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bookswithlydscl 's review for:
The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.25*
I was so intrigued when I saw the concept of this debut novel from Kaliane Bradley - A time-travel romance, speculative spy thriller and workplace comedy all rolled into one and it didn't disappoint.
This is an imaginative and innovative debut with wonderfully vibrant and vivid writing that brings the characters to life and for the most part manages to seamlessly weave the disparate genre strands together.
I'd read a little on the lost Franklin Expedition in 2023 and was glad to have that prior knowledge as it helped give me much more empathy and brought more of a connection to Gore and the situation he found himself in. The fish-out-of-water setting for the characters as a whole brought a lot of pathos to the story and also a great deal of humour and I enjoyed these sections of the narrative immensely. I felt immediate connections to Margaret and Arthur and their joy at discovering the new world and also the sadness and dissonance felt at being out of time but also with their own backgrounds completely in time in the present. I also appreciated the discussions around the ethics of the situation mixed in with commentary about the bureaucracy of the civil service and it's own lack of humanity and understanding when handling these people that they 'saved' from their own time.
The comedy in these early sections of the book does give way to focus more on the dystopian spy thriller aspects of the story in the final third. There are many complex and important threads that are touched upon (environmental disasters, migration, the refugee experience to name a few) and at times some of the analogies felt a little heavy handed. The romance also took me out of the story a little. I loved the slow burn build up and so I didn't need the in-bedroom scenes but, with the ending, I understood the importance of them.
These elements are quibbles and didn't stop me from loving the reading experience. This is a startlingly fun, complex, witty, and sad story. It's speculative and yet also so very human and I'm so glad that I've been afforded the chance to read it, absorb it and continue to think about it after finishing it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton | Sceptre for a digital review copy of "The Ministry of Time" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
I was so intrigued when I saw the concept of this debut novel from Kaliane Bradley - A time-travel romance, speculative spy thriller and workplace comedy all rolled into one and it didn't disappoint.
This is an imaginative and innovative debut with wonderfully vibrant and vivid writing that brings the characters to life and for the most part manages to seamlessly weave the disparate genre strands together.
I'd read a little on the lost Franklin Expedition in 2023 and was glad to have that prior knowledge as it helped give me much more empathy and brought more of a connection to Gore and the situation he found himself in. The fish-out-of-water setting for the characters as a whole brought a lot of pathos to the story and also a great deal of humour and I enjoyed these sections of the narrative immensely. I felt immediate connections to Margaret and Arthur and their joy at discovering the new world and also the sadness and dissonance felt at being out of time but also with their own backgrounds completely in time in the present. I also appreciated the discussions around the ethics of the situation mixed in with commentary about the bureaucracy of the civil service and it's own lack of humanity and understanding when handling these people that they 'saved' from their own time.
The comedy in these early sections of the book does give way to focus more on the dystopian spy thriller aspects of the story in the final third. There are many complex and important threads that are touched upon (environmental disasters, migration, the refugee experience to name a few) and at times some of the analogies felt a little heavy handed. The romance also took me out of the story a little. I loved the slow burn build up and so I didn't need the in-bedroom scenes but, with the ending, I understood the importance of them.
These elements are quibbles and didn't stop me from loving the reading experience. This is a startlingly fun, complex, witty, and sad story. It's speculative and yet also so very human and I'm so glad that I've been afforded the chance to read it, absorb it and continue to think about it after finishing it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton | Sceptre for a digital review copy of "The Ministry of Time" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.