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4.0 AVERAGE

mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

7,5/10 - 3,75/5 good book but also nothing too special.
I think this is a book where I can't even say that much.
It was short and a pretty unusual read. The worldbuilding was really mysterious and you don't understand that much about how the time travel works or why it's even happening, just that red and blue are from vastly different uhh, places and they're trying to outsmart each other until they fall for each other.

The love was really beautiful and intense.
I liked the progression, it happened quick but also not?? It just made sense and suddenly they were madly in love. The way they sent each other letters despite their circumstances and the letters, they were so beautiful. I really liked that.

While I didn't mind the mysterious world (the book was way too short for worldbuilding) I have to say that whenever the current place they were at was described i was a bit confused and couldn't really get into the setting.

This was also the type of time travel story that I like, which is the one where everything has already happened. Right from the start I was intrigued by the seeker and what the hell it was doing, why it was acting so weirdly.
At some point i guessed it was one of the two and later that it was red but I still really liked how it all played into the whole picture.
When blue died I was sobbing so hard, probably also because I just had watched a bury your gays movie and I can handle only so much queer suffering. Her coming back was a relief but i have to say because it was “unclear” while simultaneously very clear that she would come back it somehow didn't hit as hard??
And the end was disappointing, i wish they would've met up at least once that wasn't when blue was “dead”.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This Is How You Lose the Time War is how you write enemies-to-lovers. The yearning here is sharp and beautiful, stretched not just across people but across timelines, ideologies, and whole worlds. Where books like Madonna in a Fur Coat or White Nights show human longing, this one takes it further—turning that longing into something cosmic.
What struck me most is how little the war itself matters. We’re barely told what it’s about, and honestly, it doesn’t matter. The battles, the factions, even the time travel mechanics fade into the background. What stays is the intimacy of two people finding each other through letters—letters that start as taunts and become lifelines.
But this book isn’t for everyone. It’s abstract, more poetry than plot at times. If you want clear answers—how time travel works, why the war exists—you won’t find them here. What you will find is a story about love surviving when nothing else does.
For me, that was enough. More than enough. It’s the best love story I’ve read all year, and one that lingers because it reminds me: love, not war, is what endures.
adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book—I, I... it’s gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. The epistolary format is beautifully heart-wrenching, and in the anachronistic chaos of the narrative structure, these “letters” pin down the complicated map of this world and the character’s emotions. If it would be possible to highlight the entire book and quote it on Goodreads, I would. Each sentence is a work of art, and the adjective-adverb-phrasing-syntax-pacing combines in a kind of masterful dessert that only a true chef could bake. I want to re-devour this book and identify each ingredient individually, but a masterpiece like this is best consumed in a few, glorious bites, isn’t it? Suffice to say, if you write me letters like this, my heart is yours. Too bad the book already did.
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

AHHHHHHH !!!!!!
emotional mysterious fast-paced
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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