
How to Stop Time
3.99
826 ratings·22,441 reviews
Her smile, soft and troubled, made the world feel like it was slipping away, and I wanted to go with it, wherever she was going… I’d existed for years without her, but that was all it was. Existence. A book without words. Tom Hazard has returned to London to teach history, hoping for a normal life....
- Pages
- 339
- Format
- Paperback
- Published
- 2019-06-11
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- ISBN
- 9780525522898
About the author

Matt Haig
39 books · 0 followers
Matt Haig is the author of novels such as The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Life Impossible and now The Midnight Train. He has also written books for children, such as A Boy Called Christmas, the memoir Reasons to Stay Alive and also The Comfort Book.
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Rating & Review
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Community Reviews
22,441 reviews4.0
826 ratings
5
45%
4
30%
3
15%
2
7%
1
3%
Baba·4 years ago
Tom Hazard has just landed a job as a history teacher at a school in a less privileged area of East London in the early 21st Century. Despite knowing he's absolutely forbidden from forming connections, he feels a pull, a desire, towards one of his fellow teachers. Why is that a problem? Tom Hazard is over 400 years old and belongs to a secret organization of extraordinarily long-lived individuals called the Albatross Society!Matt Haig really nails the predicament of someone living for centuries....
Nina (ninjasbooks)·7 years ago
I savored every bit of this book. Matt Haig truly did stop time with "How to Stop Time," grabbing my attention and making me forget everything else. So many beautiful sentences and quotes, so many thought-provoking ideas. The story was also unlike anything I’ve read lately. It was so fun to walk in the shoes of somebody who’s been alive for so long. If you're looking for a great read, I highly recommend "How to Stop Time." It's a fantastic book review recommendation from me!
Elyse Walters·8 years ago
Library Audiobook...... Something must be wrong with me......This is the novel everyone is raving about?I’m doing it again......Throwing in the towel....NOT GOING TO FINISH....It’s NOT that anything is morally wrong with this book —- there are even some wise messages and heartfelt moments — but mostly I was kinda bored. I would never call Matt Haig's *How to Stop Time* ‘fiction nonsense’ ( cough cough)- like the last book I didn’t finish where I was pounded over the head by a guy, ( not really -...
Emily May·8 years ago
This is my second book by Matt Haig and, to be honest, it's probably going to be my last. Everything from his writing style to his characters to his (lack of) plot just doesn't seem to be working for me.
How to Stop Time is about Tom Hazard, who looks like your average forty-something guy but actually has a rare condition that makes him age slower than the average human. So he's around five hundred years old. Wow, sounds interesting! Right? Except that's kinda it. There's very little story or f...
Shelby *trains flying monkeys*·8 years ago
There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you are, even if it is dangerous.So, I'm breaking the rule of not sharing a quote on an ARC book. You kind of have to know if you are going to read this one...do you like pretty flowery writing? It's pretty full of that. Tom is old. Very old. He just does not look it. He has been alive for centuries. No, he isn't one of those sparkly vampires.
He has a condition that causes him to age much slower than the nor...
Angela M ·8 years ago
4+ stars I'm always captivated by a good time travel story, and while *How to Stop Time* isn't strictly a time travel novel, it reminded me of a few favorites: Jack Finney’s *Time and Again*, Stephen King’s *11/22/63*, and Audrey Niffenegger’s *The Time Traveler’s Wife*. I couldn’t help but think of all three right from the start, with the line: “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. ...
Larry H·8 years ago
4.5 stars for this one.
"If you saw me, you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong. I am old — old in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old."
Because of a rare medical condition, Tom Hazard has been alive since the 1500s. Born into a wealthy French family, he has traveled all over the world, assumed many different identities, and led a life characterized by adventure, trauma, emotion, and loneliness. Tom has performed with Shakespe...
Siobhán Mc Laughlin·8 years ago
This book was so bad it actually did stop time for me – stopped time on my reading, big time. I've been trying to finish "How to Stop Time" for the past three weeks or more...! Just the thought of picking it up was too much. (Just as there are some books you can't put down – there are books you can't bloody pick up – and this, for me, was one of them.)Honestly. What a farce. Sorry, Matt Haig. I do enjoy your writing. But I should have known better after reading 'The Humans.' Although I loved the...
Fishgirl·9 years ago
I guess I should just come right out and tell you what happened when I finished reading "The Humans." And yes, I know this is supposed to be a review about "How to Stop Time" by Matt Haig. Bear with me. So, I finished "The Humans" and I a) wept b) started it again immediately c) spent the next two years giving it to everyone on my gift list and basically insisting everyone read it. My ace in the hole has always been this - "If the road gets rocky (and everyone's road gets rocky sometimes) I can ...
Joachim Stoop·9 years ago
Review coming up in about 400 years. I'll get around to it, eventually. Consider this your *very* early notice. If you're searching for a good book to read and wondering about Matt Haig's *How to Stop Time*, check back in a few centuries. I promise a comprehensive book review... eventually!




