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A review by rachelbug
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
3.0
I saw a review that said something along the lines of, "If you get it you get it, and unfortunately I did not get it", and I think that perfectly sums up how I felt while reading this book.
I enjoyed reading the letters between Red and Blue. In my opinion, I found the letters to be the strongest part of this book. I loved the playful banter in the beginning, and looked forward to seeing each others' responses to the previous letter they received.
I loved the descriptions of the imagery, especially from Blue as her points of view were focused more on nature rather than Red's point of view which had a lot of more "science fiction-esque" descriptions (think robots and high-tech machinery).
Unfortunately, I had a hard time following the logistics of this book, which affected my overall experience.
I wish there was more concrete and clear world-building. I wasn't entirely sure why there was even a war, which made it hard to enjoy the story as I was constantly confused as the story progressed. I think if the book were longer, it would leave more necessary room for developing the story.
Additionally, while I enjoyed Blue and Red's banter through the letters, as individual characters, I felt they were a little flat. I didn't get a strong sense of who they were as individuals, and along that same line, I felt their love story happened way too fast.
As I reflect on the book having finished it today, I probably couldn't give you a single plot point as I found it that hard to follow.
Overall, while I did have a quite a number of issues, ultimately I did have a fun time reading this. Even though I personally found it pretty forgetable, I had a fun time while I was in the story. I probably will never go back to it and reread, but I'm glad I finally got to it.
I enjoyed reading the letters between Red and Blue. In my opinion, I found the letters to be the strongest part of this book. I loved the playful banter in the beginning, and looked forward to seeing each others' responses to the previous letter they received.
I loved the descriptions of the imagery, especially from Blue as her points of view were focused more on nature rather than Red's point of view which had a lot of more "science fiction-esque" descriptions (think robots and high-tech machinery).
Unfortunately, I had a hard time following the logistics of this book, which affected my overall experience.
I wish there was more concrete and clear world-building. I wasn't entirely sure why there was even a war, which made it hard to enjoy the story as I was constantly confused as the story progressed. I think if the book were longer, it would leave more necessary room for developing the story.
Additionally, while I enjoyed Blue and Red's banter through the letters, as individual characters, I felt they were a little flat. I didn't get a strong sense of who they were as individuals, and along that same line, I felt their love story happened way too fast.
As I reflect on the book having finished it today, I probably couldn't give you a single plot point as I found it that hard to follow.
Overall, while I did have a quite a number of issues, ultimately I did have a fun time reading this. Even though I personally found it pretty forgetable, I had a fun time while I was in the story. I probably will never go back to it and reread, but I'm glad I finally got to it.