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adventurous
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Cannibalism, Murder
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I originally heard about this title through Book of the Month and was intrigued by the synopsis.
“The Ministry of Time” follows a civil servant who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to work within a newly formed government agency. The government has decided to take “expats” throughout history and bring them to present day, and it is this nameless civil servant’s job to help these people acclimate to life of the future. Her latest assignment is working with Graham Gore, a man from 1845 who has on a doomed arctic expedition.
This book was fine, but it took me a lot longer to get into than I was expecting. I was expecting a story about time travel to feel much more fast paced and hook my attention right away, but unfortunately it took me about half of the book to actually be interested in the characters, and by that point it had been too long for me to really form a relationship with the characters and care about what they were doing.
I think the author’s approach to time travel was fine. It is always a tricky situation to try and discuss time travel because it is so nuanced and it is very easy to get lost or get details wrong. I think the author tied up any loose ends about time travel well enough. There is one “reveal” that does make me question the validity of the time travel and if the ending is wrapped up as well as it seems to be presented.
The civil servant and Graham inevitably fall in love and it felt very unnecessary to me. I never felt like they had a lot of chemistry or really anything in common. It felt like they were forced to live together as part of this assignment and they decided to hook up because of proximity, not because they were each other’s great love through all of time and space.
If you are looking for a mild romance with a slight air of mystery, all centered around time travel, then I suppose this book might be for you!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Stalking
Minor: Cannibalism
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder
Minor: Cannibalism
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was interesting, then it was a slog, then somewhere along the way people spontaneously abandoned their morals (which they maybe never had in the first place?), then everything happened, and then I was left confuzzled. I think it wasn't my cup of tea because it was, in fact, a strange brand of coffee. The author used fun descriptors, though. "But the stars aren't eternal. Most were already dead, and I was looking at ghosts." That pretty much sums up how the ending made me feel. Maybe it's a happy ending. Maybe the main character is still delusional. I’m not even sure she knows at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Listen, I'm not a sci-fi girlie, but I wanted to branch out from my go-to genre (romance)--and this was said to have some romance so I thought it was a good starting point.
Maybe it's just because I don't read this genre often, but I found the first two-thirds so hard to get into. There are only 10 chapters (plus a few pages before each that give an account from Graham's perspective), and they're LONG, which made it feel like it was taking forever to get through. Sometimes it got hard to follow plot-wise, but that's only partly because of the long chapters and mostly because I'm not a sci-fi girlie.
That being said, I really liked the characters--especially Graham and Maggie--though I found the narrator kind of felt a bit like an unreliable narrator at times (though maybe that was the point?). And I was genuinely surprised by a few of the plot twists at the end!
TLDR: I didn't dislike it, but it's not something I'll reread. Chapters were too long, but really liked the characters.
Maybe it's just because I don't read this genre often, but I found the first two-thirds so hard to get into. There are only 10 chapters (plus a few pages before each that give an account from Graham's perspective), and they're LONG, which made it feel like it was taking forever to get through. Sometimes it got hard to follow plot-wise, but that's only partly because of the long chapters and mostly because I'm not a sci-fi girlie.
That being said, I really liked the characters--especially Graham and Maggie--though I found the narrator kind of felt a bit like an unreliable narrator at times (though maybe that was the point?). And I was genuinely surprised by a few of the plot twists at the end!
TLDR: I didn't dislike it, but it's not something I'll reread. Chapters were too long, but really liked the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Racism, Grief, Cannibalism
Minor: Misogyny, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The time travel in this book makes little sense. But that's okay, because it's simply a device to reach the point, which is less about time travel and more about people.
There are some very well-presented insights into culture and cultural transition. Some of my favourite parts of this book were when past and present attitudes were compared.
The pace was a bit off in the middle - lots of rehashing the same ground. But the end made up for it. A solid 4/5.
There are some very well-presented insights into culture and cultural transition. Some of my favourite parts of this book were when past and present attitudes were compared.
The pace was a bit off in the middle - lots of rehashing the same ground. But the end made up for it. A solid 4/5.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, War
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thought-provoking, challenging, and sad.
Some people have compared this to Outlander. It's really not- while Outlander tells the story of a woman from 1940s Britain adapting to 18th century Scotland and falling in love with someone who refuses to budge on his 18th century worldview, The Ministry of Time follows a woman from the near future helping a man from 19th century Britain adapt to modern life and challenge and change his 19th century worldview as they fall in love. Outlander is a historical romance with a dash of fantasy. This is literary science fiction with a dash of romance, and it is extremely political. It's a commentary on the consequences of rationalizing and blindly following orders and who has the privilege to be treated as a human. It's about the unparalleled power of hope to better the future. It is not lighthearted.
The book improves as it goes. The first half meanders around, a mess from a tonal perspective, jumping between silly scenes with characters from the past in the modern world to reflections about the generational trauma of the Cambodian Genocide. I wasn't sure Bradley would be able to tie it together successfully by the end, but she absolutely did.
If you enjoy character-driven sci-fi, political commentary, time-travel-adjacent storylines, and history and don't mind a story that takes a while to find its footing, give it a try.
Some people have compared this to Outlander. It's really not- while Outlander tells the story of a woman from 1940s Britain adapting to 18th century Scotland and falling in love with someone who refuses to budge on his 18th century worldview, The Ministry of Time follows a woman from the near future helping a man from 19th century Britain adapt to modern life and challenge and change his 19th century worldview as they fall in love. Outlander is a historical romance with a dash of fantasy. This is literary science fiction with a dash of romance, and it is extremely political. It's a commentary on the consequences of rationalizing and blindly following orders and who has the privilege to be treated as a human. It's about the unparalleled power of hope to better the future. It is not lighthearted.
The book improves as it goes. The first half meanders around, a mess from a tonal perspective, jumping between silly scenes with characters from the past in the modern world to reflections about the generational trauma of the Cambodian Genocide. I wasn't sure Bradley would be able to tie it together successfully by the end, but she absolutely did.
If you enjoy character-driven sci-fi, political commentary, time-travel-adjacent storylines, and history and don't mind a story that takes a while to find its footing, give it a try.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
I enjoyed the I book so much I consumed it in a single sitting however it wasn’t quite a 5 star read for me. It felt like it was trying to do too many things- fish out of water comedy, thriller, time travel paradox. forbidden romance- and as a result I felt like I didn’t get enough of any of them.
I am interested to see what Bradley writes next
4/5
I enjoyed the I book so much I consumed it in a single sitting however it wasn’t quite a 5 star read for me. It felt like it was trying to do too many things- fish out of water comedy, thriller, time travel paradox. forbidden romance- and as a result I felt like I didn’t get enough of any of them.
I am interested to see what Bradley writes next
4/5
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Colonisation