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Saturday 3 February 2018

Review: How to Stop Time

How to Stop Time How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This well-written story ponders the question of immortality and how you would cope if you knew you would outlive anyone you loved (and whether or not you should dare to love at all). It's certainly compelling and I'd feel bad about giving it anything less than four stars but I sometimes struggle to like it. I am not quite sure why to be honest.

Firstly, and this isn't Haig's fault, I am bit fed up of reading a male voice. Most of the books I've read so far this year have been by men and/or had male protagonists so I am now a bit desperate for a female voice. Plus, again this isn't Haigh's fault, I've seen the book described as "literary fiction" in some places. There's no way it would be described as that if the author had been female. I think Haig the other day was saying something on Twitter about literary fiction being a meaningless term - which is a fair point - but it's annoying that a book gets a bit more respect because the author happens to be male.

Finally, and this is Haig's doing, I feel a tad manipulated. That the book has been crafted to tick certain boxes about what makes a good book - likeable protagonist you can identify with, interesting idea, and a few profound insights into life. The result is that while I can admire it and can't find anything to criticise, I am not able to say I love it or be that eager to recommend it to someone else.


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