I think this book was really good, it just wasn't a book for me. I found myself getting bored and just not caring to pick it up but I have heard very positive reviews otherwise. I may try again at a different time but it didn't pull me in this time around.

This book confirms what I have long known about myself - I just don't like to read Literary Fiction. There is just something about it that will always make me feel a bit like an idiot partly because it makes reading feel like work. This is 100% a "its me, not you" sort of problem. I loved the entire concept of the book and I truly loved Graham Gore, but I felt like I wasn't able to follow the plot enough to really feel the suspense or understand the twists. I completely see how and why people love this book, but it just wasn't for me and mostly I am just so happy to have finished it.

Glad that I got to read this early. I thought that it would be better. A strange, dull story. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A romp, clever, fun, funny, thoughtful, and nuanced, sci-if of a sort, time traveling, with a time-toggling plot, a spy story, a thriller, a romance, plus arctic exploration, the past and the present and the future, and what is history actually? Though I felt it rushed at the end, lots of threads and elements gathered too fast together, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, for the story, the writing, the nuances of how the present might be seen from those in the past and vice versa, politics and identity dealt with a light yet incisive hand.

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for the arc.

I had no idea what to expect from this book and I found it remarkably compelling. Really fantastic characters. I enjoyed it a lot!

This will be one of my favorite books this year. Imagine if time travel exists, but government red tape is involved. The story is a well-written page turner and very thought-provoking. This would be a good pick for a book club because there are so many potential discussion topics.

Time-travel is a tricky subject, both to read and to write about. When done well, time-travel stories can be suspenseful and thrilling. Hermione’s Time-Turner adventures, even with their flaws, taught me how much character writing can impact a time-travel plot. More recently, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle set up an unputdownable Golden Age mystery. And Loki has excelled by using time travel to perfectly characterize complex characters.

Many of my favorite time-travel stories have this “soft” approach. They set up some basic constraints around time travel - in which direction(s) can characters go? How do they deal with the time paradox? - and then get on with examining the human element. The most successful sci-fi/fantasy stories are those that engage me enough to keep my disbelief completely suspended. And so, when I learned about Kaliane Bradley’s new time-travel story, The Ministry of Time, I had high hopes.

The Ministry of Time bills itself as part romance, part spy thriller, and part workplace comedy. It follows a government employee (a “bridge”) in the near-future Ministry of Time, supporting the acclimation of one of the first ever time travelers. Over the course of a year, Commander Gore must learn to live in the present - but with so much change to absorb, and a mysterious force out to get him, will he and his bridge make it through? There’s a lot of human story to explore here, and I was excited to dig in and read Bradley’s take. (Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the gift copy!)

Wait, wait, wait… then hurry

The Ministry of Time promises the reader a lot of content. It’s firstly billed as a romance, and our bridge narrator certainly admires her ward. There there’s the spy thriller, AND the workplace comedy besides. And the fundamentals of a good time travel story, including the requisite surprise at technology, etc. It’s a lot to jam in to 300 pages.

Bradley does her best, but I found that the pacing of the story left a bit to be desired. In the early part of the novel, the writing focuses mainly on the relationship between Gore and his bridge. And to a certain degree, this makes sense, as Bradley has a lot to establish and explore. How would a nineteenth-century explorer react to the present-day? How would time-travelers in general react to each other? Why do these relationships even matter to us as readers? Are they worth preserving?

But by the middle of the novel, I found myself wondering where 2/3 of my promised genres were. Without getting too deeply into spoilers, all this early scene-setting means that the spy thriller elements are merely hinted throughout much of the early narrative. As for the workplace comedy - much of the comedy comes from the situational humor of displaced time-travelers. I suppose technically that’s all our bridge’s “workplace” - but The Office, this ain’t.

Genre tradeoffs

To some degree, this is not unexpected. Each of the advertised genres engages a totally different, often conflicting set of emotions. Romance requires vulnerability, depth of emotion, and personal, intimate relationships. Spy thrillers are fast-paced and suspenseful, with a strong sense of something big at stake. And office comedies, even the darker ones, require a tongue-in-cheek view at a workplace with fairly stable patterns - hard to do in a story set at a new government division.

It’s tough to balance all three: the personal and intimate with the grandeur of a spy thriller, the irony of a workplace comedy with the sincerity of romance. And Bradley chooses the personal route, focusing primarily on the romantic elements at the expense of both other genres. This is mostly a story of a time-travel romance, with a bit of action and adventure thrown in, and a workplace to add a delaying constraint. And there’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but for the surprise of it from the marketing. Readers of this blog willl know how much I dislike a bait-and-switch… So know, friends, that The Ministry of Time leans heavily on the romance, with a little bit of other genres thrown in for flavor.

Personal thoughts, exposed

The plus side of that romantic lean is a strength I wasn’t expecting: the personal storytelling. Bradley, a British-Cambodian writer, writes what she knows. Her protagonist is also British-Cambodian, and some of the most intriguing writing in the novel explores that identity and all that it confers. Bradley expends pages on what it means to be white-passing, how her peers react when they learn of her heritage. She writes about her character’s complicated relationship to her family history, and to her sister’s exposition of family stories. And she weaves an intriguing storyline with a Black co-worker, who reaches out in the hopes of minority solidarity in this strange government workplace.

These explorations come in bits and pieces and felt like the most realistic and deeply-considered writing in the novel. It feels like Bradley is weaving in real stories of real people, and I wanted to learn more about this family and its history. I also wanted to understand how her protagonist’s biracial identity might intersect with her relationship and her work - but Bradley, unfortunately, keeps this at a surface level.

Reader’s notes and rating (⭐️⭐️⭐️✨)

I wanted to love this book. Instead, I merely liked it - as a fun romance, with a bit of an action twist. I will likely pass it on to friends who really enjoy time travel stories, especially those with more of a character focus (including my partner) but am unlikely to revisit myself. Great for those who know (and like) what they’re getting into - three and a half stars.

Read this if...

Time-travel romance is right up your alley

You’re always wondering what acclimation would really take if one were to travel through time

You like the idea of an old-time romantic in a modern setting

Skip this if...

You’re most excited about the genre-blending elements of the story

You want a ton of action and clear, high stakes OR you’re hoping for minimal romance

You care a ton about even pacing or clear worldbuilding

The Ministry of Time was published on May 7, 2024.

*This will meet "has futuristic technology" for my 52 Book Club challenge this year!

This is a science-fiction story.
This is a comedy.
This is a romance.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is like nothing I’ve read before. I was in awe of the author's unique and vivid writing style. I fell in love with the characters, and I found myself reading faster and faster to see what became of their story. I eagerly look forward to reading any of the author’s future work.

THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley is a unique debut novel which has received quite a bit of "buzz," including being named a LibraryReads selection for May, the #1 pick on the Indie Next List, and a starred review from Kirkus. I was excited to learn that it will become a six-part series for the BBC. Looking for time travel, romance, espionage? Then this book may be for you. Bradley, a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London, has produced a work of which Ron Charles (Washington Post book critic) writes "Imagine if The Time Traveler's Wife had an affair with A Gentleman in Moscow." This new tale actually features five "expats," people who have been transported from their time to present day London and their "bridges," the Ministry staff assigned to be "day-by-day dictionaries" and help with assimilation in the 21st century. The unnamed female narrator is the bridge for Graham Gore, also known as eighteen forty-seven, who was an Arctic explorer and Bradley's inspiration for this innovative novel. There is a slow burn chemistry between the two and several ethical questions develop. The first third of the book, filled with banter is especially fun: "'You have enslaved the power of lightning [electricity],' he said, 'and you've used it to avoid the tedium of hiring help.'" But the tone changes as it turns more philosophical with THE MINISTRY OF TIME offering an intriguing perspective on time travel: "This was one of my first lessons in how you make the future: moment by moment, you seal the doors of possibility behind you."

This novel screams LOKI the TV show. It was fantastic, from the plot, to character development to world building. I could not put it down!

Thank you for this ARC! I loved The Ministry of Time. This is a wonderful debut novel and I will be excited to read more from Bradley. This story is an incredibly rich and covers a range of genres. The twisty ending was a surprise. I'm looking forward to the BBC adaption of this story.

DNF at 29%

I wanted to like this one, I really did. It hit a lot of my favorite genres (time travel, romance, historical) but fell flat for me. The writing was clunky and the character development was pretty non-existent. We didn't even get a good description of the time travel.

Original concept, super smart, brilliantly written, and often laugh-out-loud funny, I can see why this novel is the debut of the season.

I talked about this book on my Spring 2024 Book Preview before I read it, but unfortunately DNF'd the book. The writing was clunky and I had trouble grounded myself in the story. But, I did love Commander Gore's take on the modern world.

This captivating story involves time travel, but it's primarily about deep human connections, complete with fantastic, funny banter; awkward adjustments to the time period; and love and deep heartbreak. The ending is wonderful.

In a world of the near future, a young (unnamed) woman is one of several civil servants offered a mysterious job: she'll be a handler for expats--and paid very handsomely for her work.

But the expats the government is gathering aren't necessarily from another country. They're from other times in history.

The main protagonist's focus in her work is Commander Graham Gore (a character based upon a real figure from history), who has been whisked from a desperately failed expedition in 1847 to the book's future setting.

In order to be a "bridge" for Gore between his past and the present, she'll have to explain why she's showing so much skin, why it's not healthy to smoke all day, and what a washing machine is.

But the bridge and her client are building bonds deeper than either could have imagined; the love story between the bridge and Gore is strange, heartwarming, steamy, fraught, and just lovely.

I was obsessed with the various expats' awkward, funny, sometimes poignant adjustments to their new time, social expectations, technology, slang, and more. Their common disjointedness brings them together, and the mashup of personalities and histories was fantastic.

The Ministry of Time starts out witty and fun, grows dark and ominous, with suspect motives, corruption, deadly danger, and foreshadowing of heartbreak and endings. There are twists I didn't see coming, which I was willing to suspend my disbelief regarding; and my mind was bent around trying to follow some of the later strings of time and timelines. The ending is gorgeous and I just loved it.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Avid Reader Press, Simon and Schuster.

To read about other books I've reviewed that play with time, please check out this link.

What on earth did I just read? Better yet why did I enjoy it? This has to be the most bizarre read I've had in a long time. I'm not even sure what genre this is.

Another reviewer on goodreads sums up my thoughts really well:
<blockquote> if the author had told me she and her friends came up with this idea during a pub crawl that, after consuming several alcohol containing beverages, led to a wild round of the Wiki Game until one of them stumbled upon Graham Gore’s entry only to read that he was an English naval officer who supposedly died during an Arctic expedition in the 1850s, I would have believed her, no questions asked. 🤠 </blockquote>

I'm not at all surprised that the adaptations rights have already been snapped up. I can definitely see this becoming something with a huge following, like Doctor Who. I'm excited to see how such a weird novel will end up looking as it's adapted for viewers. The whole concept is extremely bizarre, but somehow the author makes it work. I'm amazed that this is the author's debut novel. She took a risk and I think it'll pay off. I will definitely be picking up her future works.

3.5/5 stars

(Thanks to @avidreaderpress #gifted.) Do you ever read a book and know it’s brilliant, but also feel like much of it went right over your head? That’s how I felt after finishing 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 by Kaliane Bradley. This near future story revolves around a young woman who works for a secret British agency that’s stumbled upon a means of traveling through time. They’re set on investigating the effects of traveling to a different era, so they devise a project where several people from the past are brought to the present. Each is given a sort of handler to live with and guide them through their first year in the current day.⁣⁣⁣
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The young woman who narrates is tasked with assisting Commander Graham Gore. He is the single real life character, an English Navy officer and polar explorer who died in the Arctic in 1847. This mix of modern era characters combined with both actual and fictional historical figures living together in the 21st century was truly a stroke of genius, leading to some very funny situations. I loved that particular aspect of the book, as well as the relationships between the time travelers, their handlers, and each other.⁣⁣⁣
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“He was an anachronism, a puzzle, a piss-take, a problem, but he was, above all things, a charming man. In every century, they make themselves at home.”⁣⁣⁣
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But, this story was more than just that. It was also a spy thriller and that’s where I got a little lost or maybe I just lost interest in all the competing factions who wanted different outcomes for the travelers and also those that handled them. For me, the end got messy. I hate leaving a book feeling like I need to read the crib notes or consult another reader, but that’s how I felt with this one. Still, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 was a wonderfully creative debut and I look forward to seeing what Bradley brings us next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Bradley is a witty writer and the premise is really interesting. While I stopped 5% in, this is a solid 3-4 stars with 5 for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Press for the ARC.

This is a classic case of an author trying to do too much and losing me. I had high hopes for this one, especially considering the buzz it was getting. Most appealing was its genre mashups and time traveling, two things I love, but instead I found myself lost and confused. I also didn't like the characters, which isn't typically a problem for me but in this book I needed SOMEthing to keep me engaged. So I put this one down and am not looking back.

I'd consider this book magical realism, which as a whole is a hit-or-miss genre for me. That said, the relationships between the characters, the building of those relationships, and the witty dialogue were all really well done. Where I found myself struggling the most was in the world-building and the needlessly verbose paragraphs, the latter of which was kind of jarring with how realistic the dialogue felt to me. Overall I did like the book, though, and wouldn't hesitate to read something else by the author.