Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

85 reviews

fkshg8465's review

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Confused about all the hype. It was a good story, though I somewhat disliked the way it was told as well as a few of the characters. Would’ve been ok if I’d never read this book. I mean, it wasn’t inspiring or provocative or poignant or exciting. It was an ok book. So why ask the frenzy? I feel like I’m missing something…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

anikataylor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have never read anything like this before in my life but I am so glad I decided to pick it up. The writing style and pace of the book are very different from what I’ve ever seen. But I loved it. The plot was very original and the twist was surprising. I felt as though the romance was well done and focused on just enough to not lose sight of the main story. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would happily read another by this author. My only bone to pick is: why does our main character not have a name!?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Violence, and Vomit

cheyanne111222's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Medical content, and War

Minor: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Deportation

shred's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

alanahcw's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

2.5

 This one wasn't for me. I liked the premise but I couldn't get fully into it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and War

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to like this book SO bad! Graham Gore is a commander for the British Navy who after getting lost in an Arctic expedition gets taken to present day Britain by The Ministry of Time. The main character (who apparently doesn't have a name??? wtf) works as the bridge between Gore and modern day culture and concepts. The issue with this book is %100 the writing and characters. The concept of this book is incredible and if it achieved what it promised this would probably be my favorite book of the year. Unfortunately, this was not only unromantic, unfunny, and boring but it was also so confusing. Gore shows more interest in his best friend Arthur than he does the FMC. They have less than zero chemistry together and it baffles me that she spends like most of the book basically writing in her diary about how handsome he is and how she loves him. He basically only ever talks to her like a roommate even when they hookup. Gore was the most well developed and yet he still fell so flat as a character. The FMC was a one dimensional follower and never decided anything on her own. I was rooting for the bad guys at the end. I fucking hate that I didn't like this book but its just so poorly written it was basically mental torture to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dreadspawn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Drug use, Genocide, and Cannibalism

slinkmalink's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought it was very interesting to tell the story from the perspective of a protagonist who does not care - or does not want - to work out the mystery happening around her, while as the reader you obviously see each clue and want to know how it fits together. Usually I'm not drawn to books where the main characters are not good people, but she was a very interesting character and I found myself thinking all the way through 'if you'd done this instead', 'if you'd handled that differently', which is in large part the point. 
I really found the ways they talked about belonging and marginalisation interesting, and particularly the ways Simellia talked to her about her becoming part of the system and that following through with all her choices.

while I assumed Adela was from the future, I didn't guess she'd be her, it was interesting that she was on a different but still not good timeline

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Sexual content

emilywemily6's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

Eh. This book was SO SLOW that it made it hard to enjoy. And I was kind of disappointed by this book. The time travel science was very superficial and not well thought out, the romance lacked chemistry or tension so I couldn’t root for the couple, the sex scenes were awkward, and the main character was impersonal and bland. The anachronism of Graham and the other expats in the 21st century were interesting to read about but got a little old. I also felt unsatisfied with how this particular timeline turned out and the reasons why.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Racial slurs, and Medical content

eatingfiction's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

 I love time travel fiction, but I also hate it because it's so very rarely done in a way I enjoy. This book doesn't crack it.

I think the right reader will love this book. It certainly wasn't me. I don't typically like romance novels or literary fiction, both of which is what this book falls under. It's science fiction too, yes, but if you removed the sci-fi element entirely you'd have a very similar book. The time travel element is more like seasoning than an ingredient. And the romance failed in that I was not rooting for the couple at all.

The writing is easy to digest, the historical elements are fascinating, and the characters are well-developed. Granted, they're awful characters, but there is purpose to that. The ending of the book brought a few twists and revelations that gave intentionality to the writing choices. It was still painful while reading, but it made the conclusion very satisfying.

Our time travelers from the past did not entirely convince me of their supposed origins. They're pulled from their original timelines to spend the majority of page time wandering around present-day London, asking questions about modern society, and riding bikes. It's quite dull. Whenever something interesting started to develop it would cut short so our Victorian Gentleman could discover some other modern invention (sponsored by spotify).
We read from the POV of one of the workers in the Ministry of Time, who is essentially a time traveller babysitter. She's self-obsessed, bored with life and lacking in empathy. Her internal monologuing was grating at times, but mostly just boring. I think this is a me problem. I fully accept responsibility for not having the right expectations for this book. BUT I STILL HATED IT!

The very end of the book tried to end on a hopeful note. But after themes of the darkness of humanity and people in power, the inevitability of our self destruction, war and climate change, it fell flat. Every decision you make matters except it doesn't. Time is hope and sunshine and rainbows and forgiveness. The world of this book is miserable, and the positive uptick at the end felt completely ingenuine.



One day I'll read a time travel book that I like 💚 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Cannibalism and War