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A review by gasperyjacques
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Sceptre for the review copy of this audiobook.
The narrator is a British civil servant employed as a "bridge" to Graham Gore, who was a real person and member of the disastrous Franklin expedition, as part of a secretive mission to supposedly test if a group of "expats" can survive for 1 year under close supervision then eventually assimilate into modern Britain.
I loved Graham and the other “expat” characters! I was moved by the sense of community which developed between these time travellers (or kidnapping victims, depending on your perspective), and how they each explored what the 21st century could offer them. All from wildly different eras but forced together by the Ministry, they felt fully alive to me with hilarious idiosyncrasies and I cried over them more than once.
Unfortunately the actual plot fell short of my expectations. There were a lot of truly delightful surprises throughout but too many sudden twists in the last few chapters that were random, confusing, or both.
Ultimately the biggest disappointment was the romance - I enjoyed the slow burn and their friendship but towards the end of the book I just couldn’t root for the narrator and Graham to stay together.
The narrator was also bizarrely incurious about the Ministry's machinations, and since she barely wondered why or how the British government had graciously saved these characters from certain death in their own time periods I found it was a struggle to even care myself or fully understand once I finally got to the hurriedly revealed answer.
This book is being marketed as “a time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy” but it doesn’t successfully juggle all those genres.
I still recommend The Ministry of Time, because some of the characters were unbelievably fun and I can't remember the last time I laughed this much while reading a book, but if you’re mainly looking for a spy thriller then you might be disappointed by this.
The narrator is a British civil servant employed as a "bridge" to Graham Gore, who was a real person and member of the disastrous Franklin expedition, as part of a secretive mission to supposedly test if a group of "expats" can survive for 1 year under close supervision then eventually assimilate into modern Britain.
I loved Graham and the other “expat” characters! I was moved by the sense of community which developed between these time travellers (or kidnapping victims, depending on your perspective), and how they each explored what the 21st century could offer them. All from wildly different eras but forced together by the Ministry, they felt fully alive to me with hilarious idiosyncrasies and I cried over them more than once.
Unfortunately the actual plot fell short of my expectations. There were a lot of truly delightful surprises throughout but too many sudden twists in the last few chapters that were random, confusing, or both.
Ultimately the biggest disappointment was the romance - I enjoyed the slow burn and their friendship but towards the end of the book I just couldn’t root for the narrator and Graham to stay together.
The narrator was also bizarrely incurious about the Ministry's machinations, and since she barely wondered why or how the British government had graciously saved these characters from certain death in their own time periods I found it was a struggle to even care myself or fully understand once I finally got to the hurriedly revealed answer.
This book is being marketed as “a time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy” but it doesn’t successfully juggle all those genres.
I still recommend The Ministry of Time, because some of the characters were unbelievably fun and I can't remember the last time I laughed this much while reading a book, but if you’re mainly looking for a spy thriller then you might be disappointed by this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Racism
Minor: Genocide and Murder