“And, just as it only takes a moment to die, it only takes a moment to live. You just close your eyes and let every futile fear slip away. And then, in this new state, free from fear, you ask yourself: who am I? If I could live without doubt what would I do? If I could be kind without the fear of being fucked over? If I could love without fear of being hurt? If I could taste the sweetness of today without thinking of how I will miss that taste tomorrow? If I could not fear the passing of time and the people it will steal? Yes. What would I do? Who would I care for? What battle would I fight? Which paths would I step down? What joys would I allow myself? What internal mysteries would I solve? How, in short, would I live?” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: lost daughters, true love, books, dogs, secret societies, French, “witches”, plagues, history and time. 

“She smiled a soft, troubled smile and I felt the whole world slipping away, and I wanted to slip with it, to go wherever she was going… I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words.”

Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom 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. Tom has lived history–performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society’s watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can’t have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages–and for the ages–about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

Matt Haig really knows how to write books that make you reflect. It wasn’t a perfect book for me, but I really liked the message behind it.

So let’s start with the plot! To be honest, I can’t tell you what the plot is about, because I honestly don’t know because it feels like this book doesn’t have a plot. The story is about Tom – who is several centuries old for some unknown reason -, and his memories. Throughout the book he constantly remembers his past moments and his first love romance, while dealing with his present. There is a lot of back and forth in Tom’s timeline, so it can be confusing for some readers.

The characters were okay but not the most engaging. Tom was an okay main character, but I didn’t connect to him too strongly because he was always whining about being old. The romance with Camille felt a bit forced. They didn’t develop a proper friendship, so everything felt rushed when he started feeling deeply connected to her. It was too unrealistic, so I had a hard time believing the romance. One character I did love was Rose! She was a very solid character with a good background and development, but I wish we got to know her better.

One thing I really liked is how Fitzgerald and Shakespeare appeared in the book! I really liked how they made an appearance, and I liked how they were portrayed.

What I really liked about this story was the reflections about time. There is a strong message here on how we should live and appreciate the present moment and accept that time doesn’t wait for us. I think the story could be developed a bit better, but it did its job of delivering the message and making the reader reflect.

I liked this, but if I were to recommend a book from this author to anyone, I would still recommend “The Midnight Library”, because it’s an amazing book!