Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - The Ministry of Time

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

209 reviews

julianh's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous mysterious reflective 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: Yes

Content Warnings

nicolettepags's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

One of the best books I’ve read in a while. I learned so many new words, the concept was completely original, the characters were so memorable I felt I knew them by the end, and the plot was well-written and well designed.

Content Warnings

jessmckillop's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

sendmehome's review against another edition

4.25

funny sad

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

had to sit with this one for a day before i could come up with a review.
i just had such a good time reading this. i went into it not knowing what to expect and thinking it was similar to the spanish tv show, but it's actually nothing like it and it really surprised me.
if you want a proper science fiction book, this is not for you. if you want a full on romance, this is not for you. if you want a super investing thriller, this is not for you. but if you want a mix of all three, you might like this one.
it was so sad but so beautiful in such a way that it didn't make me cry but it left me feeling empty after i was done with it. it was funny too, i laughed out loud a couple times and had to re-read the page over and over again to enjoy the joke even more. the writing is beautiful but sometimes it gets a bit hard to follow and it's like it tries to be poetic while trying to make a point and it ends up saying nothing.
it's just... human, i guess. from the beginning, it tells you how it's going to end but that doesn't make the ending any less surprising (especially the twist, i was NOT expecting that).
in any case, i hold them both (and the other expats) very close to my heart. it's been a wonderful read.

Content Warnings

scripturient's review against another edition

3.75

dark informative mysterious 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: Complicated

I think this book suffers from its own synopsis which makes it sound very scifi-mystery. It is weak on the science fiction of it all, no explanation for the time travel or even how it came to be, no proper explanation on the "project", but it is strong on the history, which I enjoyed. The main character stayed a bit too far out of reach for my liking, unnamed, undefined, but the expats were engaging and interesting and I wasn't bored for a second. The ending felt a bit rushed after the big finale,

but I was glad to at least get a glimpse of a resolved-ish ending, I would have not enjoyed being left hanging in the aftermath of whatever happened with the Ministry.

It did somewhat take away from the social/post-colonial commentary a little however, that ultimately, the focus was shifted so much to the romance rather than what was going on in the world at a larger scale.

Content Warnings

kathispathi's review against another edition

2.0

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

The writing felt a bit uneven—clever words dropped randomly into otherwise simple prose.

Loved the concept and appreciated the genre-blending (sci-fi, romance, spy thriller), but it didn't go deep enough into any of them for me.

It had the potential to be funny but the jokes didn't land.

There was a lot going on—climate change, identity, time travel—but it lost focus. The main character's reflections on her Cambodian-British heritage were interesting, just got a bit buried under everything else.

A decent debut, but sadly just ⭐⭐/5 from me.

Content Warnings