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A review by laurel00
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"Perhaps someday they'll assign us side by side, in some small village far upthread, deep cover, each watching each, and we can make tea together, trade books, report home sanitized accounts of each other's doings. I think I'd still write letters, even then."
This is, without a doubt, one of the most romantic things I have ever read. You may be worried about having too many expectations for this novel considering all the hype it has received over the years, but I am here to ease your worries: no matter what those expectations may be, this book will surpass them.
I've tried to read this in the past; this is actually my third time picking it up from the library, and on both prior occasions I did not make it past the first chapter. I have a big issue with understanding complex world building, and I usually can work my way through it with the assumptions that things will become more clear as I get through the pages. But the beginning of this story is so destabilizing, and drops you in the middle of a conflict and an existence that is hard to conceptualize, I assumed I would be incapable of understanding anything or connecting in any way to the characters. With lots of convincing, I decided to give it a third chance, and pushed myself through the first couple of chapters. 30% of the way in, I knew this was going to be a 5-star read.
The prose in this is absolutely stunning, I need to get a copy for myself so I can go back and annotate every single beautiful passage. I took pictures of almost every page of the book so I would have a memory of this gorgeous writing until I can buy my own paperback. It shattered me into a thousand pieces, put me slowly back together, only to break me again over and over.
I promise it is best to go into this 1- knowing as little as possible and 2- accepting that you will very likely be confused at the beginning. It is so incredibly worth the read.
This is, without a doubt, one of the most romantic things I have ever read. You may be worried about having too many expectations for this novel considering all the hype it has received over the years, but I am here to ease your worries: no matter what those expectations may be, this book will surpass them.
I've tried to read this in the past; this is actually my third time picking it up from the library, and on both prior occasions I did not make it past the first chapter. I have a big issue with understanding complex world building, and I usually can work my way through it with the assumptions that things will become more clear as I get through the pages. But the beginning of this story is so destabilizing, and drops you in the middle of a conflict and an existence that is hard to conceptualize, I assumed I would be incapable of understanding anything or connecting in any way to the characters. With lots of convincing, I decided to give it a third chance, and pushed myself through the first couple of chapters. 30% of the way in, I knew this was going to be a 5-star read.
The prose in this is absolutely stunning, I need to get a copy for myself so I can go back and annotate every single beautiful passage. I took pictures of almost every page of the book so I would have a memory of this gorgeous writing until I can buy my own paperback. It shattered me into a thousand pieces, put me slowly back together, only to break me again over and over.
I promise it is best to go into this 1- knowing as little as possible and 2- accepting that you will very likely be confused at the beginning. It is so incredibly worth the read.