitely hadn't which was very strange. I decided that, as I had had a recommendation, the details of the description from my friend had stuck in my head.The structure is really clear and I was swept along with the fantasy, never questioning the many difficult practical details.Extreme longevity is a very clever way to explore loneliness and that is a recurring theme that runs through all of the book. Tom, the main character and narrator, looks into his own soul, considering how to best live his life. The limits on his existence are constraining and he struggles to deal with their effects, meaning he continually analyses his actions in his attempts to "stop time".I was absorbed into Tom's world easily and completely believed the dilemmas that he faced, understanding how he tried to solve them.Various periods in past are visited and they are addressed in a way that is very natural. The detail is subtle with the descriptions never threatening to take away focus from the characters and the plot.Whilst the narrative jumps around in time frequently, we are always in Tom's head and the book is written in such a smooth style that is never jarring.Amongst all the life lessons that Tom considers there is plenty to be considered by those reading the book as well.This book is entertaining, emotional and thought provoking. I felt that I had learnt a lot about Tom by the end and thoroughly enjoyed sharing his journey of realisation.