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A review by megansmith
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
She ate, she left zero crumbs, she had me kicking my feet in the first half and sad and depressed in the second half. But overall, I LOVED this book. I'm not joking when I said I read 60% of the book almost nonstop in one night and probably would have finished it too if I had the time to read it continuously.
The writing is so charming and humorous, and I found myself laughing out loud at parts early on. The buildup and scenes in this story were just so enchanting and I found myself deep in this world. But this story also felt so approachable at the same time, and I think many readers would find themselves enjoying this at all levels of readership. I loved the characters, I loved the backstories, and the concept behind the book was just so fascinating!
There's a few nitpicks I have minor points off for, but these feel like personal preference. I feel this about most time travel content I read, but I think a lot of books mess up some part of time travel (understandably, it's quite confusing) and it felt like the end wasn't 100% congruent with the beginning in terms of it's time travel laws. I think this book keeps time travel somewhat contained and not as expansive as it could have, which I think helps remove confusion, but the end had some confusing threads I still could not understand. How do the Brigadier and his partner I already forgot the name of, tie into the story? They got so little explanation other than them being lovers and that they're from the future. Why are THEY so obsessed? Are they a part of the Ministry, or something else? Also, I don't quite understand how Simella got connected to the Brigadier and such in the future, that also confused me. BUT, I don't think this is a book for those that want really well-thought out, explained time travel and I think that's also okay. Two, GOD DAMMIT I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SHE WENT TO ALASKA. DID THEY MAKE UP OR NOT. I THINK THEY DID AND IM GONNA TELL MYSELF THEY DID BUT CMOOOON. I wanted a happy ending and I think that would've tonally matched the first half of the book so it felt incongruent to get this ending instead. Again, second one is heavy on the personal preference.
Overall though, she was one of my favs for 2024, I really enjoyed this read and would highly recommend to anyoneeeee
The writing is so charming and humorous, and I found myself laughing out loud at parts early on. The buildup and scenes in this story were just so enchanting and I found myself deep in this world. But this story also felt so approachable at the same time, and I think many readers would find themselves enjoying this at all levels of readership. I loved the characters, I loved the backstories, and the concept behind the book was just so fascinating!
There's a few nitpicks I have minor points off for, but these feel like personal preference.
Overall though, she was one of my favs for 2024, I really enjoyed this read and would highly recommend to anyoneeeee