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Reviews tagging 'Self harm'
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
37 reviews
brynalexa's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
I had been saving this book for a time when I could focus since I’d kept reading reviews that claimed this was confusing. I am so sorry I waited because it was perfectly paced, had perfectly subtle word building, and just enough mystery. I kept thinking “oh it should have ended there!” And then reading one more section and saying it again.
Content Warnings
Minor: War, Self harm, Stalking, Body horror, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts
clementine9's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
It's an enemies-to-lovers story in the most wonderfully tense, forbidden-love kind of way. It's immensely satisfying to see very different people become more and more curious about each other's lives and thoughts. The pacing of this book is beautiful. The first "I love you" spills out in an overflowing deluge after being held back behind the dam for so long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Self harm, and War
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Suicide attempt
q_bert13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
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
4.5
An interestingly arranged story of correspondence between two alien agents of opposing forces. Not plot heavy at all- chapters include little increments of world building/action, and end with a letter addressed from one mc to the other. A quick, possibly at times confusing read- but overall super enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Violence, Death, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, and War
Moderate: Stalking, Genocide, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Colonisation, Body shaming, and Sexual content
twistykris's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
A beautiful novella that tells a love story through letters over time travel. So much of this left my brain feeling like it was melting- I'm not super familiar with reading this genre of like, "poetic, high sci-fi", but the love story was just so captivating to me.
This will definitely require a re-read in the future, so I can really absorb the setting the next time around.
This will definitely require a re-read in the future, so I can really absorb the setting the next time around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Violence, Death, Blood, and Animal death
Moderate: Torture, War, and Body horror
the_bees_books's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
An amazing piece of time-travelling scifi, centered around two characters called Red and Blue, that begin as rivals and end as something so much more than that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Suicide, War, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Self harm
nannahnannah's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
This is one of the most original novels I've ever read, and it's definitely the best romance novel I've ever read. I'm not a huge fan of these, but if people write more like this one, I may just change my opinion.
Representation:
- both protagonists are sapphic
- one of the protagonists is a person of color
Two sides fight a war using time and potential futures, trying to win the best possible future for themselves. What begins as an agent from one side writing a mocking letter to another on the opposite side ends with both of them falling in love. But in this war in which winning means losing a love, is it possible to find a happy outcome?
I don't think I've ever read an epistolary novel … it gets a bit tedious, to be honest, but perhaps that's just because I'm not used to it. That said, I fell in love with the writing style(s) at the very first line. And there are some absolutely gorgeous lines, too — my favorite being "I want to meet you in every place I ever loved." The main characters also give us information about things, even about themselves, at a very satisfyingly slow rate. It's a good way to keep the interest up.
Another interesting thing about this book is the lack of any described setting, or not much of it. Another reviewer said it very well (and I can't remember who it was, sorry!): "We never get a setting, because the setting doesn't matter. This is, in essence, a pure romance book." What matters is not the war around them, but the relationship developing between these two agents themselves.
I do wish, however, that the two leads had more distinct voices. I don't doubt that they're two different people, Red being a robot or cyborg who's kind of stiff and not used to being social, and Blue being an organic shape-shifting creature with a sense of humor and a love for pop culture. But very little of this comes through the actual language of the letters themselves. I don't think I could tell their voices apart if I was shown an example (which is funny, because each author wrote a different character — they work really well together!).
Afterthoughts: after sitting on this for a couple months, I think one of the reasons people love this book so much is that apart from 2-3 character traits, the MCs don't really have fully fleshed personalities to distinguish them. In this way, it's easy to project onto them as a sort of wish fulfillment. And this isn't a criticism. Because this book is so unique, I think it works here.
Representation:
- both protagonists are sapphic
- one of the protagonists is a person of color
Two sides fight a war using time and potential futures, trying to win the best possible future for themselves. What begins as an agent from one side writing a mocking letter to another on the opposite side ends with both of them falling in love. But in this war in which winning means losing a love, is it possible to find a happy outcome?
I don't think I've ever read an epistolary novel … it gets a bit tedious, to be honest, but perhaps that's just because I'm not used to it. That said, I fell in love with the writing style(s) at the very first line. And there are some absolutely gorgeous lines, too — my favorite being "I want to meet you in every place I ever loved." The main characters also give us information about things, even about themselves, at a very satisfyingly slow rate. It's a good way to keep the interest up.
Another interesting thing about this book is the lack of any described setting, or not much of it. Another reviewer said it very well (and I can't remember who it was, sorry!): "We never get a setting, because the setting doesn't matter. This is, in essence, a pure romance book." What matters is not the war around them, but the relationship developing between these two agents themselves.
I do wish, however, that the two leads had more distinct voices. I don't doubt that they're two different people, Red being a robot or cyborg who's kind of stiff and not used to being social, and Blue being an organic shape-shifting creature with a sense of humor and a love for pop culture. But very little of this comes through the actual language of the letters themselves. I don't think I could tell their voices apart if I was shown an example (which is funny, because each author wrote a different character — they work really well together!).
Afterthoughts: after sitting on this for a couple months, I think one of the reasons people love this book so much is that apart from 2-3 character traits, the MCs don't really have fully fleshed personalities to distinguish them. In this way, it's easy to project onto them as a sort of wish fulfillment. And this isn't a criticism. Because this book is so unique, I think it works here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
lokes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
bloodbrooxv's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
this book opened my third eye, i have nothing else to say
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, War, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Rape, Suicide, and Animal death
Representation: wlw romanceamino's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
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
I would have claimed it was just shy of a five-star read had it not been for the fact that I’m going to go out and buy a paper copy to mark up and revisit in probably less than a week. I won’t lie, a lot of the content went over my head but the sentiments (like a lot of the letters) took hold of the very core of me in a way that made all of the feelings to come hurt both so good and so badly. I was close to crying many times and once I just had to give in. It may not be an easy book to recommend but I’ll be damned if I don’t sing its praises for as long as I can. God, this book really broke my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Self harm
wilybooklover's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
To be honest, I had no idea what was going on for the first half of this book. The world-building just throws you right into the deep-end and never really explains anything. It was actually kind of fun just figuring things out as the story moved along, almost like a mystery. The prose was so lyrical and poetic. The picture it paints of the scenery, of Blue and Red and their infinite love was just... sublime.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I'll write it in waves. In skies. In my heart. You'll never see, but you will know. I'll be all the poets, I'll kill them all and take each one's place in turn, and every time love's written in all the strands it will be to you.
At heart, this was a breathtaking epistolary love story set in some futuristic time-travelling version of earth. These heroines live out entire lifetimes just to leave each other a single letter. I hesitate to call it a romance, because there isn’t a HEA as such, but the ending is optimistic.
I was surprised that Red and Blue had such similar writing styles; given how Red was depicted, I expected a much more ascetic style of prose from her. But then we wouldn’t have had some of the gorgeous lines we got in here, so I can’t complain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Suicide and Rape