A review by hannahmarierobbins
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This is a review in two parts. I enjoyed listening to The Ministry of Time because I like contemporary romance and spy novels including ministries. I suspended disbelief and went with it. I warmed to lots of the characters we met along the way. The writing is very readable. I was interested in what might happen. In mood, I'd situate it as "If Ali Hazlewood wrote Dr Who fan fiction".  However, Ali Hazlewood's books are much more evenly paced than this is.

The minute I thought about it for more than a second, the whole thing fell apart. The characters are (generally) likeable and fun. The romance is fairly sweet. The intrigue is there although not as substantially developed as I'd expected but I was surprised by The Twist when it came. If you are into proper time travel, this book does not deal with it well at all. If you are looking for truly complex characters, I don't think this is for you either. The book hasn't quite committed to what it is and it gets torn between romance, workplace drama, lost characters in a new world, time travel, rompy thriller, and adventure story. In general, the characters are all as they seem to be and they also explain to you how they exist beyond stereotypes and character tropes repeatedly in the book.

I didn't like the writing of Simellia, a minor character who I initially loved, who talked a lot about being Black and about racism.
I was hopeful that the early, and promising scenes, were going to lead to some sort of romance but she is largely written out of the middle of the plot.
The emphasis on Simellia's race was also uncomfortable as the author highlights instances of racism (including out of time slurs) a lot in the book while also seeming to sympathise with one of her main characters who begins as a racist, is revealed to have participated in slave trafficking, and briefly exoticises her. Some of the other explorations of the author's own hertiage, and experiences of being racialised, were richer. I am personally very tired of the new trend of writing historical characters who have interacted with the slave trade and them all being sorry and rueful about their participation. I think we have to accept that some of these people weren't good guys and that it's not interesting to rehabilitate them or to "love them despite what they may have done". In a fantasy universe, we can ask for more.