Reviews tagging 'Violence'

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

18 reviews

booksemmahasread's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

theespressoedition's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I'm a huge Matt Haig fan. If he writes it, I will read it (and most likely love it). I've been itching to get my hands on this book for ages now, but once I did, I found myself feeling slightly disappointed.

Now, maybe it was just the high of The Midnight Library and The Comfort Book, specifically, but I was really itching for something profound and inspiring to me, personally. That's not so much what I found in this book.

For the most part, this was historical fiction, with elements of magical realism thrown in there and a few nods to the modern era. I don't resonate well with historical fiction, so I think that's the first thing that kind of put me off. The concept of a person who ages at a snail's pace fascinated me, but I wasn't expecting to spend so much time getting to know Shakespeare... and that's kind of what happened.

Not that there's anything wrong with this in the slightest, it just didn't stand out to me. The meaningful aspects of the book were towards the last couple of chapters. Those, I could've highlighted in full, because they were so profound. However, I had hoped for a lot more of that throughout the book, so it was just a bit of a bummer.

However, I would read this book again! That might sound strange, but it's true. I do feel like there was a lot to learn from it, but I probably missed certain things because I got distracted while listening to the audiobook (which had a lovely narrator whose accent I adored, even if I wasn't obsessed with his performance). I'd like to read the updated edition that came out in 2022 as a physical copy to see what else I could gain!

As a whole, it was an interesting book, just not one that I would find myself recommending endlessly as I have with Matt's other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Misogyny

Moderate: Physical abuse and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts

satsukiq's review

funny hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Violence, and War

bash5617's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders

vikidoki's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Sexual assault and Violence

meetmeinthebookstore's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Mental illness

therobinjoyce's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Fantastically gripping and moving. Matt Haig has a way with the written word that both informs and invokes emotion from his readers. How to stop time is no different. Following the story of Tom throughout his century long lives and the interesting perspective of seeing his past self alongside his current life was a thrilling and intriguing way to relate his story. This book is such a. Brilliant tale of life and humanity, and a beautiful read for absolutely anyone.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization

lilacsophie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Self harm

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders