The Ministry of Time The romantic, sci-fi, comedic, literary, genre-defying bestseller

Phew, this book was definitely.. something. The idea and general concept were super interesting and the characters were unique, gritty and real. Not necessarily good or relatable (for me) or someone I'd like to befriend, but they were real. The biggest issue for me was the slow pacing and a ton of foreshadowing over the first half of the book, which never really got relieved or explained.. I mean yes, it does pick up the pace and there are a few unexpected twists towards the end, but in my opinion it doesn't explain the frequent repetition of "if only I had known"... The whole love story also didn't feel relatable for me, because we see so little of it, yet it's supposed to be this great romance that spans time (literally). Only afterwards did I find out it was also marketed as Romance and I don't at all see why? I found it rather problematic with both characters somehow fetishizing each other while not really making time to learn each others' cultural and historical backgrounds The interesting parts for me were the adjustments of the "expats" to modern culture. Those scenes were endearing, interesting, eye-opening and I wish there would have been more of them. The whole ministry-jargon and also many of the references to British culture and discussions between Simellia and our protagonist were completely lost on me, of course mainly due to me being not British and having no idea how their ministries (or any tbh) and the hierarchies there work. Thus the whole political intrigue stuff was mainly confusing, also because a lot of things were only alluded to but never spelled out, leaving anyone without pre-existing knowledge outside the metaphorical door. Regarding the writing style, it wasn't really my cup of tea and I found it often a bit exhausting to read (also because Netgalley provided the arc as a PDF which was terrible to read on my phone). The metaphors often fell a little short or were so unusual that I had to think about them, which interrupted my reading flow. Still it's written eloquently, in a distinct style and with gritty details. So overall mixed feelings, mainly just not my cup of tea I think, though the idea was really unique and interesting Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion

Ich weiß gar nicht genau, wie ich diese Geschichte beschreiben soll, ich bin wirklich sprachlos. (Absolut positiv sprachlos) Das Buch hat ein wirklich spannendes Konzept und ich finde, es lässt sich in kein Genre einteilen, viel mehr spielt der Roman mit verschiedenen Elementen. Kaliane Bradley benutzt Sci-Fi, Liebesgeschichte und Spy-Thriller sowie die englischen Sprache wie eine Spielfigur auf eine unfassbar faszinierende Art und Weise. Ich bin absolut begeistert vom Schreibstil der Autorin, sie beschreibt Liebe, Zeit und Veränderung so interessant und anderes (besser kann ich es nicht sagen). Auch der historische Aspekt (Graham Gore gab es wirklich!) fand ich sehr spannend und sehr gut eingearbeitet. "The Ministry of Time" muss man einfach gelesen haben!

Kaliane Bradley hat einen unglaublichen guten Schreibstil, die Seiten fliegen nur so dahin. Die Geschichte um die "Expats", die aus ihrer Zeit in die moderne Welt geholt werden, ist wahnsinnig spannend und die Charaktere sind unglaublich sympathisch und liebenswert. Unsere Hauptfigur bewegt sich währenddessen zwischen "relatable" und "unsympathisch", aber auf eine Weise, die absolut nicht stört. Als jemand, die "flawed characters", also Charaktere mit Fehlern, liebt, war es für mich besonders spannend zu verfolgen, wie sie die Geschichte, die vielleicht, vielleicht auch nicht aufgrund ihrer Fehler (die sie begeht und die sie charakterlich inne hat) eskaliert, navigiert. Graham Gore ging mir besonders unter die Haut und ihre "Liebes"-Geschichte ist etwas ganz besonderes. Mitreißend, real, echt. Wer hier allerdings eine kuschlige Romanze erwartet, wird enttäuscht. Der Roman ist mehr Zeitreise-Thriller als Romance und das ist okay so. Ich würde am liebsten gleich von vorne mit dem Lesen beginnen. Ganz klar ein neuer Favorit!

This book is hard to describe but, at the same time, it has it all: - a clever, thought-through storyline - action - funny and heartfelt characters - a relatable (and flawed) MC - a slow burning love story Be aware that it's not a cozy romance novel nor a full on thriller! But it's a story that goes under your skin, that slowly makes you fall in love with it.

If I could join the time traveling depicted in this book I would use it to give myself the time reading this book, back. Absolutely the worst book I've ever read. The way the women were described horrified me as well. Would like to have my hours back.