Reviews with content warning for Violence - This Is How You Lose the Time War

This was one of the best reading experiences I had this year. Red and Blue are time operatives for two different races. Both are pitted against each other. They enter into a cat and mouse chase. The intertwining of the two and their timelines was amazing. I will say that the writing is pretty flowery,which tracks, because one of the two authors is a poet. So, for me, I had to read this in the book and listen to the audiobook at the same time to understand what was going on at the beginning . After a couple of chapters though, I was good. I kept immersion reading because I enjoyed it. All in all, this book was utterly fascinating.

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bloomingbookworm's review

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Incredibly difficult to follow and understand. The war and two different sides are never explained. There is also no distinguishable differences between the two characters, writing style wise or even emotionally, which made it hard to remember which character’s point of view you were reading. You only get one brief physical description of one of the characters midway through the book, so I couldn’t even visualize the characters in my head. Adding half a star because I did enjoy some of the metaphors, however the purple prose didn’t make up for the lack of world building and character development. If you like ambiguity and books that are up to interpretation, you might enjoy this book, but it wasn’t for me.

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maddiearthur's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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jen3699's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I loved it and I'm recommending it. It's short but a masterpiece. Every minute of this is used to create this beautiful love story. I love it.

The end is my favourite. It's crafted so beautifully and with such dedication.

The idea of a love that you take into your being so literally, unconsciously and consciously. The type of love that consumes you and remakes you into something new for you and your partner. Beautiful.

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monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

Characters: 10/10
Relationships: 10/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 9.5/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 9.5/10
Internal Logic: 10/10
Entertainment: 10/10
Overall: 68/70, 5*

I love epistolary novels, quantum time travel plots, and messy star crossed sapphic romances, so I figured from the get that I'd be really into this. and I was! I especially loved the ways the characters spoke with one another across timelines, and gave context for themselves as individuals, within their respective collective experiences, and within their shared relationship over time(s). the writing about writing was also really fun! there are definitely moments that delve into disturbing themes and events, but for the most part I found the tone stayed hopeful in belief for better circumstances.

it's definitely something I need to relisten to (I feel like I missed a lot in my first run thru due to the narrative bouncing around quite a lot), but I'm so excited to revisit it!

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book_benagachi's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

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

2.0

Smart, poetic and definitely a romance in that I don't feel like I have any real Idea of who each woman is or why they think they're in love with each other. Also, it doesn't actually show us how you lose the time was. Totally not for me. If you like smart references, poetic writing and zero character depth this is totally for you.

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kajoreads's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It took me a while to get emotionally invested, which isn’t ideal when the book is only 200 pages long.

The last third was worth the wait though.

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holliscsmith's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

wow, this is beautiful. I'm not a big fan of scifi so I was skeptical in the beginning but the connection between Blue and Red really drew me in! Highly recommend to all types of readers :)

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