Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

93 reviews

fishreads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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A wonderfully, poetically written story about love, longing, and introspection.

An intriguing debut novel, with obvious self insterts by the author and an unusual obsession with an obscure Arctic explorer (but who am I to judge anyone’s obsessions?). This was the second book I reserved at the library, and I had to wait a month to get my hands on it. (I'm still waiting in line for the first one.) Although I can’t remember why I placed the reservation, it must have been because this novel was voted Readers' Favorite Science Fiction at the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards.

My point is that, in terms of sci-fi, I would classify this novel as "sci-fi light." It didn’t exactly fulfill my sci-fi cravings.

Still, I found myself mesmerized by the unusual metaphors and the quiet longing between the two main characters, although I wouldn't exactly call it a romance either. What I appreciated most about this story weren’t the advertised themes of romance and sci-fi, but the careful examination of contemporary issues like the modern workplace and present-day racism, which I found quite insightful.

This wasn’t the perfect story, and I feel slightly melancholic about that because it seems like the author was so close to writing a truly poignant one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racism, Cannibalism, Murder

Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, Slavery, War

nothingelsefits's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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: Complicated

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I loved the different perspective on how it would actually feel to travel through time. 
And I appreciated Kaliane using full artistic licence on a few words. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Cannibalism, Colonisation

unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I loved this book. The wry narrative style had me instantly hooked, and the infinitely varied, complex characters soon drew me in even deeper. The author shows immense dexterity in handling the tonal slalom between bloody and brutal scenes with moments of aching tenderness. The writing does leave the reader to put in some work; occasionally I found sections hard to follow, as the author leaves a fair few things off the page as ambiguous or unresolved. Those choices do make sense against the wider narrative approach and thematic exploration of truth and immutability, but this was a minor drawback for me as I find inference in fiction tricky to follow. Overall, this is a book rich in emotion, excitement and provocation; I'll sit for a good long while with the line that "It can get better, but you must allow yourself to imagine a world in which you are better." 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia

avasbookmark's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Slavery

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-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: Yes

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I've been hearing about this book forever, and I'm so glad I finally got to it. It's hard to describe it - it's a combination workplace comedy, love story, time travel adventure, and spy thriller - but it's great fun all the way through. The narrator tells us early on not to get too wrapped up in trying to figure out the logistics of the time travel situation, and that's helpful so you just go along for the ride. The characters are hilarious and full of pathos, and our main character is deeply flawed and yet deeply lovable. This book takes on colonialism, state-sponsored violence, believing you are part of the solution when instead you are integral to the problem itself, forcing your ideas of how people should be on them, what history really means, and if it's possible to actually make a difference. It does all things while being very funny, endearing, and compulsively readable. I loved this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, War

Minor: Sexual harassment

tbd24's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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come for the historical (kinda) workplace (kinda) romance, stay for the ripping good plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Alcohol

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Death of parent

raptorq's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

lenouveau17's review against another edition

2.25

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism

Minor: Animal death, Suicide

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-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: Yes

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This book manages to be somehow incredibly fluffy and comforting, and yet intensely sharp and challenging at the same time. Bradley uses the notion of time travel to hold up a mirror to institutions, cycles, complacency, and identity, maintaining an endearing sense of humor and a shocking degree of behavioral awareness throughout. With a debut this strong, I will certainly be keeping an eye on her work to come!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Slavery, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Colonisation