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

Enemy forces battled for the control of a world. Both sides had operatives with the ability to travel through time to change events, which could lead to success for their side. Two of these warriors, Red and Blue, had crossed paths many times working to get events in their favor. Each knew the pattern and style of the other when they came across their work. One day, Red found a hidden letter written to her by Blue. Blue wanted to congratulate her on the changes she made in the twists of time. Blue enjoyed her work more knowing she had a worthy rival. Red left her own message for Blue to find in the threads of time. The letters continued. Eventually, they revealed more and more about themselves and started to feel differently about their enemy. Unfortunately, they were still fighting in a war. Their relationship was forbidden and discovery would mean the end for either of them.

This was such an interesting story. Each of the two authors wrote a character. They made a general outline of how they wanted the storyline to flow. One wrote their character’s part and then passed it to the other for them to respond. I loved the creativity of the world the writers created. Red’s world was one of machines and was dark. Blue’s world was full of nature and light. Red and Blue found ingenious ways to hide their missives from others. Their letters showed the progression from taunts and admiration of skills to an eventual declaration of feeling. Their writings to each other were poetic and engaging. I enjoyed following them on their journey. It was an entertaining novel.

Content Warnings

violerwolf's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This book wasn’t for me. The prose can be so purposefully opaque that it renders parts of the book barely understandable. And while I’m sure that some people enjoy that, personally I think that no matter how cerebral a book is, you should be able to imagine what the characters are doing when the author describes simple actions.

Content Warnings

taryn_g's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

Content Warnings

chris_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

aryelee's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

What a book! This was such a gorgeous story about love shining through a never ending, all consuming war. It's the Romeo and Juliet narrative set in space and time among beings that are not human but are still painfully alive. It's choosing each other! It's reaching out, reaching back, going from taunts and an opportunity to enjoy a little fun in the dullness of the same war always fought over and over, and the slow change to wanting more, wanting each other, connecting with the enemy who is more similar to them than the leaders crying for blood and victory.

The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because this is more sci-fi than suits my tastes, which is expected because I am not a huge fan of sci-fi and pretty much never read this genre. Parts were a little confusing or slow enough to be dull so I struggled to get through. But that ending! That entire closing section of the story! Well worth pushing through slower parts to reach.

Honestly, this was a fast read despite how slow it felt at times and how I had to drag myself through a few chapters. Knowing the story fully now, I can see myself going back to reread it. Just, maybe not for a while.

Content Warnings

blumoonie's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

it took me such a goddamn long time to finish this book because I had surgery… I’ll pretend that was it.

I was deeply impressed by the end, when I could look back and appreciate all the foreshadowing. The prose, too, was unlike anything I’ve ever read— poetic, leaving plenty of space for the reader to comprehend imagery and plot on their own. this was, unfortunately, the single drawback of this novel… it was a struggle for me to read in my anaesthesia-induced state; I would sit puzzling over single sentences for hours. That said, now that I’ve been able to approach it with a clear head, I can enjoy the style much more. I’d recommend this to anyone who’s into timey-whimey sci-fi topped off with queer romanticism and a sprinkle of mystery.

Content Warnings

mallorypen's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.0

This was a different sort of book, and I enjoyed it in a different sort of way.

Let me explain.

The epistolary style of storytelling isn't usually my jam, but in this novella - holy shit it works. This is the epitome of Yearning™️ in the more pure fashion, where our protagonists are in love with each other's minds before and above all else. Their physical forms are important - especially in the finale of the plot - but they change. As such, there is no lust in the traditional sense. There's no bodily awareness, no burning glances. There's pretty much only admiration for one another's cunning and hunger, and that turn from admiring rivals to a victorious Romeo and Juliet was incredibly well told.

Speaking of Romeo and Juliet: that detail where Red sees the play in different strands and sometimes it's a tragedy and sometimes it's a comedy - how clever that this novella is an example of the story as a comedy (Shakespeare version, not the Taylor Tomlinson version of comedy).

The strand concept reminded me favorably of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Changing Planes" - we didn't have to learn a lot about each thread, but the level of detail that was shared was enough to ground the reader in each setting. Whereas "Changing Planes" only jumped through time and not also space, this still felt relatively easy to follow as the protagonists moved from location to location.

I initially thought that the Seeker was Red and Blue following up on each other for safety - I didn't guess the twist until towards the end when Red started putting her plan in place.

This was a lovely, lyrical experience. Like one of the letters themselves admitted that the prose had a tendency to turn purple, there were a few times where it got a little syrupy for me. That said, I enjoyed the hell out of the unique turns of phrase throughout. Especially - and I had to stop to record it because it was so good - "Adventure works in any strand. It calls to those who care more about living than their lives.”

Good shit!

Content Warnings

More...