Reviews

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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autumnalia's review against another edition

4.0

This was really good. I wanted more depth from the MC and less cleverness. And there was a weird sort of gap, I felt, or a lack of harmonization between her internal monologue and her outward convos, behaviors, etc. I also found some parts of the governmental intrigue a bit clumsy and slapdash.

That said, I couldn’t put this book down. Maggie was the best character hands down. Graham and Arthur follow closely. The characterization of Graham, a man out of time, was brilliantly done. All in all, don’t miss this one.

amlizanich's review against another edition

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funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

alexandramariealley's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Listen, I'm not a sci-fi girlie, but I wanted to branch out from my go-to genre (romance)--and this was said to have some romance so I thought it was a good starting point.

Maybe it's just because I don't read this genre often, but I found the first two-thirds so hard to get into. There are only 10 chapters (plus a few pages before each that give an account from Graham's perspective), and they're LONG, which made it feel like it was taking forever to get through. Sometimes it got hard to follow plot-wise, but that's only partly because of the long chapters and mostly because I'm not a sci-fi girlie.

That being said, I really liked the characters--especially Graham and Maggie--though I found the narrator kind of felt a bit like an unreliable narrator at times (though maybe that was the point?). And I was genuinely surprised by a few of the plot twists at the end!

TLDR: I didn't dislike it, but it's not something I'll reread. Chapters were too long, but really liked the characters.

Content Warnings

jenna_troppman's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious 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? No

3.5

ammey68's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.0

ayari10's review against another edition

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3.75

I liked a lot of this book but I didn't love it. I couldn't connect with the main character and found the romance icky and uncomfortable. But it's ambitious and complicated in a way I enjoyed. I guess what I struggled with the most is that I'm not sure what the message was.