Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Ministry of Time

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

127 reviews

itsheyfay's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A very neat premise with beautiful passages of writing and fun dynamics with the side characters. However, the pacing felt off (it was tiger too slow or too fast). The big reveals at the end could have been better detailed from the beginning so I actually felt satisfied learning the truth. Either that or I had just lost all interest in the plot 🤷🏼‍♀️

Plus, the romantic element didn’t sit well with me.

Still, I appreciate what the author has put together and I still encourage people to give this book a chance.

Content Warnings

lauramcc7's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious reflective medium-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: Complicated

Content Warnings

bookb1itch's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My own inability to understand time-travel narratives impacted my enjoyment of this book. I LOVED the premise, and I feel it was carried out very well, but I am unsure I completely "got" it. I hope Bradley's predictions for our near-future are inaccurate. Loved the 2 mc and their relationship, but also the other ex-pats, especially Maggie. Can't help thinking this would make a really interesting film or Netflix series.

Content Warnings

lizziaha's review against another edition

3.75

I think it’s hard to pitch a book that bends genre like this one does, but maybe because of that, this book wasn’t exactly what i expected. I expected a rom-com full of musings on modern-day society and it was that but it was also government intrigue and assassinations and betrayal and unanswerable questions about morality. Also I don’t know why I didn’t expect this book about time travel to include time travel but I didn’t and it does. The rules are not super clearly defined (that’s fine—I never really get time travel rules anyway) and differ from other time travel books i’ve read, but my complete unpreparedness to confront time travel did make the twist absolutely exquisite. Had I been reading a physical copy of the book, I would’ve slammed back to the first chapter so violently that it would’ve posed a threat to the structural integrity of the book.
Character wise, I think the book lacked depth. The main character (nameless as far a I can remember) is constantly trying to smooth out her rough edges and while she’s successful in her goal, it makes her very boring. (It’s funny that she accuses her sister of giving herself daddy issues when the MC so clearly does the same thing with mommy issues.) Graham and the other expats are much more interesting, but we don’t get to see as much of them. (Though I appreciated the small insights into Graham’s past.)

Content Warnings

himpersonal's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Confused about all the hype. It was a good story, though I somewhat disliked the way it was told as well as a few of the characters. Would’ve been ok if I’d never read this book. I mean, it wasn’t inspiring or provocative or poignant or exciting. It was an ok book. So why all the frenzy? I feel like I’m missing something…

Content Warnings

cheyanne111222's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

alanahcw's review against another edition

2.5

challenging tense slow-paced

This one wasn't for me. I liked the premise but I couldn't get fully into it.

Content Warnings

abicaro17's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wanted to like this book SO bad! Graham Gore is a commander for the British Navy who after getting lost in an Arctic expedition gets taken to present day Britain by The Ministry of Time. The main character (who apparently doesn't have a name??? wtf) works as the bridge between Gore and modern day culture and concepts. The issue with this book is %100 the writing and characters. The concept of this book is incredible and if it achieved what it promised this would probably be my favorite book of the year. Unfortunately, this was not only unromantic, unfunny, and boring but it was also so confusing. Gore shows more interest in his best friend Arthur than he does the FMC. They have less than zero chemistry together and it baffles me that she spends like most of the book basically writing in her diary about how handsome he is and how she loves him. He basically only ever talks to her like a roommate even when they hookup. Gore was the most well developed and yet he still fell so flat as a character. The FMC was a one dimensional follower and never decided anything on her own. I was rooting for the bad guys at the end. I fucking hate that I didn't like this book but its just so poorly written it was basically mental torture to read.

Content Warnings