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A review by rikuson1
This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I Did Not Like It ☹️
-★✮☆☆☆- (1.50/5.00)
My Grading Score = 30% (E)
Let's say you were recommended ice cream shop to go to, they say it's amazing you have to go try it. You asked the recommender to elaborate as to what exactly makes this ice cream amazing, and then they tell you "Well I can't really say why it's sort of a surprise you gotta go into blind bro that's the best way". So you do just that.
You go to the spot, and the guy serves you the ice cream. But he tells you that when you're given it, you must eat it blindfolded. That's what makes it special. So you oblige to this rule for some reason.
When you eat it, you realize that the only thing that resembles ice cream is the fact that it's on a cone. Because you take the blindfold off and realize you just ate spinach on a cone.
So you look up at the server and tell him, "Umm sir, this is not ice cream," and then he says back to you "uhh that doesn't really matter bro, just eat this spinach on a cone trust me you'll like it." And you're like,"Uhh no, I wanted ice cream, this is an ice cream shop, I came here for ice cream, not spinach." And then he responds, "You're missing the point, brother, just eat the spinach on a cone, trust me bro". So out of reluctance, you eat it and then be says, "So what do you give it out of 5 stars?" Your response is,"I give it a 1/5 stars." And then he says,"What the hell, man! Why?" Your response is "because I promised ice cream, but instead, you gave me spinach on a cone." The guy says, "But can you at least appreciate how good the spinach is? This is the best spinach in the world!" And then you say, "I don't give a fuck about how good your spinach is, I came here for Ice Cream, as Ice Cream this gets a 1/5 stars." He then says "But I subverted your expectations and gave you something unique, different, great even! Why can't you just appreciate this for what it is and not what you wanted?" And then you responded angrily, "YOU CALLED THIS AN ICE CREAM SHOP AND SERVED ME SPINACH ON A CONE. THAT'S NOT SUBVERSION OF EXPECTATIONS, MY BROTHER IN CHRIST YOU LIED." And then he responds."You just don't understand my genuis." You leave the store and go back to your recommendee.
So he says to you, "So it was amazing, you liked it, right?" You respond, "No, I did not." He responds. "What? What didn't you like about it?" You tell him the same thing you told the server. "That wasn't ice cream. The only thing that resembled it was the fact that it was on a cone." He responds "Well it's not about the ice cream, bro. It's bigger than that. The ice cream is just a way to get your attention so that you can eat this life changing spinach." You ask him, "then why go through the trouble of advertising it as Ice Cream in the first place if you knew from jump it wasn't about that?" And he responds "Well you'd judge the spinach on a cone and not give it a chance. Had you known it was spinach going in. You just need to appreciate the amazing spinach on a cone and the fact that it's unique. That's the point.
Verdict
This is how I felt about this book. It's 'amazing Spinach' served to you on a cone, gaslit by the people who recommend it to me (and probably you) into believing it's ice cream and although it's not about that and not what it promised itself to be, but you should love and appreciate it anyway for how unique it is what what it's actually doing because that's what truly matters. If you can do that, you'll love this book. But if you can't then you'll probably be like me. And you will leave saying the same thing I am saying right now,
I Did Not Like it.
-★✮☆☆☆- (1.50/5.00)
My Grading Score = 30% (E)
Let's say you were recommended ice cream shop to go to, they say it's amazing you have to go try it. You asked the recommender to elaborate as to what exactly makes this ice cream amazing, and then they tell you "Well I can't really say why it's sort of a surprise you gotta go into blind bro that's the best way". So you do just that.
You go to the spot, and the guy serves you the ice cream. But he tells you that when you're given it, you must eat it blindfolded. That's what makes it special. So you oblige to this rule for some reason.
When you eat it, you realize that the only thing that resembles ice cream is the fact that it's on a cone. Because you take the blindfold off and realize you just ate spinach on a cone.
So you look up at the server and tell him, "Umm sir, this is not ice cream," and then he says back to you "uhh that doesn't really matter bro, just eat this spinach on a cone trust me you'll like it." And you're like,"Uhh no, I wanted ice cream, this is an ice cream shop, I came here for ice cream, not spinach." And then he responds, "You're missing the point, brother, just eat the spinach on a cone, trust me bro". So out of reluctance, you eat it and then be says, "So what do you give it out of 5 stars?" Your response is,"I give it a 1/5 stars." And then he says,"What the hell, man! Why?" Your response is "because I promised ice cream, but instead, you gave me spinach on a cone." The guy says, "But can you at least appreciate how good the spinach is? This is the best spinach in the world!" And then you say, "I don't give a fuck about how good your spinach is, I came here for Ice Cream, as Ice Cream this gets a 1/5 stars." He then says "But I subverted your expectations and gave you something unique, different, great even! Why can't you just appreciate this for what it is and not what you wanted?" And then you responded angrily, "YOU CALLED THIS AN ICE CREAM SHOP AND SERVED ME SPINACH ON A CONE. THAT'S NOT SUBVERSION OF EXPECTATIONS, MY BROTHER IN CHRIST YOU LIED." And then he responds."You just don't understand my genuis." You leave the store and go back to your recommendee.
So he says to you, "So it was amazing, you liked it, right?" You respond, "No, I did not." He responds. "What? What didn't you like about it?" You tell him the same thing you told the server. "That wasn't ice cream. The only thing that resembled it was the fact that it was on a cone." He responds "Well it's not about the ice cream, bro. It's bigger than that. The ice cream is just a way to get your attention so that you can eat this life changing spinach." You ask him, "then why go through the trouble of advertising it as Ice Cream in the first place if you knew from jump it wasn't about that?" And he responds "Well you'd judge the spinach on a cone and not give it a chance. Had you known it was spinach going in. You just need to appreciate the amazing spinach on a cone and the fact that it's unique. That's the point.
Verdict
This is how I felt about this book. It's 'amazing Spinach' served to you on a cone, gaslit by the people who recommend it to me (and probably you) into believing it's ice cream and although it's not about that and not what it promised itself to be, but you should love and appreciate it anyway for how unique it is what what it's actually doing because that's what truly matters. If you can do that, you'll love this book. But if you can't then you'll probably be like me. And you will leave saying the same thing I am saying right now,
I Did Not Like it.