A review by gabriella_
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I’m gonna be honest I found this book kinda pretentious. I don’t like a “learn on the job” approach to lore/world building when I barely have time to get a sense of what the actual setting is - and the mental mindfuck of added details made me feel even more lost at sea.

I loved the letters and the main characters’ dynamic. Some scenes had prose-writing so beautiful it read like poetry. The final quarter of the book had me in its grasp.

This book had a dreamlike quality to it, like a fairy tale. It feels like if 1984 meets Snow White meets Revolutionary Girl Utena meets Camus’ The Stranger

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