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shay43geek's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
kimveach's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
This was a quirky and strange story, but I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Sexism, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Violence, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
aileron's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Racial slurs, and Grief
Minor: Slavery, War, Cannibalism, Animal death, Colonisation, Genocide, Misogyny, and Sexism
m_a_j's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Gun violence
Moderate: Racism and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs and Genocide
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Slavery, Drug use, Sexual content, Colonisation, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Suicidal thoughts
carla20's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Racism, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Racial slurs
Minor: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Animal death, Self harm, and Xenophobia
coffeekitaab's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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
3.5
Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest unedited review.
The "Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley is "A time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingeniously constructed exploration of the nature of truth and power and the potential for love to change it."
The plot centres around a biracial British-Cambodian translator who is employed by the Ministry of Time, becoming one of 4 other officers responsible for facilitating the integration of historical figures into the modern day world. Specifically, she is assigned to manage Commander Graham Gore, who was part of the failed Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1847.
The story follows a genre-bending tale that seamlessly merges elements of romantic comedy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction. Central to the plot is a slow-burning romance that addresses and explores topics such as colonialism, slavery, inherited trauma, and racial identity within the narrative.
With the amalgamation of the two worlds, the historical figures from the past acclimatising to present day, there were so many moments where I would burst out into laughter at their bemusement, curiosity an often shock at just how much the world had changed from how they once knew it.
As the story progresses it does take on a more introspective tone and reflects poignantly on life and society.
The use of characters to bring sensitive issues to the fore was well handled and not preachy/crude in any way. The characters all felt relateable, their motivations and apprehensions were understandable and I love how they were fleshed out in the book - Margaret and Arthur, despite supporting characters made up some of my favourite moments in the book.
The aspects I struggled with was the background/history. Although in this book, it is basic education and readers can read up on it, from a purely subjective POV, where I did not have previous knowledge of the event/an understanding of the consequences, it felt like some concepts of the book went over my head and would feel jarring. The dual timeline with Gore during the Expedition made for great and valuable.insight into the experienc of the character but again, sometimes disrupted the flow of the book for me.
Overall, this was such a delightful read and at no point did I want to put it down. "The Ministry of Time" does not disappoint and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys time-travel, romantic comedy, with a underlying tone of substance and reflection. It definitely made for a hilarious and yet thought-provoking read. I applaud Bradley on a fantastic debut!
The "Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley is "A time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingeniously constructed exploration of the nature of truth and power and the potential for love to change it."
The plot centres around a biracial British-Cambodian translator who is employed by the Ministry of Time, becoming one of 4 other officers responsible for facilitating the integration of historical figures into the modern day world. Specifically, she is assigned to manage Commander Graham Gore, who was part of the failed Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1847.
The story follows a genre-bending tale that seamlessly merges elements of romantic comedy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction. Central to the plot is a slow-burning romance that addresses and explores topics such as colonialism, slavery, inherited trauma, and racial identity within the narrative.
With the amalgamation of the two worlds, the historical figures from the past acclimatising to present day, there were so many moments where I would burst out into laughter at their bemusement, curiosity an often shock at just how much the world had changed from how they once knew it.
As the story progresses it does take on a more introspective tone and reflects poignantly on life and society.
The use of characters to bring sensitive issues to the fore was well handled and not preachy/crude in any way. The characters all felt relateable, their motivations and apprehensions were understandable and I love how they were fleshed out in the book - Margaret and Arthur, despite supporting characters made up some of my favourite moments in the book.
The aspects I struggled with was the background/history. Although in this book, it is basic education and readers can read up on it, from a purely subjective POV, where I did not have previous knowledge of the event/an understanding of the consequences, it felt like some concepts of the book went over my head and would feel jarring. The dual timeline with Gore during the Expedition made for great and valuable.insight into the experienc of the character but again, sometimes disrupted the flow of the book for me.
Overall, this was such a delightful read and at no point did I want to put it down. "The Ministry of Time" does not disappoint and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys time-travel, romantic comedy, with a underlying tone of substance and reflection. It definitely made for a hilarious and yet thought-provoking read. I applaud Bradley on a fantastic debut!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Gun violence, Animal death, Death, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, and Slavery
gasperyjacques's review against another edition
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Sceptre for the review copy of this audiobook.
The narrator is a British civil servant employed as a "bridge" to Graham Gore, who was a real person and member of the disastrous Franklin expedition, as part of a secretive mission to supposedly test if a group of "expats" can survive for 1 year under close supervision then eventually assimilate into modern Britain.
I loved Graham and the other “expat” characters! I was moved by the sense of community which developed between these time travellers (or kidnapping victims, depending on your perspective), and how they each explored what the 21st century could offer them. All from wildly different eras but forced together by the Ministry, they felt fully alive to me with hilarious idiosyncrasies and I cried over them more than once.
Unfortunately the actual plot fell short of my expectations. There were a lot of truly delightful surprises throughout but too many sudden twists in the last few chapters that were random, confusing, or both.
Ultimately the biggest disappointment was the romance - I enjoyed the slow burn and their friendship but towards the end of the book I just couldn’t root for the narrator and Graham to stay together.
The narrator was also bizarrely incurious about the Ministry's machinations, and since she barely wondered why or how the British government had graciously saved these characters from certain death in their own time periods I found it was a struggle to even care myself or fully understand once I finally got to the hurriedly revealed answer.
This book is being marketed as “a time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy” but it doesn’t successfully juggle all those genres.
I still recommend The Ministry of Time, because some of the characters were unbelievably fun and I can't remember the last time I laughed this much while reading a book, but if you’re mainly looking for a spy thriller then you might be disappointed by this.
The narrator is a British civil servant employed as a "bridge" to Graham Gore, who was a real person and member of the disastrous Franklin expedition, as part of a secretive mission to supposedly test if a group of "expats" can survive for 1 year under close supervision then eventually assimilate into modern Britain.
I loved Graham and the other “expat” characters! I was moved by the sense of community which developed between these time travellers (or kidnapping victims, depending on your perspective), and how they each explored what the 21st century could offer them. All from wildly different eras but forced together by the Ministry, they felt fully alive to me with hilarious idiosyncrasies and I cried over them more than once.
Unfortunately the actual plot fell short of my expectations. There were a lot of truly delightful surprises throughout but too many sudden twists in the last few chapters that were random, confusing, or both.
Ultimately the biggest disappointment was the romance - I enjoyed the slow burn and their friendship but towards the end of the book I just couldn’t root for the narrator and Graham to stay together.
The narrator was also bizarrely incurious about the Ministry's machinations, and since she barely wondered why or how the British government had graciously saved these characters from certain death in their own time periods I found it was a struggle to even care myself or fully understand once I finally got to the hurriedly revealed answer.
This book is being marketed as “a time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy” but it doesn’t successfully juggle all those genres.
I still recommend The Ministry of Time, because some of the characters were unbelievably fun and I can't remember the last time I laughed this much while reading a book, but if you’re mainly looking for a spy thriller then you might be disappointed by this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Racism
Minor: Genocide and Murder
jerichamacie's review against another edition
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexism
ivi_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Quick, fun, surface-level read!
It starts out refreshingly funny while at the same time trying to tackle a lot of subjects along the way and only skimming the surface in my opinion (subjects are among others: integration of time travelers and their settling into their new environment, office politics, racism, misogny, refugees, romance). I wish the book had focused on 1-2 subjects and explored them more deeply and struck a better balance between funny and sad/serious.
If you are looking for a serious account of how time travelers would settle into a new time that has evolved massively from a technology and societal standards standpoint, this is not the best pick. But if you're looking for a book that does something new and genre-defying and features different writing styles, give it a try!
As a side note: I loved the short stories at the beginning of each chapter that described the Arctic exporation. I learned so many new things about these expeditions. It also shows the writing talent of the author since it's written in a very different tone as the rest of the book
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book
It starts out refreshingly funny while at the same time trying to tackle a lot of subjects along the way and only skimming the surface in my opinion (subjects are among others: integration of time travelers and their settling into their new environment, office politics, racism, misogny, refugees, romance). I wish the book had focused on 1-2 subjects and explored them more deeply and struck a better balance between funny and sad/serious.
If you are looking for a serious account of how time travelers would settle into a new time that has evolved massively from a technology and societal standards standpoint, this is not the best pick. But if you're looking for a book that does something new and genre-defying and features different writing styles, give it a try!
As a side note: I loved the short stories at the beginning of each chapter that described the Arctic exporation. I learned so many new things about these expeditions. It also shows the writing talent of the author since it's written in a very different tone as the rest of the book
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Death, Xenophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs
Minor: War