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basil_touche 's review for:
The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm sorry, but this book tries so many genres, from romance to comedy to sci-fi to spy thiller, that it ended up overall being a mess. The prose felt off, with many metaphors/similes that just didn't make sense that got in the way of the actual narrative.
I was also bored throughout most of this, in a way that I feel that the book was falsely advertised. There's very little sci-fi to be seen in this with little regard to how the time travel works in this world, I didn't find it humorous enough to be considered comedic, the spy elements felt tacked on last minute and the romance simply did nothing for me.
I kinda wish that this book could have just focused more on the characters that are out of time. My favourite parts of the book were Graham, Arthur and Maggie hanging out and experiencing the 21st century together(I would also be totally down for reading a book solely focused on Maggie, love the idea of a lesbian from the 17th century being able to exist as herself in modern times).
I also found the narrator to be rather dislikable and I was rather irritated with how obtuse and manipulative she was to other characters and how she really doesn't experience much growth or consequences for her actions(and don't get me started on Adela being her from the future, that raises so many plot holes I don't want to spend time covering)
I did find the exploration of her hertitage of being British-Cambodian and the child of a refugee interesting, but with how much this book tried to cover I would have prefered to have a whole book to focus solely on that. Also I must say the way the narrator and the plot treat Simellia, the only black character in the book, felt really off to me both in how the narrator dismisses Simellia's challenges with racism as one of the only black employees at the ministry and especially how it turns outshe's the traitor who, to be honest, was right considering how in the future the narrator makes things so much worse globally but while the narrator gets off bascially scott free for her actions, Simellia will be killed if she appears in public again.
I especially wasn't fond of the romance between her and Graham Gore, there was a very apparent imbalance in the relationship where she felt rather controlling about him, almost trying to mold him into the type of person she would date that just put me off the idea of it. It made the ending whereGraham realises he's being manipulated and leaves her only then to send a note saying that he still loves her while she has basically learned nothing feel completely unearned.
There's also something about writing an explicit romance with an historical figure who died horribly that just gives me the ick. It comes off as in poor taste. I kept thinking throughout how I wish Graham could have been the main character instead, as the small chapters we see from his perspective are very introspective.
In all, this is a book that tries so many things and yet fails at being an engaging narrative.
I was also bored throughout most of this, in a way that I feel that the book was falsely advertised. There's very little sci-fi to be seen in this with little regard to how the time travel works in this world, I didn't find it humorous enough to be considered comedic, the spy elements felt tacked on last minute and the romance simply did nothing for me.
I kinda wish that this book could have just focused more on the characters that are out of time. My favourite parts of the book were Graham, Arthur and Maggie hanging out and experiencing the 21st century together(I would also be totally down for reading a book solely focused on Maggie, love the idea of a lesbian from the 17th century being able to exist as herself in modern times).
I also found the narrator to be rather dislikable and I was rather irritated with how obtuse and manipulative she was to other characters and how she really doesn't experience much growth or consequences for her actions
I did find the exploration of her hertitage of being British-Cambodian and the child of a refugee interesting, but with how much this book tried to cover I would have prefered to have a whole book to focus solely on that. Also I must say the way the narrator and the plot treat Simellia, the only black character in the book, felt really off to me both in how the narrator dismisses Simellia's challenges with racism as one of the only black employees at the ministry and especially how it turns out
I especially wasn't fond of the romance between her and Graham Gore, there was a very apparent imbalance in the relationship where she felt rather controlling about him, almost trying to mold him into the type of person she would date that just put me off the idea of it. It made the ending where
There's also something about writing an explicit romance with an historical figure who died horribly that just gives me the ick. It comes off as in poor taste. I kept thinking throughout how I wish Graham could have been the main character instead, as the small chapters we see from his perspective are very introspective.
In all, this is a book that tries so many things and yet fails at being an engaging narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Murder, Lesbophobia
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, War