Reviews tagging 'Violence'

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

432 reviews

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this book about a year ago, and it is an excellently made audiobook. The story is as brutal, as visceral, as beautiful as I remember. I love returning to Red and Blue over and over again. 
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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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__adrianwalker's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Now knowing the ending I think I would have enjoyed the book more knowing how it ended before I started...

Ending Spoilers:
Knowing that Red and Blue's lives were so intertwined makes this book more enjoyable once you are in the last twenty or so pages, but I felt like I missed out on so much subtext because I was unaware of the "time loop" they find themselves in. Not sure If that was a fault of mine as a reader or if the authors did not effectively communicate that.
With a book set in such a seemingly rich fantasy world, I wished the book could have slowed more to explore the aspects of time travel and the setting more than the brief, surface level glimpses we get throughout Red and Blue's letters. The world, and the character's relationship with one another, feel rushed and unfinished. I love the idea behind this book but it did not capture me in the ways I wanted it to, and my confusion kept me from enjoying what was on the page.
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camila_v's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring 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

I love this book so damn much. The prose is so beautiful and so funny. Sometimes I would feel totally lost in the settings of each century/dimension, but even that was enjoyable.
I wish I could read this again
The ending is hopeful enough to not give me severe depression por a month.
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naiu_cs's review against another edition

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

4.5

Why would you do this to me?
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valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hazeleyeddreamer's review against another edition

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

4.75

I will say I read the last 50 pages on the couch at midnight because I needed to know what happened and the ending was not satisfying. I usually don't mind an ambiguous ending but this did not work for me. They haven't even really met by the end of the book. If you're going to give me enemies to lovers, we're betraying our government and everything we've ever known for each other you need to show me the future they create together. This book is all about two organizations battling over the outcome of the future and obviously both are massively flawed. You can't write a book all about the future and then not show me the future. Show me them holed out in a little pocket of time of their own making, the Garden and the Agency still battling each other and still looking for Red and Blue, but it doesn't matter because they have each other. Show me them dismantling the Agency and the Garden and building a new better future that acknowledges the flaws and benefits of both societies because who better than their own agents to know their defects, who better to know how to win a time war than those who know how to lose a time war.

Obviously this is not to say that this isn't a good book or it's not worth reading. It's an amazing book. Very plentiful with topics for literary or academic discussion and just generally an insightful and well done book, the kind of book that makes me say "damn I'm never going to write something as good as this. How do you write like that?"
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antijeffbozo_love2read's review against another edition

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

4.75

I mostly wish it was longer!! But yeahh it wouldn't have really worked if it was. The world building is so intriguing I kinda wish we got to learn more as I was left with a few unanswered questions (major spoilers!!!!:)
(like why does Red from the future (the seeker) follow Red to places/times where letters weren't exchanged? Also how did Blue know Red's real name?

I was so invested and interested the whole time though it was a super fun read (although I definitely needed peace and quiet to be able to comprehend some of that language lol)
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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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

3.0

🎧
I heard good things on about this book on social media. For me, this book was alright. I spent the first part confused. 
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austenite93's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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