Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Así se pierde la guerra del tiempo

If you like this book (and I know a lot of people really do), don’t take my disappointment as an indication that you’re wrong to feel the way you do. I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I just didn’t.

Red and Blue make purple, and this prose sure is purple. Every. Single. Sentence. Is trying so hard to be poetic and deep. Metaphors are great and all but this is just too saturated with them to make any real sense. The characters and their relationship didn't feel especially substantive to me. I like the combination of spirituality and science fiction and there’s some neat imagery here and there, but for the most part I found This Is How You Lose the Time War to be a confusing mess and nothing more.

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hmatt's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Heavy caveat on this review: I think some people will really like this book, but for me it fell pretty flat. A lot of what I didn't like about it came down to stylistic choices.

I think the big killer for my engagement in the storyline was the writing. It was too flowery for my taste and left me wanting more details. I know that as the reader I was supposed to kind of be carried on the mystery and fleetingness of the prose, but it just didn't allow me to get to know the characters well enough. This led to a complete lack of investment in the stakes, and I honestly ended up not caring about the central (/only) plot arc. I couldn't picture what was happening and so I couldn't fully grasp the story.

NGL, had this been a longer book, I likely would have DNF'ed. I do think it's short enough that it's worth giving a chance, though - most readers will know pretty quickly whether the style works for them. I also listened to the audiobook, which may have contributed to my utter confusion at parts when I truly could not figure out what was happening. Honestly. It's a 4 hr 15 min long book, I listened at 1.25x speed, and my reading app tells me it still took 6 hr 21 min to finish the book. It's fricken challenging. This was the closest reading experience I've had that could compare with viewing a piece of absurdist art - another aspect that I think some readers will love, but wasn't for me.

TL;DR this book made me feel dumb but not in a good way.

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bectothebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

A beautiful Sapphic love story. Sci-fi Romeo & Juliet vibes. Immaculate.

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anniereads221's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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mmlowj's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

The story is lyrically written and impossible to put down.

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strange_little_ranger's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

5.0

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li_reading's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"I like you to know, with my words in your mouth, the places and ways in which I think of you."

If you ever need a reason to believe in love again, read this book.

Alternatively, if you ever want to spend hours staring at the ceiling lamenting the fact you are not a lethal otherworldly being exchanging ~~love letters~~ threats with your equally lethal, equally otherworldly opponent... Read this book.

It is in and of itself a love letter to language. There is not a line within its pages I do not adore.
And, my proof:

I tab with navy if, and only if, a line makes me stop dead, makes me think "holy shit.", demands that I read it 10 times over before I can move on. I use them sparingly. I used 18. In a book with not so much as 200 pages.

Read this book and mourn the fact you will never again read a love letter this beautiful.

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